1994 Disco with 160,000. I towed a car the other night, with a tow dolly. The suv weighed about 3,750lbs. I towed it up a long hill in 1st gear about 2,800RPM. It got to the upper white line on temp gauge. I idled with heater on at top of hill till engine cooled to normal. I got home no overheating. The next day I tried starting it and it didn't want to start, like the engine was flooded was what it reminded me of. I revved it a bit and it cleared itself. It does this everytime i start it cold, i rev a little bit, and then it's fine. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Are you loosing coolant? You changed your oil after overheating correct? You could have definitely warped your cylinder heads, for the needle to move the engine would have had to of been really hot. It's more of an idiot light than a gauge.

 

I have not yet changed the oil, I am going to pull the harmonic balancer and get it welded and machined and install a new front main oil seal first. Also, it does it hot or cold. Like the engine is flooded, and misses untill the fuel/air mixture leans out. My friend said he cooked his O2 sensor by overheating his camaro....

 

Even with dead O2 sensors (a false lean condition) my experience is that your engine will just run a bit rough due to the extra fuel, it would not cause your engine not to not start. Rent a scanner and see if the O2 sensors are responding correctly. You have a code if they were dead though. Is your CEL light on? Are any cylinders misfiring or running rough? Though not the issue, your oil is more than likely fried I would change it ASAP even of you plan on dumping it again. 6 quarts of rotella 15w-40 and a filter is $20. That is if you are driving the truck around.

 

let me rephrase, it does start every time hot or cold, it just has a hard time. I have new ignition parts on it and it used to start up no problem, but now it's as if there are oil or gas on the plugs and it starts and runs really rough untill i rev it up, or let it idle for 10-15 seconds, sounds like multiple missings cylinders.

 

I think you should buy/rent a scanner that reads live data and see what cylinders are running rough and then pull those plugs to see if there is any coolant in the cylinder.

 

He has a '94, he cant rent a OBDI scanner BUT there is a LCD screen under the passenger side dash that will give you the trouble codes.

Here is what I would do, tommorrow morning before you try and start it pull each spark plug as see how they look.
Are they covered in oil? Gas? Coolant?
Also with them all out you can crank the engine over and see what comes out of the spark plug holes.

 

My bad did not it was that old. I still believe the OP is barking up the wrong tree with the O2 sensors.

 

I am almost fearing a blown headgasket. I will check tomorrow morning, take all plugs out, turn it over, and check the plugs also. Thank you.

 

Good luck let us know what you find.