I'm running a 2001 Discovery 2, about 120K miles. Over the past few days I noticed an odor of antifreeze in the garage and when I went out today, I noticed about half a mile from home that the Temp light was on with the engine still cold (it'd been running for about 2 minutes). This went away after 20 seconds or so. The temp went to normal, and shortly after starts overheating and stayed this way until I got it back in the garage a couple minutes later.

Now that it has cooled down I see that my reserve tank is mostly empty. Right now my garage floor is too wet with melted snow to know for certain if there is coolant too. I pulled the dipstick and my oil seems clear. I changed it about a month ago and it still looks clear and amber so I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the head gasket.

My plan right now is to order a thermostat and replace it for sure. Since I have to order it online (no nearby dealer) I'm looking at picking up a water pump at the same time and doing them both, and getting the rad. flushed at a shop when I get the parts replaced.

Does this seem like the way to go, or are there some further diagnostics I should be looking into. Please keep in mind that there are no dealers out here in Fargo, and whatever shop I bring it to probably doesn't get many discoveries.

Thanks.

 

Replace the t-stat and look for your leak.
You will need to have the system pressure tested to find it for sure.
The most common leak is the throttle body heater plate.
That will leak down onto your engine and evaporate and smell.
Easy DIY fix.
Atlantic British sells that gasket for $3.

 

They also sell a kit that includes the gasket, plate, and bolts/washers. I paid $32 at the dealer.

I just replacedit on my girlfriend's Disco II yesterday. When it overheats the plate warps and a new gasket won't help.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I ordered the thermostat, water pump, and throttle body heater plate kit. Hopefully they'll get here so I'll be able to put them in before the weekend!

Once I get them all in I'll be bringing it in to get the system tested under pressure, flushed, and refilled if things are looking good.

 

Let us know how it turns out.

 

Before you start ordering parts, determine the location of the leak, don't think replacing the t/stat will correct the smell of leaking coolant.
Fill and bleed the system, if you don't know how, get back to us. Your main thing is to locate the leak that caused the smell that caused it to overheat.

 

Thanks Mike. I am still planning on doing the water pump and thermostat but I'm also warming up the garage this morning so I can take a better look at it after work and hopefully locate the leak. Since I don't have a dealership nearby, I have a lag time of half a week to get parts.

So the water pump is getting replaced because I've had an occasional squeal under the hood that I haven't been able to locate so far (replaced all the pulleys and belt), the thermostat because it feels like it is stuck (to me) by the way it went right to overheating, and also the throttle body plate because it is a cheap replacement that I won't be able to get locally.

I figure that if it is a leaky hose or bad clamp, I'll be able to replace that with parts from here and if the water pump or thermostat were just fine, I'll have some spares.

 

Quick update: Lots of corrosion around the throttle body plate. Good likelihood this is (one of) the source of the leak(s). Hoping I'll have parts this week, otherwise the Discovery is grounded for the weekend.

 

Final update for this particular thread. Replaced the Thermostat and Heater Plate last week and it seems to have resolved the antifreeze loss and overheating. I'm not 100% certain yet because I haven't had it pressure tested, but so far no fluid loss.

One small problem though, I broke the head off my old style bleed screw so I had to take the upper hose off, remove all the internal bits and pieces, and then epoxied the old head back into the hole for a patch solution until the new style upper hose I ordered gets here late this week. Don't worry, I'm not planning on running it this way until I have a real fix.

Finally, The %$#*@!& water pump is still sitting in the box. I tried about 5 different methods of removing the fan clutch, but man that thing is on there! I'm probably just going to have to take it to the LR and have them do it.

Thanks for all the help, and at least I have a running Disco with a clean engine bay now.

 

Do you have a death wish for your engine???????????????????
Your upper radiator hose was discontinued over 4 years ago because of it's high failure rate.
Buy the new style hose with the up-dated "T" and bleed screw.