I--like an alzheimer's patient--ordered a 180 tstat from AB the other day (I posted a few months ago about problems associated with a Motorad unit I received on Amazon). I installed it in my Red Disco.

Well, I was driving home from the parent's house on Sunday and noticed white smoke coming from under the hood. Looked down at the ScanGauge and saw the temp jump from 193 to 200 degrees when I shut her down and pulled to the shoulder. For reference, I normally operate in the 188-193 range depending on the road travelled.

I got the hood open and the top hose from the radiator had blown off. I got it back on, looked things over, filled with coolant I (thankfully) keep in the truck, bled the system, and set off watching the ScanGauge like a hawk. After the near meltdown, the temp in the truck fluctuated between 188 and 195 for the remaining 60 miles to my house.

Yesterday I flushed the system--concentrating on the radiator--and refilled and bled. Nothing really unusual to report from that such as trash in the system or anything). Today I was driving home and saw the ScanGauge jump up to 197 and pulled off the road, opened the hood and the hoses were all hard as a rock, and likely near bursting. But I did notice one other thing, the bottom radiator hose is cold as ice while the others are too hot to touch.

I'm thinking my issues are associated with the new 180 degree thermo because whenever I reinstall the stock tstat everything is fine. But more importantly, why can't my truck run with run of these? Is it possible I got two bad thermos from two different sources? Or is the issue my cooling system? Radiator?

I pressure tested the cooling system yesterday and she held 15 psi for as long as I was willing to wait (10-15 minutes or so). Any ideas why I can't seem to use a 180 tstat?

 

Call AB and have them warranty the t/stat, sounds like it is not opening.
As for flushing the system, if there is much junk in the system, you can plug the new t/stat. Also with your mileage, your radiator i partially plugged and flushing won't help. This summer if you are running warm, you may need to change that along the a new pressure cap and viscus clutch.

 

Thanks, Mike. Always good hearing from you. I forgot to mention in the last post I replaced the pressure cap when switching to green coolant about 5 or 6 months ago, and got a new viscous fan at the same time (I tend to swap parts like that out BEFORE they fail lol).

I'll put in a call to AB. Should I risk replacing this thing? Or just go back to stock? Thanks.

 

You want to keep the 180, or else you'll be running over 200 ALL the time. Have them replace it.

 

Even with the stock unit I hang around 193-195 at most. Typically I'll cruise around 188-190 unless my ScanGauge is lying.

 

I've had the AB 180 tstat for awhile and have had zero problems. You may have just gotten a rare defective one. If you can replace it for free, I would.

 

Sorry to jump in but does anyone have a link for the 180 thermostat? I can't seem to find it, I've been meaning to get one

 

It's not the gray one like I got in the picture, but maybe that is a good thing lol

Land Rover Discovery II Replacement Thermostat

 

Awesome, thanks! Good luck with yours!

 

Thanks. We'll get her straightened out sooner or later.