I bought a 96 disco from my step-dad last week for a really good price. He has several defenders and lost interest in the disco. He had the heads resurfaced and head gaskets fixed just before the brakes started having issues. I fixed the brakes and drove it around for a while and it got about 220 according to the scan gauge. I put a 180 thermostat in it and it can idle for an hour and never get above 180 if I drive a few miles it for 30ish minutes it climbs to 215. Anybody have any idea what my issue could be

 

Does the lower section of the radiator feel cold? It might be clogged up with sludge. A thermal camera can check this easily, or use the Palm-o-matic meter. Make sure there is no air in the system as well.

 

if they did the heads, they likely serviced the coolant system - but confirm they did - air in system can be a culprit - making sure the coolant was changed. New thermostat is cheap insurance

 

First I would look at the fan clutch.

 

hopefully it isn't that - it is $150 part or $500 if you go LR original part

if it is a fan clutch I would go with the OEM - this land rover dealership has a good discount for OEM parts

ERR3443 - Clutch - 1992-1999 Land-Rover | LandRoverLakeBluff

 

Sounds like air in the system, or it could have debris between the AC Condenser & Radiator. Fan Clutch wise I personally use the HD Made in American unit from Auto Zone for around 54.00. Rock Auto has several listed for 35.00 as well.

 

please don't consider wasting your money on the fan clutch. I run a Hayden 2991, about 45 bucks on Amazon. expect to pay 30ish to 50bucks for a high quality fan clutch.

 

I'm pretty sure the Auto Zone units are just Hayden fan clutches. They used to be Made in China Torq Flo unit's then they switched over to the Made in USA stuff about 2-3 years ago.

 

OK I bought a fan clutch autozone but it was miss packaged. So I cleaned the temperature sensor it was packed with grime, drove it last night for about an hour and it got to 200. This morning I made damn sure I all the air was out of the system. Drove around for an hour and saw 195 to 200. Thanks for the help

 

I had similar issues, I flushed the coolant a couple times and then replaced all the coolant hoses, the thermostat, and the expansion tank; I also replaced the heater core at the same time since it had symptoms of imminent failure; after i did all this, it have been consistently in the 185-195 degree zone