I have read every forum post I could get my hands on over the past month, I bought a 97 SE in june as a birthday gift to myself, it overheated on the drive home despite being told it was a daily driver (yeah right....)

I have done:
New fan
new Cats
new y pipe
new water pump
radiator flush
engine flush
basic tuneup stuffs

I now only over heat slowly very very slowly but it does happen. I am so frustrated I am thinking of taking a major loss on this thing.

Couple of questions:
is the sloshy sound under the dash a diffinative of a airbubble?
- if so how the **** do you bleed this damn thing? I ahve it parked nose up on a 15* slope right now, should be enough but no

my obdII reader is saying I am running at 25* advanced (this has me worried but I could not find the right section in the rave manual) correct? wrong? needs to be timed?

could the timing cause overheating?

what else have I not tried yet? o yes I took the thermostat out to see if I was getting water flow, the upper hose does not get full I can still squeeze it, however some water must be getting through as when I go to loosen the hose to check it leaks water after being bone dry.

UGUGGGGG help I wanna be a rover guy but right now I am thinking about going back to a heavy.

 

I'd bet your Radiator is crap. If you've read a bunch of threads then you must know the tubes are small diameter and the dissimilar metals tend to cause calcium deposits that settle in the bottom of the radiator. A flush w a hose isn't going to do squat. 9 times out of ten the radiator needs to be rodded out or replaced.

If your truck has high miles you might want to check if your using coolant. These trucks are prone to HG at about 100k.

 

Does anyone have any idea what kind of water flow the radiator should have? I mean if I empty is stick a hose in it full blast and it will not back up/all flows out the bottom then is that enough flow to fill the system? because that is the case for my radiator, I can not imagine that I need more flow than that to fill the engine.

 

That tranquil deceptively soothing waterfall sound under the dash is air in the system bubbling merrily through your heater core. Right corner up, correct level in reservoir, remove bleeder and run until done burping and coolant starts to flow out the bleeder, replace bleeder. If you have the black expansion tank replace it right away, it's insidiously waiting for just the worst time to screw you.

Air from somewhere, if you are sure your system is tight you may as well suck it up and get a kit and test for combustion gasses in the coolant, it's a rite of passage

You also want to check the fins and make sure they are clean and not caked with good old school off road'n mud.

And put a good 180 deg thermostat in, bleed hole at 12 o'clock.

 

lol, that is what I am afraid of okay so I have now read it twice but by bleeder what are you talking about? I assume not the brass cap in the top of the radiator

 

Yes, the little cap on the top right side of the radiator, mine is black plastic but I think the older ones or better after market ones are brass

 

Better is a relative term cuz mine has over 190k on the plastic bleeder and it's still doing it's thing - not leaking. Better means it hasn't needed to be replaced in my case........ yet anyways.

Alrighty, in the list of replaced parts I don't see a fan clutch (viscous coupling in Brit speak). Whenever you swap out the water pump it's recommended to replace the cooling fan clutch as well. Lot's of posts on cheaper than LR that work so search the "Tech Section" for the GM part. If the clutch is not working it will cause overheating while in idle and slow speed driving under 40 mph. Believe me, replace it.

The air burp bubble waiting for relief can also cause little flow. Our thermostats require a "jiggle pin" equipped thermostat. That means it has a hole that when mounted correctly is at the 12 O' clock position. The jiggle pin pops air bubbles that collect at the top of the intake coolant chamber as they pass through the hole in the thermostat housing. It's a little wacky cuz I never had seen one before owning a LR but it works.....

If your overheating try to find a source for leakage. It's almost always going to be at the back of the motor on either side for head gaskets and either the front cover or intake gasket at the front of the motor. Check the radiator for leakage as well. If you have air in the system there's a reason you cannot expel it IF you have a leak someplace. Try not to drive when overheating, it will cause more problems the longer it continues. These are all aluminum engines and overheating them cuts a fine line between a runner or a bummer of a motor.

 

Oh....and 25* advanced is about normal. There isn't a tune up spec for an engine that dynamically tunes each cylinder individually. Check spark plug gap, keep good wires on it and that's about it for ignition.

 

Okay I bled the system and the thing did not over heat on a short drive. I am going to let it sit and then try again to see if I have a leak or notas I assume if 8 let it sit and leak I will end up with a or again, otherwise I will chalk it up to rebuilding this all on a hill because my trailer project was in the garage. I somehow missed the bleed the radiator part so thanks for the clarification. I will look into a new fan clutch next according to ally reading I have to assume mine is working or been replaced as it act the way described in other threads.

 

I've had some cooling issues lately in my DII and it sounds like you have the waterfall issue solved. If it comes back I'm sure you know there is a leak somewhere.

But on the radiator, I had the opportunity to swap a used radiator for a used radiator (already had both) and then a new radiator, and each gave me different temps under identical conditions. Flushing with vinegar improved me two degrees on each used radiator, but the new one improved ten degrees. Big difference. I don't think rodding a radiator makes any sense unless you have a brass/copper radiator; the aluminum ones are just too cheap.

So, to stop rambling... the dexcool radiator had the highest temps even after a thorough flush. The green fluid radiator had lower temps even though it was older, and a new radiator was a vast improvement over both old ones. So, if your temps climb on the highway to unreasonable levels but are lower at idle I'd plop in a new radiator.

You're a rover guy... no question.