I just did a major overhaul on my coolant system.
-New waterpump
-New Alum Radiator with stant pressure cap on rad, left OEM expansion tank
-New TB heater
-New Coolant Lines to replace plastic ones
-New Coolant Sensor
-Ultragauge
-New Range rover fan and clutch
-New 180F Thermostat

My question is now Im reading disco2s Max before death temps are 230F, Im running 196-207 at lights and shutting her down and starting back up I see 225s at the worst on the ultra gauge.

Should I go for a lower warm climate T-stat mod with lower than 180F open temps? Should I be severely worried here? Id hate to warmer climate T-stat and hit winter here and have other issues...

 

225 is a high for all that new cooling product, especially the 180F thermo.

 

I installed a geniune Land Rover 180 thermostat with 50/50 coolant mix a couple of weeks ago.

I am now getting 183 to 197 deg. This is about an average 10 deg drop from using the original thermostat).

** Did you bleed the cooling system for air?

** What coolant/water mix did you use?

** Did you install a geniune Land Rover or Motorad OEM thermostat? (there was a recent discussion about both types).

 

Who's radiator did you install that had a coolant cap on the radiator, that is not a new Disco radiator?

 

Fan blade mounted with cupped edge toward block? A paper towel should suck against the grille. We have members that have posted pix of 183F at 65mph in desert, and report 195 F when towing a trailer at 65 mph in 109F temps. With the Rover 180F stat (not motorad).

 

Savannah is right. I get high 190s low 200s uphill 1st gear off road in 100+ desert weather and that is with the rover TD 5 t-stat, new pump and cap and a questionable radiator and fan clutch (o record of them being changed).

I would expect you to do a tad better. I can sometimes see 210 on the gauge restarting before a cool down, but it drops down to 185 within 3 seconds as soon as the pump starts moving the fluid around.

 

Does this new radiator have a fan shroud?

 

I would point out that people can do lots of work to a cooling system and have any of these (and more):

fan belt routed wrong

bad fan clutch or new fan clutch and soon to go bad water pump

fan mounted reverse

Shroud missing or incomplete

electric fan not operating, or wired to run backwards

coolant cap loose or old and venting at lower pressure

leak at any hose anytime

radiator fins blocked with mud and leaves and trash and plastic bag

old radiator flushed but all the junk is so dry it doesn't come out

thermostat metering holes on top plugged up with trash from other work on the system, moves operating temps around

Coolant loss from ???

gurgles under dash - air bubbles (you hope) or exhaust gas (head gaskets or worse)

Low coolant is a stealth motor killa. Low enough to not cool as well, and the heat sensor for the temp gauge is just touching steam instead of hot water, and the gauge keeps whipsering that everything is OK, it is 50%. Pretty soon it has been to the Colonel, for extra crispy.

 

Aux fan has never worked, Im thinking about adding electric fans with the mechanical to help kill this issue or just delete the thermostat for open flow. My fear is winter of course. Going to check into the aux fan connection and make sure it even works before adding electric fans to the circut.

School me in this though, when the air is in the engine bay after it is pulled through the hot condenser, trans, oil coolers, how is it supposed to escape? I just dont see a way for it to exit with the same flow intensity going in, wouldn't that in itself be a choke point?

I do have a shroud, and yes the rad is thicker some not stock, its a chevy all aluminum. I also have removed the warming cover underneath the hood. I thought I bled it enough but I may not have since I wanted to try it out, I could open the vent cap up and bleed that way and see if it changes the result at the sensor

 

how about under the vehicle where most air escapes from.
Also removing your t-stat will mostly make your problem worse,
as the coolant will just rat race threw the radiator without being cooled.