Regardless of temp, check the tiny holes at top of stat for crud. Blocking those holes reduces flow of hot coolant to the stat for operation.

 

I may do that. I also have the old one that worked. I can put it back and see what happens. I didn't see the before and after temps before I installed the temp gauge. I just put infrared on the radiator, and temps were pretty varying. About 50F difference between inlet and outlet ports. I put the beam on the srtingers (not the fins). Bad radiator?

 

My D1 has a copper radiator that got rodded out. I checked the other day, and it was within 5 degrees top to bottom on the fins. Engine off.

 

Do you check on just one side (driver or passenger)? Mine was a big difference all over. Mostly cool (100F) where the fan is. Everywhere else varied from 112-189F.

 

Like I said, when not running. On a D1 you would have to have skinny fingers to get at the front side, home of leaves and muck inbetween the condenser and the radiator. I did the engine side. The rows in both radiators are horizontal. Measuring in/out is not the way to go, but going top to bottom in same vertical line can help you detect sludge build up. If build up blocks enough of the radiator, the air passing over the fan clutch face plate may be cooler and delay when the fan comes back to full power.

I had a Chevy diesel work truck, the shop pulled the radiator and it took two guys, they said it weighed 150 pounds from all the calcium. Land Rovers did not invent clogged radiators. But folks that don't read the owner manual (24 months or 30,000 miles on coolant swap).... Can you imagine if the 2000 D2 some one bought has had six coolant flush and replace?

However, in one model change, to the LR3, we now just have to change coolant every 10 years or 150K or some such hogwash. Yes the new stuff is better. But not that much better.

 

The Alt may be spinning all the time but there is a huge diff between no load spinning and full load. Those fans draw a lot of power on full juice, "stereo" guys upgrade their alternators all the time because of it AND its a pulse draw as opposed to continuous.

Now i'm not saying electric fans are bad, but i can guarantee you that you will see an MPG drop with the fan blasting all the time vs the good working clutch fan. Remember the internal clutch releases when air starts to flow over it and cool it down. Effectively its free wheeling anytime you have sufficient airflow from driving, which is anytime above 30mph.

Install a thermostatic controller with a manual override, run an Ultraguage with alarms set for max temps and you'll be good.

 

I personally think even a fan running continuously would save MPGs over a good working clutch fan, but it's silly to install one without the controller. Electric motors have a life span and not running it all the time would also prolong the fan, saving even more money over the long run.

There's something reassuring about being able to push 3,300 CFMs at idle!