How about the electric AC condenser fan under the grille? Is it working? Fan clutch firm, not freewheeling when warmed up? And you can eval your rad with an IR thermometer, top to bottom on the fins, should not be more than 10F cooler on the bottom rows. Maybe some Irontite has sealed up part of the radiator?

I also have a theory on radiator flush. The gunk "grows" inside the lower rows. You use a flush product, it liquifies some of the calcium growth, circulates it over the whole system, coating every surface on the inside, and remaining is flushed out. Kinda like having wool socks on in the summer, then adding long handled underwear. Results may be worse than what you start with. New rad is always the best performance choice, just not the cheap choice.

 

Old condenser fan was completely frozen stuck. Got a new motor from the boneyard out of a 2002-ish corolla, and it seems to work fine. Spins fast and turns on with the A/C. As mentioned couple posts ago, I sat in a drivethru line for about 10 min with the A/C in 75* weather and never went over 194. So, it at least works properly sometimes

Fan clutch only 4500 miles old as well and only goes 1/8-1/4 turn when warm.

I noticed when swapping thermos that all the Irontite coating the hoses had washed off. That stuff must be floating around in there, but at least it aint much. Guess you should clean or replace the hoses after treatment.

 

5000 Mile Update

With temps in the 40-50* range and the heater on Hi with low fan, engine temps are 183-188 99% of the time with spikes to 190-194 when sitting for a bit after high speed.

Had a bit of a scare yesterday. Temps went up to 221 as I pulled into my cousins wedding. Open the hood to find a boiling coolant bottle. Feared the worst, but realized I didnt tighten the cap after doing some hose replacing earlier in the day. Cooled, refilled, bled, tightened the cap and everything has been fine.

Occasional SAI and and a front O2 code, but they stay away for a while after clearing.

 

Same here. I had cylinder 4 misfire codes and used Irontite. Also replaced the rad after ceramic coating the cooling system (bypassed heater core during the process as well). I couldn't be happier with the results. No codes and smooth running for 6k-7k miles. At least I avoided replacing the head gaskets (again) or replacing the block for a while. But as things go, you never know for sure.

P.S.: just picked up an LR3!

 

Nice!

And yeah, the Discos have whet my wife's appetite for an LR3 or L322 :P

 

Had a rough idle and p0305 when I started the truck to go to lunch. First time in about a month.

 

8000 Mile Update

Since the last post I had been getting a P0305 at start up most mornings and slowly narrowing down cooling system leaks. Heater hoses, radiator vent to upper coolant bottle. I think these were the source of the slow loss of coolant.

We decided to a Thanksgiving road trip to the Iron Range. The morning we were leaving I did a little prep.

- Put a bottle of Redline in the gas (since this seemed to get rid of the P0305 before).

- Topped up the coolant, noticed a new leak at the TB heater hoses. Gotta change that out soon.

- Topped up the oil and had a little cream on the cap. The dipstick looked fine, but this was a concern seeing as we were about to drive 300 miles into a snowstorm.

In light of cap cream I brought a small toolkit, gloves, paper towels, Kseal and a bottle of prestone. Note: this emergency funpak all fits nicely in one of those rear bins.

Long story short:

Funpak was not needed.

P0305 on startups stopped shortly after the trip and havent returned since (about 1500 miles). Why does the Redline seem to temporarily cure this?

My traction control and ABS work great.

Rovers are fun as hell in snow

 

what's that 9-10 months now?

 

Based on the thread dates, January is month 9.

I really need some new shocks and springs...not sure If I should trust the results yet

 

nice.
Glad to hear it is all working out.

I drove a 1991 Range Rover in 2004 on the NYS thruway.
Had new tires.
Snow storm.
When I got to Boston, it was the only vehicle on the road in the outer suburbs.