I have a 2000 discovery 2 114000 miles. Replaced the water pump, thermostat, and the hose rig on bottom of water pump. When you first start the rover it has a miss then you can kill the engine and restart it and it smooths out. Then its like the water is not circulating. It overheats, and has no heat coming from the heater inside. The heater core is clean and water runs thru it ok. you can bleed all the air from it and it still overheats. It's like one side of the radiator is hot and the other side is cool. Makes no sense, but it's like the water is not getting inside the engine. Does anyone think it's a headgasket or possibly a cracked head? No coolant in the oil and also coming from the coolant resavoir is kind of a gas smell. I'm really puzzled about this.

 

Does anyone have any input at all on this. I'm really desperate.

 

Check the easy stuff first, is the serpentine belt routed correctly, I know that you think that it is, but double and triple check it. It wouldn't be the first time. Get a print out of the correct routing and take it to the truck and check the routing.

You may also have a clogged or stuck thermostat. Even new thermosats are occasionally bad out of the box. Try flushing the entire system, remove hoses and run water through all of them to make sure that you have no clogs.

No heat would indicate that you may not have all of the air out of the system, including the heater core. REad up on the threads that deal with overheating and circulation diagrams.

If all of that checks out, sounds like you may have a blown head gasket.. At idle, the coolant mostly only runs through the engine and the heater core. Very little coolant circulates through the radiator.

Worse case, you may have a liner issue, let's hope that you don't. Good luck. Phil

 

You have a clogged radiator, I am betting the side that gets hot is the drivers side and the passenger side stays cool.
That means no coolant is flowing through the radiator.
This is yet another product of Dex-Cool, clogged cooling systems.

 

Going with spike on this. Dexcool itself isn't so bad, its when you don't refresh is, get air in the system, mix regular antifreeze in, etc. Mix in some non oat stuff and you will clog up a rad in no time. Usually kiss the heater core goodbye as well.

Just pop the top and bottom hoses off the rad and see if you can run some water through it. It should be painfully obvious if your flow is restricted. Mine will run fluid out just as fast as you pour it in. If it backs up and trickles out, you have an issue.

 

The head gaskets have been done. Still same problem. Going to try the radiator and just see. Thanks for all the input. This has been a nightmare.

 

Hi.. I am having the same nightmares you had... what was the issue? I a new thermostat, radiator and water pump... belt is correct and oil is good... water is not circulating!!! When I unscrew the bleeder valve it does nothing til it heats up and it just starts to steam out not flow out like its supposed to do...HELP!

 

Look at the cooling layout. If everything is stock, the thermostat is closed at start up. At idle the WP does not produce enough pressure to press down the top bypass valve plate of the stat. Flow equal to what is coming thru metering holes in top disk. Idled up a little, like cold idle in winter, and pressure increases, that disk descends, more flow to warm up the heater circuit for frozen owners that live on Ice Planet Hoth. All the while, that warmer water is mixing with cool water from the radiator, and trying to warm up the main thermostat and make it open. When main stat opens it pushes the top disk back closed and increases flow to the water pump.

So, if the holes in the small disk are clogged, temperature of operation is impaired. It the center port on thermostat (holes inside) is connected to water pump, instead of toward bleeder T, that would cause wierd things as well.

Now, if you have a head gasket or cracked block problem, when it heats up then coolant is converted to steam and coolant bottle can be very bubbly. Gurgle noises under dash. Temps peak very quickly. Exhaust gas in coolant test can be run ($50ish for 15 tests, changes color of the liquid).