When you put the truck is park and experience the grinding are you also experiencing high idle speeds. If so, blip the gas pedal to see if you can drop the idle speed and only then, put the truck in park. This should help until you sort out the high idle issue.

 

It idles high randomly. Sometimes it will be idling high and then all of a sudden it will stop. It idles high while driving and when put in park it shots up to 2,000 rpm's. Yesterday it idled high the entire time I was in town, got back home put it in Park to unlock our driveway gate and it was idling right again.

 

I'd check to see if the throttle cable is binding/sticking, clean the IAC (but don't diddle with the pintle, pointy bit in the photo) and throttle body.

 

Ok, here are some things to try:

1) Wierd electricals: Double-check your husband or previous mechanic put the serpentine belt on right. If it's on wrong (the way everyone 'thinks' it should go on), then it will be tight enough for idle and low speed operation but slip at high speeds. Then the alternator slips and causes the radio and dash lights to freak out because voltage drops. This is extremely common. Even happened on mine when I bought it from the P/O. Could also be why it's overheating too (fan slipping). Also double-check the ground connections as others have mentioned.

2) Overheating: Double check the fan clutch is working right. Try spinning it when the vehicle is warm (and not running). It should spin freely. If it doesn't ...or sounds like a freight train going down the road, the clutch is likely frozen up (really common). The guy at the parts store was wrong. You want to get the 'correct' temperature range thermostat. People seem to think that it's better if the engine runs cooler. That's wrong thinking. You want it to operate at the temperature the engineers designed it to operate at ...which is like 192 or 195 ..whatever the book says. Running an engine cool, like 160 wears the engine out prematurely. Change the thermostat back to what it should be and fix the overheating problem.

It could be that the thermostat was installed backwards, maybe the lower radiator hose is weak and at high speeds it's 'sucking' itself in (collapsing) and cutting off flow, I've had a water pump that the impeller would get warm as the engine warmed up and it would slip on the shaft ..something you can't see from the outside. Could be that someone installed the fan backwards and it's pushing air TOWARDS the radiator. Could be someone removed the fan shroud and it's sucking air AROUND the edge of the fan. Could be a bad head gasket too (look for air bubbles in the coolant tank), or plugged radiator ..although usually it's the smaller items I've listed up above. Never use tap water in the radiator, use filtered or even distilled water that doesn't have a lot of mineral in it. So, if you go can verify each of the things I listed are not the problem, it should cool fine.

3) Idle: I think your husband is onto something with the vacuum hose problem. In the engine compartment by the drivers fender is a vacuum line that goes through the firewall. That line often rots and is easy to miss. Put a vacuum gauge on it, should be 20 in of mercury and steady ...or in that range of 18-21 ...whatever the book says. Worst case plug all the vacuum ports and then try it. There is the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve which controls idle. Might remove and see if it's plugged or working.

I can't say about the grinding noise. Almost need to hear it.

Don't let these few issues disenfranchise you. Most of us have had to iron out similar and a lot more problems. Once you get them resolved you'll be having a lot of fun (and probably a bunch more issues!!)

 

Does anyone know which relay in the box is the ignition relay. Our internet is so incredibly slow, I can't get the "Rave" manual to load and it looks as though it is at the end of the manual.

 

I don't know about the start relay, but if you can't get the manual to download, you could always buy a copy off ebay:
Land Rover Discovery 1995 1996 1997 1998 Factory Service Repair Workshop Manual.
It's not much and would cost about the same amount as your time to download and burn a CD.

Also, I had it happen once on my D1 where a rodent must have packed an acorn on top the motor and it got lodged in a nook in the intake manifold where the throttle cable attaches to the throttle plate ...right there where the throttle-stop is. It idled high (very high) and like you I though there was something major wrong. Nope, just an acorn.

Most mfgrs wouldn't think of putting the throttle stop in a cavity that could potentially fill up or capture falling debris, but the good engineers at Land Rover did. Check that area, there's a slim chance something could have fallen in there preventing the throttle from fully retracting.

What's the deal with your internet? What kind do you have?

 

RH Footwell, see pic

 

ABS brakes are marginal when they work, and useless when thy fail! disconnect them and drive it old school!

Test the cooling system for pressure leaks. the coolant reservoir (the black ones) tend to crack and release pressure, which will cause overheating. Get the white ones as they hold up better.

 

What jim said. Mine just sprung a leak at the seam Saturday morning.

 

We only have a copper land line that has a speed of 3.0 I think. It's the only service available in our area for our home. We also have att for our phones and tablets but it's not that great either, hills in between us and the tower. We live eleven miles outside of Fairbanks, Alaska, basically in the wilderness. Five miles of state land between us and the road to Anchorage.