so, somethings going on with the cooling on my 95 disco. it boils out quickly, allot of pressure builds up around the head area. you can tell when you undo the bleeder screw on top of the thermostat, it lets out alot of pressurised air.

the car appears to runs great, doesnt feel like its losing compression..... oil level is the same as it was a month ago when i changed it and appears very clear especially for a diesel motor... the coolant appears clean and I cannot find any leaks and im sure there are none. smoke looks plain black.

would a clogged cooling system cause these sort of symptoms or is this a bad head gasket...

 

Well, as we detailed in your previous post, could be several things. But you found no thermostat installed. So it can't be a sticking themostat. Factory stat would have started to open at 190F, fully open at 204F. With no stat, should not even get to 212F in moderate outdoor temepratures. Might be time to test for exhaust gas in coolant, which is a chemical test that will change color if products of combustion are found. This is pretty conclusive for head gasket leak. You can also have the radiator flow tested and reverse flushed, or you can flush yourself with a commercial product and a garden hose. On a D1 with a V-8, the water pump moves about 2.6 gallons a minute at 1000 rpm. So if you poke a garden hose in one end of a radiator and can't flow enough to fill a 5 gallon pail in five minutes, radiator would seem restrricted. You can also feel the radiator from top to bottom when warmed up. If bottom is a lot cooler that indicates clogged passages. Indy rad shops near me will take a carry in rad (you remove) and flush it with hot acid, plus unsolder the side tank and rod out calcium build up) - for about $70 US.

 

yup just had a look the radiator was getting way hot around the hose area but the rest of the radiator was totally cold. i had it at warmed up temperature for about 10-15 minutes plenty of time i think to warm up the radiator

then i took it for a drive the the mech by then the whole top of the radiator had gotten hot but the bottom was still cold, he said yea gotta be the rad then.

the mech sais we'll drop it on monday but i read somewhere that supposedly not a good idea with discos that their better left as is, is that just a wives tales or actually the case?

edit: one mroe thing that i noticed though, there was like a shiny look to the coolant (it had pure coolant but now it has some water) like when you see a puddle of gas.... could that just be how the coolant actually looks?

 

That radiator is shot! What are you going to drop? You mean take the radiator out of the rover? You actually don't NOR CAN'T drop the radiator down through the bottom of the truck? You pick it up, with the fan clutch removed and then you can get it out....

 

tis true tis true, just a silly expression then :P

 

but seriously, should i just do an in car flush or should i take it out and do it that way?

 

On my 97 D1, wih six previous owners, I tried in truck flush. Some better, but not much. Took rad out, tried the white vinegar flush. Not much. Tried the home brew muriatic acid flush (brick washing acid) - made copper clean, but did not cure it. Took it to indy shop and they flushed with flowing hot acid (citric I think), unsoldered the side tank and used rods to knock out the calcium, soldered it back up, and soldered a couple of leaks. $70. Look for small indy shops that work on bus, large truck, and tractor - off road equipment radiators. They are not impressed by the MSRP on a Rover. You can try an in truck flush first, no need to refill with coolant, you can test with plain water. But a radiator flush is a lot better than a head gasket.

 

yes agree to all above!!!

 

thanks guys, since it takes the same hour and half drive to either get the flush or to take it the the rad shop ill jsut take it and bring it to them to be sure.

 

Well... I got the radiator fixed. apparently it was really really bad. in Costa rica labor is cheap so it only cost me 30$!!! although normally its 20$. it was so bad they took it over night, JUST about to the point where it had to be thrown away....

so i thought that it ended there. haha no sorry bob, problem not solved, still letting out tons of compression and drying up around the head area. has to be bad head gasket. so the blocked radiator killed my head gasket that day it overheated sob....

but the good news is, in this country getting a head gasket fixed isn't to big a deal. Reynaldo will only charge like 200$ for installation good old reynaldo. but i have to take the head to get skimed in panama by specialists well see how that goes.

I think I might get an EGT meter on all my cars to make sure this never happens again..... stupid slow stock temp reader