hey guys! i am brand new to rovers.

i am looking at buying a 2002 disco with 126k

its idles very well. revs nicely no obvious egnine issues. oil looks good no cheese on the dipstick or filler cap.

has 2 codes. one for an o2 sensor and one for the traction control.
ther front windows dont roll down.
now for the real issue. the owner said he had a radiator leak and had a mechanic put in a new rad. it was a local guy not a land rover mechanic. after the rad was replaced the truck started getting hot. the owner said it never let it overheat. he took it back to the same mechanic who replaced the water pump. same symptoms persist.

my inspection:
after about 20m of idling is starts to get got. the top radiator houses get very hot and the overflow starts spurting water-steam out of the cap on the overflow tank. however the bottom hose is cold and cold water starts runnimg down the right hand side of the onto the ground. i couldnt see exactly where the cold water was coming from because the frame was in the way.

my thoughts:

thermostat
air in the system
fault new rad
bad head gasket
bock cracked

i am new to these rigs. what are your thoughts on the overhesting issue.

sorry for how this was written. i am on my mobile phone.

thanks,
barr

 

test your coolant for CO2 you can get a kit at your local auto parts store, also have them check you recovery tank cap, or simply replace it for $20.00

 

Welcome !
From your explanation, I would venture to say the coolant is not flowing trough the radiator.
When cold, the engine sends coolant from engine block outlet back into the block inlet as the thermostat routes it that way.

When temperature rises, the thermostat is meant to block that recirculation and send the coolant to the radiator. I do not see that is happening. Replacing the pump seems was a mechanic guessy action.

You still need to diagnose the thermostat action and confirm or not exhaust gas presence in the coolant due to head gasket leak.

 

Additionally, many guys don't know how to properly bleed a cooling system on a D2. You may be on to something when you say 'air in the system' if you mechanic didn't bleed it correctly. Search this forum for further info!

 

i havent bought it yet. i was only able to look at it a the sellers house. i basically wanted to know the odds of whether or not it is an easy fix or a cracked block or head gasket.

thanks,
barry

 

My first guess is it wasn't bled properly or enough. X2 on the tests to verify. Good luck.

 

There could be a leak from comb. chamber into cooling system (head gasket), if it really overheated B4 to a point that blown head gasket,,,
But I think the original reason it over heated was a bad thermostat,! That put extra pressure on radiator,,
If owner didn't replace it, that is still the problem,!!
Because even with air in system, when it gets hot , still should open thermostat, & run some degrees hotter than normal,but not overheat.
But seems like it doesn't open t-stat, and probebly over pressure makes the bottom connecting hose to t-stat leak cold water from Radiator,
But since you don't have truck in your possession , you really can't go trough these details (change t-stat & tighten all hose clamps & bleed system properly) to find out for sure,
I really don't know if you want to spend time & money to try figure out problem on a truck that isn't yours, yet.
Unless come to some kind of agreement with owner,
And even after you sort out t-stat & hose leaks, still can have a bad head gasket,

 

I don't know what kind of $ you're talking about with the seller, but as with any vehicle, problems like this should be a big bargaining chip in the discussion of selling price.

 

how much should i pay for it if i wanted to gamble? i was going to offer 500.00

 

Less than 1K.

A cracked block will cost you a minimum of 1K for a used, just OK, motor and then your time to install. Plus you will end up putting in a cooling system etc. So, you do the work and you are still looking at 2K once done installing a used motor.

4-7K for a rebuilt motor. Plus all the time and headache.

Pre 03/04 discos are going for next to nothing here in CA. My friend just bought and 01' with 120K miles, very clean, a few small issues, nothing major for $1500.