2002 Disco, 60k miles. Replaced the T-stat, removed the WP and it is fine. Engine runs hot but water never goes through the radiator. Radiator and lower hose always cold. I've purged for hoursper the manual (I know the drill, elevate the exp tank, open the bleed screw, pour slowly till steady flow out the bleed screw...). I've done this on flatground as well as ona steep hill in every direction. Also tried bleeding with engine running, w/ heater on and off. But always the radiator and lower hose (bottom of t-stat) stays very cold.

Heater blows hot so i know water is circulating through the block with the WP. The water pump can circulate through the block through the two passages in the pump The water though is not getting to thewater pump from the third opening->the lower hose. I flushed the radiator for hours in both directions and it is always perfectly free flowing, definetly not plugged. How do you get the air pocket out of the lower hose???I've worked on a ton of cooling systems and never been this stumped!!! help please.

Other info:
no coolant leak
no combustion gases in the coolant system
oil is clean (no water)

Thinking of temporarily pinching off the hose on top of the T-stat (not the WP feed)with hose plier when t-stat opens to force air out as i have no other ideas.

 

I would check the radiator as its most likely stopped up.

If you pull the t-stat out and run it with out it and it does the same thing,its the radiator.

 

radiator is free flowing.

 

Your t-stat is in backwards.

 

wrong

 

wow, pretty cocky for someone that is asking for help. the tstat can go on two ways, the upper hoses switched. personally, i always use an airlift, and suck the cooling system to a vac, and allow coolant to be pulled back in, i find this to be the absolute best way as youre left with no possibility for an air pocket. but it sounds like your tstat isnt opening, just need to figure out why... if you still have the old one you replaced, try taking the guts out of it and installing it, this will check to see if its not flowing through the rad or if its being stopped by the tstat. also you want to run the engine and take off the overflow cap, you should have a steady stream goiing into it from the hose that goes in it by the cap. and lastly, take the cap off, run it at about 2500 rpm until its nice and hot, dont worry when coolant starts to blow out of the bottle, its the air getting out, just watch the temp gauge, have someone keep topping it off when the bottle gets low, but be careful. do this on flat ground or with the nose higher then the back.

 

You need to check your tire pressure. This is a classic case of low tire PSI.

 

i think you might be on to something spike... and by the way, since when does c-o-c-k-y get bleeped out

 

Sorry for the short stated response that appeared cocky. The thermostat can be put on backwards but it isnt. One branch (angled one on top) is labeled 'pump" and that is the one that is connected to the water pump hose.

Further development, I ran the car on a steep hill (nose up, as well as sideways) with the heater on. But this time I reved the enginerapidly for 5 minutes in each position (reved between idle and ~3k). After this drill the water in the expansion tank went down a quart. Topped it off and continued to rev as before. Finally the radiator got hot! Amazingly within minutes the radiator gets cold again when just idling. It seems that purging all the air required gunning the engine many times and the radiator only getts hot if i cycle the RPM agressively.

Hope this helps someone else.

 

I guess i got a bit cocky because you wrote




"Your t-stat is in backwards. "Maybe your t-stat is in backwards" probably would not have triggered my curt response. In any case rover7i really appreciate your generous help and suggestions. Alot more informative than the tire pressure comment.