Hello all,

After a little over a month with my Rover in my garage, I finally get to drive it again!

So my husband did all this stuff:

Replaced:

Headgaskets
Magna core wires
Bosch platinum plus 4 spark plugs
Thermostat, with inline 180 degree....
Water pump
Hoses
Coolant
And soon to be installed new ultra gauge, if it ever gets here.

So, why does it still sound like water is rushing through pipes in my dash. It doesn't sound like a waterfall anymore but you can hear coolant flowing in the pipes. Kinda like if you are standing in the basement and someone flushes the toilet upstairs you hear the water running through pipes. He is gonna top off the coolant tomorrow while parked up on my steep driveway to see if that makes a difference, but other then this he has no clue, and is sick of wasting coolant.

Anyhow just thought you guys would like to know how the repairs went

 

Well he deserves a pat on the back, it's not a quick job! Sounds like you have air in the system. Did he follow the RAVE (service) manual on how to bleed the system correctly?

I should also mention, parking it on a slanted driveway etc will not help your situation.

 

Yep, he has followed the RAVE manual for bleeding the system. And I am thinking I read the driveway thing on here and told him to try it. Last thing I want is the damn thing overheat again

 

• Have you tired massaging the upper and lower coolant hoses while the motor is running?
• Also park the right front wheel on a ramp.
• While a helper is holding the overflow tank up in the air.
• When freshly filling the system fill the tank at least 2 inches above the fill line. The system will find its preferred fill line.
• Put a bowl under the bleed screw and let it dribble out.
• You can almost use 3 people to do all this at once. Its a family affair at my house for this and brake bleeding. Your goal is to cycle those air bubbles out of the system.

 

Well done. Another question related to bubbles in system, because he did the in-line thermostat option. Did the new in-line thermostat have a small hole in the flange, or a "jiggle" device (usually brass) that rattled. See pix. The system needs such a device, to allow gas bubbles to pass by the thermostat when it is closed. If none, it will work with a 1/8 inch hole drilled in flange of thermostat.

Because of the in-line modification, your bleed process could be different from factory manual, or experiences of other stock thermostat config owners. I believe it will help if the coolant expansion tank is unbolted and raised higher during the process.

Some have reported swapping heater hoses and running engine 10 minutes to force out a bubble.

Hope he selected a 180F thermostat for the new set up.

How about some pix of this work? (Tell him you have 300 inspectors coming - lol)

 

x2 "holding the overflow tank up in the air'

 

Yep, it is the 180F thermostat, plus we are waiting on the ultra gauge, on back order.

That darn thing parked in my garage gets more TLC then I do lately. Now all this talk about lifting it up and massaging it, good grief

So he did lift the overflow tank while filling but will try again while standing on his head.

BTW Buzz, he drilled a hole in the inline thermostat, whatever that means.

My question is: if he put in over 2 gallons of coolant and we still have some air bubbles, what does it matter, will it damage it if I drive it like that? It's kind of calming listening to running water while driving

 

He'll conquer it. With every space added up, it holds three gallons per the RAVE. But you usually don't get all of it out when drained. While some cooling of surfaces is impacted by bubbles, so many people drive around with that sound it must not make a lot of difference. Now the real problem is that the bubble noise also tells you that air or exhaust gas is getting into the system. And that could mean a problems with a gasket, etc. There is a chemical test that tests the coolant for "products of combustion (exhaust) " being present, but it is like $50 and dioes maybe 15 tests.

The drilled hole is a good thing. It will let bubbles pass even if stat is closed, and keep from building up a big bubble around the stat.

Some shops use a variety of vacuum tools to suck out the air inside the cooling system, then allow it to fill with less bubbles. I guess you might be able to do some of this with a shop vac (not household vac - extreme shock hazard). See Air Lift | Automotive Topics for ideas. Any coolant you slurped into a clean shop vac could be re-used.

 

Hey Buzz, He doesn't have any pics from the headgaskets repair, since I updated my phone and lost some pics. I could get a pic of the inline thermostat after installation but I have no idea how to put pictures on this forum.

Still hear flowing under the dash.....so I am curious why this isn't normal. All those hoses are not filled with coolant at all times are they? Is the system pressurized? Would you get flowing noises when the thermostat is opening up and coolant is moving through the hoses? Just a thought not that I have a clue, just wish it were normal. I think I will call the Land Rover Service guy and see what he thinks. Good night all, Monica

 

Oh but yes, the design has all those hoses full of coolant at all times. From stone cold start the system pumps coolant thru the heater core hoses, you have vent flaps that move to adjust heated air on/off. Coolant also moves through the throttle body hoses, and also through the other hoses including the ones he added. The inline stat keeps major quantity from moving until it opens, but the vent hole he drilled allows gas bubbles (if any) to pass by and a small flow of water to make it through the system.

Cooling system is pressurized to some extent as soon as water pump starts turning, and as heat increases the pressure can increase. If steam bubbles, it can get so much pressure the coolant reseve cap can vent at about 18 - 20 PSI.

If no bubbles you don't hear the sounds.

What you have to consider with the bubble noises - (a) is it just air or could it be another head gasket leak and the noise keeps coming back or getting larger [there is a $50 test for exhaust gas in coolant that will confirm or deny that], (b) if it is air is it getting in at some hose connection, which may also be leaking, (c) are the bubbles as a group so large that they impact cooling by creating a hot spot inside the engine or by keeping the thermostat in a steam room instead of a hot tub. [the little hole he drilled should take care of that]

But a large number of guys on this site drive with that noise....