I have a 2003 HSE Discovery with I suspect a blown head gasket. I I’ve started tearing it down and am to the heads. If I find just a bad head gasket then I’ll go back with ARP studs and see how that goes.
I’m thinking about rerouting the cooling. having a housing machined to put the thermostat at the intake and do away with all the original Land Rover equipment. Has anyone else made a modification like this

 

What were your temps before the issues ??

 

pretty normal until failure. This is my second engine and I’m trying to address weaknesses in the design. I see post from people having overheating issues and am wondering if rerouting the cooling system might help prevent future problems

 

what is normal ,??

 

It wasn’t overheating, and then it was.

 

The design you are looking to replicate is similar to the D1 intake manifold, where the therm is machined into the upper coolant neck passage. A decent machine shop could make that happen.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

Why not just buy an inline thermostat?
Like this(not mine pictured)

 

I'm going to move this to the Dll forum, so you will get more views.

 

I ordered the housing for the in-line for now but really like the idea of machining the intake. I called a machine shop about an hour and a half away( closest one ) but they aren’t sure they can do it.
I have the heads off and it’s definitely a bad head gasket. I’ve ordered the ARP stud kit and gaskets set, new fan clutch, new water pump and am waiting for arrival.
I’ve also decided to do away with the secondary air. I have a 2000 disco 2 parts truck that does not have secondary air can I just swap computers and be alright?