OK I have had intermittent heat or maybe more precisely it seems the heat only gets hot when the engine is revving above idle. This just really occurred to me now as my overheated engine light just came on. My coolant was down to bottom of the reservoir so I filled that. I looked for leaks after I filled it with the engine running for 10 minutes but nothing really jumped out.

My next thought is to change out the thermostat. I see they are only around $20 bucks and look like there are 3 connections to it. Is this something that is easy to repair? I have never really worked on a car but I am fairly mechanically minded. Is it just a matter of draining the coolant, pulling some hoses off the old thermostat, putting the hoses on the new thermostat and the filling and bleeding the coolant?

If that does not fix it what is next the Water Pump?

I am in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area and my mechanic is not Land Rover Savvy so I usually have to look on here and then tell him what to do. Any help would be appreciated.

 

water pump.
Although the no leaking missing fluid would make me check my oil for moisture. Head gasket scare if the leaking coolant can't be found.
all of the above could be fixed in your garage with some time. The motor is no different than a small block chevy from the old days.

 

You have no heat because you are low on coolant, at low engine rpm there is not enough coolant in the system for the water pump to push everywhere.
At higher rpm the water pump pushes the coolant everywhere.
You dont need a new thermostat, you need to find your coolant leak.
The throttle body heater plate and head gaskets are the two most common leaks on DII's.

 

So if it is the head gasket I am in pretty deep $$$ correct? To Diagnose this, do I have to drain the oil and look for coolant in it to confirm? How would I diagnose the throttle body heater plate leak?

 

Fill it up and bleed it (search for procedure). Then monitor your levels religiously, looking for physical leaks. Check it every day and keep you eyes on the temp gauge. You can have the coolant system pressure tested, and it will show you where the leaks are. You can pull your dipstick to look for coolant in the oil. It will be milky. If this is the case, stop driving it immediately.

 

Remove the oil fill cap and look on the bottom of it for a white milky goo, that is a tell tale sign of water/coolant in the crankcase.
As well as the same goo on the oil dipstick.
As for the t-body heaterplate look all around the t-body, follow the hoses to it and feel for anything wet.
That is a easy cheap fix.
Head gaskets are ~$1500.

 

OK I will look in the morning. As far as bleeding the coolant this is what I did can you tell me if it is correct? I filled the reservoir and then pulled it out of it's mount and set it up on the battery lid and the level lowered a bit after a few minutes. I did not see any valve to loosen like some people said. Mine just had an open tube pointing down where the excess dripped.

 

you might mean 1500 at the dealer?
Full parts with bolts are like $250 and a long saturday in the garage. In any rate, it is not fun.
Actually, you are correct. The Dealer would probably be a lot more than an honest shop.

 

The engine needs to be running and the heater on while you are bleeding the cooling system.
The coolant needs to be moving through everywhere there might be air so it can push the air out.
Leave the radiator cap off while you bleed the system, and the thermostat needs to open up so the engine needs to be running for awhile.

The dealer will charge close to $3500 for headgaskets, a indy shop is around $1500.
The parts are cheap but it is a very labor intensive job.

Before you jump to any conclusions bleed the system and then look for leaks.
It would be best to have the system pressure tested, that way you can look/feel around for leaks on a cold engine and not have to worry about getting burned.

 

Great thanks for all the replies. I will do some trouble shooting in the morning and keep an eye on the coolant level.