Definitely do the Extinct mod. I don't know much about the electric fan mod but several here have done it and would switch back. I have the Hays-Dorman fan/clutch swap which works great.

 

Good to know. I am still learning so much about these vehicles and what are the best modifications etc. Glad there is this forum and all you great people that are willing to help and share opinions. I'd be lost without it.

 

I am one of the ones switching back from the electric fan... It works fine as advertised however... There is no benefit of added HP or MPG... The reason I would change back is the major flaw in this is that the E Fan requires electricity to cool your engine, obviously... If your alternator fails when you are in the middle of nowhere your fan will suck up all the juice in the battery leaving you with much less time to get to help. In my experience you will get about 18 to 20 minutes before the truck shuts down completely. This may not be a problem if you never leave the city.

As for the inline mod, that is a fine option but not primary to your current situation. Ideally yes do it... but if you are just trying to get back on the road you'll be fine with the TD5 thermostat until you find out if you have bigger issues. I would work on finding whether you have head gasket issues or not first.

 

Good to know about the fan. Makes total sense. Mostly this disco will be a beach vehicle for me, I'd hate to get stuck out there because the fan took all the juice from the battery. I saw the added MPG as something that might be a good reason to go to the electric fan, but if that isn't real then there is no point.
I agree I need to figure out if it is the cooling system or the gaskets and plan on doing those tests ASAP. Probably this weekend. I just made a mistake with the coolant and need to flush it first. I figured while I was in there I would swap out the thermostat. It's not a big job but save a little time. Of course, if it's the head gaskets, I will have all the time I need.

 

By any chance can anyone recommend a flushing method? I'm seeing many different ways to accomplish this. I see the RAVE manual suggests pulling the plugs on the block which I hear is either hard or easy to do depending on the post. I have also seen people using a water hose from the garden to run water through the system until clear. While my water is pretty good, I feel distilled would be a better choice to not get deposits built up in the radiator. That brings me to what I was planning:

• Remove the lower hose and drain.
• Reattach, and fill the reservoir with distilled water
• Run the truck for ~2 minutes.
• Repeat 2-3 times until the water coming out is mostly clear.
• Reattach bottom hose, fill with 50/50 green mix
• Place reservoir on battery area, loosen the bleeder valve, and bleed air from the system
• Reattach reservoir.

Am I missing anything or will this accomplish my goal?

 

lift the reservoir up in the air while it runs to better bleed it at the end.
park the vehicle facing uphill if possible or drive it up on ramps if you have it as well, which will help with bubbles.

use distilled water.

I'd recommend replacing any brittle hoses and plastic connectors while it's empty. do the inline thermostat or at minimum 180degree genuine thermostat while it's empty.

 

Definitely replace the brittle plastic. There is a flexibile rubber hose that can be used for the overflow.

I would even pull the hoses off the heater core and put your hose on it to flush that out specifically, its good mtc but also keeps the heater working.

 

I'd check the coolant for exhaust gases first, before flushing. Exhaust gases are trapped in the coolant system, if you drain it...you will not get an accurate reading until you bring engine up to temp for a period of time. Read the direction on testing kit, it will tell you the correct procedure for running test.

 

The more I thought about it the more I drew the same conclusion. First thing in the morning I am going to do that test. If it is the gasket, I'm going to put it in the garage and drain the coolant and start working on disassembly. I don't have to rush it, but it'll be nice to figure out what I need to make it right and start down that path. Here's to hoping it is just something with the cooling system! I'll report back in the morning after the test.

 

So I have been doing this combustion test all morning. The first time, I did something stupid while trying to use the vac-lines for suction. The second time I got a TON of coolant in the tester (See Pic). The third time was the charm! I had my Foxwell 510 plugged in to monitor the temp while doing the test. Temp was hovering between 97C and 99C (206 - 210F roughly) with the heaters running full blast in the truck. I let the test bubble for 3 or so minutes and no color change at all. At the very end I applied a little too much suction and pulled more coolant in and it immediately turned the color from the picture. I'm going to do the test one more time (I'm a scientist by training so the more data points the better I feel about it) and live with the results. If it passes this my plan is to change the coolant (again, my dumb mistake) and run a pressure test once that is done. I have the in-line mod from extinct on the way as well as an ultraguage. Thinking I will just replace the whole cooling system pending the pressure test.