Hey all,

My husband has finished the headgasket repair and everything that goes with that, too much to list. It has taken him a couple weeks to do, because of his work and life in general.

He was looking through the archives and saw something about the inline thermostat installation, and wondering if this is good to use, and should he get rid of the stock thermostat? But the forum was around 2009. Is anyone using the inline, and if so are you happy with it?

Thanks again, all you old timers for the great information in regards to our initial overheating problem, it has been a long month, but soon I will get to drive my Rover and hope to never be stranded on the side of the road again.

 

Here you go. https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...79/#post287536

This fellow runs about 180 F.

Congratulations, a shade tree will be planted in his honor!

IMHO an improvement might also be had by modiying the existing stat by increasing the number of sample holes inside the top leg of the stat. These bring the hot coolant to operate the stat, but operation is slo (and engine can heat up) if low flow. Factory stat opens at 180, fully open at 204F. Example pix of clogged one.

 

Yes you will be happy with the in-line thermostat install.
I have a friend who lives in the US Virgin Islands and he did it to his '03 years ago.

 

Per: Prince Charming


Buzz, sounds like you modified yours, how many holes would you recommend, size of holes, or should I just switch it out. Not eager for this problem to come around again anytime soon.

 

I have a D1, so different stat. When I have a 180F stat in mine, it runs 180 - 183 down the highway at 50 mph. American standard numbers for a stat are the opening temperature. The RAVE says the D2 stat starts to open at 180, and is fully open at 204. Here's a pix of something I cooked up. You can see that the stats are open various percentages. The 180 is open most, the other two are 195s.

This is basically what is inside the heart valve assembly of the D2. The four little holes on top being hot water to make it open. More hot water would make it open sooner and further. In a D1, the business end of the stat is totally immersed in the water.

People have changed theirs, without much change. Some new ones have stuck closed. I would suggest drill four new holes, about same size. Watch what temps do with a scanner or ultra gauge, if no improvement, new stat. Temps running should be in 190's, not 210, etc. Temp at idle will crawl up, that is normal.

 

On my DII my last 2 thermostats had 4 smaller holes on the inside but the new one I just put in has only 2 larger holes. The 2 holes look as if they will not clog as easily.

 

May just be the holes then, but here is the problem we are having now.

He took it for a little test drive and the thermostat starts to rise then goes down as it opens up ( or something like that). He has done the antifreeze thing twice while parked on our slanted driveway to avoid air bubbles.

This is why he was looking at another thermostat, which would be the second one we bought. Pretty frustrating, haven't had a car for almost a month, now I'm just afraid to drive it.

Still looks great in my garage though

 

If the measuring stick you are using is the factory gauge on the dash -

The D2 ECU reads the temperature sensor, and if it is within a wide range, it will display 9:00 on the needle position. If you were looking at it with a scanner or Ultra Gauge, it would read the exact temp in degrees. Above 9:00 is already above the normal range. If goes back down, does it go to 9:00? If the engine computer thinks the temp is above 212 F, it will turn on the electric cooling fan in front of the radiator package.

Is temp sensor plugged in on top of engine?

If an auto parts store is within what he believes to be a safe driving distance, they could read the digital temp.

If he is reading the temp with a digital scanner, it is normal for the first few operations of the thermostat to have what could be called "overshoot", in that it goes higher than you thought it should, then opens up, and in a few cycles stays much more steady.

If you are using a point and click infrared thermometer, point at the 90 degree pipe that comes out of the front of the intake manifold and connects to radiator hoses. That is where the hot coolant leaves the engine.

Hope you no longer hear bubbles in coolant running through heater pipes under dash.

 

I installed the inline conversion last year while trying cure some coolant flow problems. (ended up being a bad sleeve #4 cylinder) and the coolant system was over pressurizing. I am leaning towards converting back to the factory unit. But I am open to opinions before I make the final decision.

Ps. I really can't say I was happy with it as the engine was troublesome and I didn't get to try it out much. I do believe once the conversion is done it makes working with the radiator and hoses easier.... but like I said I didn't get much time with it.

When I install the new motor I'll most likely run with the inline for a while anyway. That should be within the next month or so.... so I'll reply when I see how that goes.

 

hokeymom1 - see https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...tat-you-46037/