OEM stat's have a better reputation than non. The 180 is the soft spring stat which is what I bought, and have been running in the past. I've had both OEM and non, and both have failed out of the box.

Correct

I should have a couple back in Missouri. I'll have a better idea when I head back in a month.

 

Great! Then maybe one day I too can hold in my hand the infamous bad stat.

How long did you drive this thing before it overheated etc? Did the temp climb and then you shut it off or did you actually run it awhile at 220?
Did you jack it up, elevate the bottle, squeeze the hoses?

 

It was driven for about a week with no issues. Then all of sudden the temps would start creeping up.

We elevated the bottle, squeezed the hoses, vacuumed the system, and ran it to burp out the air. The system was completely air free, and I'm 100% sure of that.

 

Mine does that time to time. I just bled it again last week. It happens. Some people think the cooling system on these things is trouble free like an old Chevy or an old ford. Where you can go years and years and not add a drop. Rovers arent all like that. Theres times when I go 6mos and everything stays at the same point. Then, you wake up and your bottle is low with no trace of where it went.

What's your idle at?

Does it drop when you give it a little gas?

 

Hope all is well! Did you ever get the issues sorted out?

 

I think so, but not 100% sure just yet.

We had the Rover shipped to Oregon, and it arrived a couple weeks ago. We'll be able to pull the cooling system apart once our garage is cleaned out from a recent remodel. I'm pretty confident the issue the entire time has been bad thermostats, and solution to this is converting to an inline thermostat.

 

The old drop in a pot of boiling water will always prove if a Thermostat is faulty or not. Mis-marked from 180F to 195F has certainly happened, but I'll say it again "if" it opens in boiling pot of water the Thermostat isn't bad. You can use an Infrared Thermometer to get an idea on the opening temp's.

I've got a 500.00 D2 that I'm once again tinkering with & it's coolant system was a mess. Badly sealed waterpump which I replaced, broken T which I replaced, pinhole in lower hose at the waterpump, and I went ahead and swapped out the original 195F Thermostat for another new 195F I had laying around. I also swapped out the fan blade/fan clutch. Since my copper T doesn't have the bleed screw I've still got some decent air in the system. Temps are in the 205-211F range right now, but if I rev the engine the temps will go down to 200-202F. I'm guessing the original radiator is probably pretty clogged. I will get a new Britpart 180F thermostat and see how that does. If it still acts up I'll order a new radiator.

The inline Thermostat is okay, but so is a 180F original design Thermostat. I am not a fan of cutting the shroud for the inline thermostat, and I don't like all the extra clamps either. To me it looks crappy, and "if" I ever was to attempt the inline thermostat I'd keep the Thermostat in the same OEM location, and just slap a 90 in vs the T. It should still work & certainly would look cleaner, however I have no need for it as the 180F thermostat keeps me in the 188-210F range without any issues.

 

Glad to hear you're getting after it...and not letting her win. Hopefully, you find the issue soon and put this to rest.

​​​​​​​ Brian.

 

Glad to see radiators finally in the 50-100 range! I remember when OEM D2 radiators were 600.00.

 

I will agree that the inline stat is not very appealing. At the same time I ready to deal with that in hopes of only having to pull apart the cooling system one more time. That being said, I do have 1 new OEM 180* stat that was shipped out with the Rover. I will most likely give that a try before I start cutting things up. I like your idea of keep the stock look, and putting the inline stat in the factory location!

Mike