Are you just increasing post count or genuinely trying to help a fellow Rover owner rule out all possibilities before throwing money at a head gasket job? Sheesh, I'll tell ya, if only half the people in this world had a clue we'd never have another war......

 

^^ lmao ^^^

 

Thank you Nuke and Nuke Chucker! I just can't help thyself......

I hope this Stanley Steamer has a happily ever after ending with birds singing and sun shine beaming.....

 

Ordered the test kit, gonna try and get the compression tester from a buddy as well.

Will be a week or so till my next report

 

I'm good, I'll be around when you shout back.

 

Okay... update time.. (finally)

side note was working in the dark, and noticed the engine having some issues running on occasion and a clicking noise.. turns out #3 from the pass side coil pack was arcing below where the boot seats..

I emptied the overflow container to make sure its gas coming through...

I ran the truck for a while, things were ok mostly.... I saw bubbling into the tester but the fluid never changed colors...

Rev up the engine a bit, let go and get bubbling. I took a video if it matters/helps I can post it.


every time the temp increased some there were more bubbles.. after running a while (30min?) temp finally got to 210, and a burst of pressure shot fluid out (remember overflow was empty) and launched the tester out of the hole..

Killed the engine and I heard boiling...

The fluid turned yellow/green a bit with the "explosion" of coolant but I suspect thats from getting coolant sucked into it vs actually getting co2....


The upper rad hose got hot, but seemed to be full of air, except for the time where the vacuum was too strong for the tester and actually put a vacuum into the cooling system (upper rad hose got sucked in a bit)




Now some history..

I did the water pump about a year ago, I replaced the fluid with premix 50/50... Did the thermostat and again topped off with 50/50 premix... raised the pass side and bled the system and again filled w/ premix......



Sooooo ... Next steps?

 

No combustion gas in coolant. Well.......it's getting hot enough to boil the coolant, no doubt about that. Fan clutch and belt routing come to mind. Fan should resist free spinning with engine cold...or as hot as yours is getting. Double check your belt routing - nothing like a water pump turning backwards to slow coolant flow.... The expansion and contraction of the top hose is a symptom, not a fault as are the bubbles. I wonder how the radiator is looking inside, see any crusting around the coolant tubes? A blocked radiator will cause overheating like now. Also did you install the thermostat with the spring facing in or out? Jiggle pin or at least a hole at the 12 O' clock position?

 

For what its worth I just went through pretty much the same symptoms, did the same checks of cooling system, finally pulled the radiator and put in a radiator from my other disco that I had a rad shop pressure and flow check and solved the problem truck runs consistently at 185 - 188. Probably worth the time to pull the radiator and have it checked out, certainly no harm from having it checked and cleaned.

 

No crusting that I could tell... and yes, spring inside and weep hole at 12 on the new tstat.


I will double-check the belt routing.. It was incorrect before I replaced the water pump and fan clutch early on, I will be very surprised if it is different now as I have not re-routed it lol


This was my thought as well.. There is a local radiator shop thats been around forever I will get an estimate from them on a cleanout...

The radiator was definitely hot, I do not have a way to tell how hot exactly..

Good news though it seems the engine "should" be ok then? ....

 

I would think if there wasn't an indication of combustion gas in the coolant and there isn't any sign of coolant leaks elsewhere the radiator is likely. Your mentioning of little heat in the cabin points to lack of circulation.