What are the radiator dimensions, height, width, and thickness of original Rover radiators, complete radiators; not just core, for both the D1 and the D2, as I think they differ slightly in size between D1 & D2? Thanks, Jack

 

You are correct thay they are two different animals. Were you thinking of building from scratch or adapting something? You can buy new aluminum ones for $200- $235. Even less on some of the ones that fit a D2.

 

Am considering complete modification, such as is commonly done on classic old Jaguar v12 engine cooling systems, for much improved cooling. Thinking of using a generic universal, all aluminum GM, Chevy radiator, 16" x 28" x 2.5" with 4 core copper cross flow design, as used by "externet" on this site. Similar conversion done to my Jaguar V12, so it damn well should work well too in the Rover.

 

The D1 rad was copper and brass, and I believe three rows. Simpler to deal with the D2, as it does not have oil cooler and tranny cooler built into the coolant radiator.

But perhaps a first phase could be the Land Rover (not moto rad) 180F thermostat. We have members with a decent radiator, that thermostat, towing a trailer at 65-70, in desert at 109F outside, with 195F coolant temp.

IMHO the design of the remote thermostat adds problems, as hot coolant has to flow through small metering holes on top, mix with colder returned coolant, and force thermostat to open inside the chamber of secrets. Any change to the size of those holes and the balance swings. Some guys remove that and do a 180F in-line, and report even more stable (less "swing") operation.

 

Going to a larger 3 or 4 tube is over kill and then you would be dealing more with trying to keep the engine at its proper operating temp, per the ecu, of around 185.
A 100% operating Rover radiator with a good viscus clutch and a 180 soft spring is all you need.

 

I have to agree with Discomike and Savannah, I just put a new factory rad and a new 180 degree genuine Land Rover t-stat in my D2 and get 188 degree while in the city which is awesome.

 

Feel this is worth mentioning.... I am going to go on a mini soap box here... apologies in advance....
The cooling system is fine.... when it works... and I mean everything in concert... LR wanted to save some money and so they didn't put on a low coolant sensor IMHO... WTF! Further, to add insult the gauge is worse than just not accurate, its downright misleading. In the past month Ive had four 03 disco's in the shop and on each I ran em through the paces with my diagnostic equipment on board. Looking to verify what I have found on others before.....

At extended idle, 3 of the 4 (all have under 125K on them) had a running temp of 241 deg!! and guess what, pegged straight midline on "gauge" in cluster. One didn't even cycle the AC fan! Running about town in a slow fashion they came down some but all ran hot. Of course they were good to go over 35 mph. Thing is, it's rarely over 75 degrees outside here and so this is really poor performance. Further, none have any real obvious symptoms of a viscous fan wear issue or other cooling system problems. (meaning obvious leaks of silicone-wobble- bind etc.)

Every one of them now has the 180 t-stat and a new fan. Now all run much lower, 203 average and that is a huge margin when you get into the operating temp of these rigs.

The only one that operated "as designed" has 78K on the clock. The fans do NOT generally fail all together, they diminish in ability to lock up so it's a slow death (for the engine too I would say with confidence)

Like front driveshafts and other tidbits, I would strongly suggest folks look at the fan as a "maintenance item" rather than a replace as fails issue. I run a true temp gauge now with full sweep, it's really enlightening to see the fluctuations on the real gauge vs oe gauge. left me wondering how long mine had been "okay" by oe gauge standards but really actually running hot in reality.... I would suggest everyone have two gauges that didn't come with vehicle, (oil pressure and coolant temp). Oil pressure is very telling to overall health of engine well in advance of failure. The light is a joke. If it's come on, it's really too late folks...

Lastly, setting up a dual variable fan with integrated shroud was very sucessful, I did it using a flexlite 295, a bit of trimming and no more mechanical. It's adjustable for tip in and off as well as manual override on or off depending on needs as well as kicking on with ac. Left the oe ac fan in place as a redundant as well. This really made keeping temps in range and adjustable. That ac fan doesn't command on by the ECU till 212 deg and I don't like seeing those temps when I don't have to. These motors are very sensitive to temperatures and really grow (expand) with temps. Thus, it's logical that getting it up to temp and managing same is critical.

That fan set up BTW ran a built 460 ford with single stage nitrous for several hard driving years and not a single issue cooling so going into this I knew it would handle this little bugger. It happened to be a great fit with a little massaging of the integrated shroud and I can change a belt or water pump etc without having to move a thing to get there. (stock shroud and related are no more obviously. A lot of folks will say an electric isn't efficient etc.... I can tell you from practical experience, under the hood of cars all day, this isn't true! A C-class mercedes as an example is all electric fan operated, has mounting thread boss just like the LR for a mechanical fan but doesn't use one. MOST cars have electrics whether by necessity (transverse mounted) or by design. It's more about directing the available air into and through the core with good shrouding than it is about CFM. Both in concert will give excellent results. Variable speed and a good controller makes for more control and so forth.

At any rate, if you are really bored, I mean REALLY bored....... There is actually a 30 page pdf on line that some LR engineer wrote on the cooling system in such detail I now feel like I took a CE class on the subject and explains so well the whole idea behind the system on the disco..... I can get the link if anyone wants it. The dude was hilarious in his details and dry English humor was injected every so often. For what it's worth, if you do the work to manage the system where LR fell short, I believe a lot of motors and ancillaries will live much longer. A few gauges and a good understandng of the systems are a very small investment vs. a new motor and related components. just sayin....

BTW.... I stand by my comment that it all works fine when ALL of it's working, I only did the fan set up to better manage and control temps and because I can't leave things alone.

If you have everything in place and working well, nothing to worry on.. I'll post a pic and instructions on the upgrade to the coolant tank (aluminum) complete with low coolant warning circuit as I finish it. Doing t-case presently so it's on the back burner at the moment.

 

Hello Bandit.
Yes, I would like to read such LR cooling report.
Thanks.

 

Hi, Bandit. I'd also like the link to the 30-page pdf written by the LR engineer about the Dscvry cooling system. Please post the link if/when you can.

I'm not going to pretend that I'll be able to apply the 30 pages of details provided to work to manage the cooling system where LR fell short (as many highly skilled techs can), but I'd like to better understand the system as is.

Plus, as you said, if I'm bored, there's the added bonus of hilarious details and dry English humor. Sounds just like a LR to me...

 

I would inject that the ability to have an electric fan come up to higher air flow, when temps hit a certain spot, is an advantage. With a 180F stat, you have dropped the operating temp range, but left the extra cooling fan up on the top shelf, takes a while to get to 212 and make it pop on. Being able to bring fan on sooner keeps the range of temps in a narrower range. Of course the D1 guys have fans that come on with the AC, and in my neck of the woods AC is life support.