I was in Death Valley today and at the end of a dirt road, I stopped to air up. The car was idling in 90+ degree weather with the ac on max. After filling a few of the tires, I noticed the ticking noise the engine normally made sounded different. I looked at the dash and the temp gauge was between half and 3/4. Immediately I turned off the ac and put the heat to full blast.

I connected my Bluetooth scanner and a minute later when it connected, it said the temp was 230.

I started driving on the pavement and it soon went down to 215 as I sped up and down to the normal temps of 190 when I started going down hill.

Would this temperature damage the head gaskets?

Is this temperature normal when idling in hot weather with the ac? Radiator, thermostat and hoses are new, so does my fan clutch have an issue?

 

If you ask for a guess, am venturing to say engine is not harmed from that event. But torturing an engine by idling with the airconditioner on at such ambient temperature, that is your Rover-abuse fault by aiming to your comfort instead of respecting an engine. Deserves some spanking; or keep preferring your comfort until your engine die$. Want safety? Toss the thermostat to the garbage can and block the bypass cooling path for hot climates.

 

Fan clutch and water pump are where I'd look. Clutch is obviously easier and cheaper to start with.

 

If you run the system pressurized i.e. coolant cap fully tight, yes likely damaged somewhat. Maybe not fullly blown, but you used up 8 1/2 of the 9 lives. Immediately go to unpressurized system and an inline thermostat with a 170 degree thermostat and you might get 2 more years out of it. https://extinctmotorsports.com/the-e...s-10-min-read/

What was the temp in death valley? 230 not unusual on factory thermostat POS, even with good everything else.

 

As others have said, you were right on the edge. If your hoses/head gasket are marginal... well now they are more marginal.

If the car is in great shape, new coolant system components (of any variety, I’ll leave that discussion to others), you are probably fine. I’ve definitely been around 230 with zero consequences.

Fun fact. Back in 2005 or so, I went to something called Steeplechase, a small Kentucky Derby style horse race in Nashville. Took the CPO 2003 Disco. It was hot ambient outside, maybe 100 degrees. The car was on idling for my friends pregnant wife half the day. I recall the Disco humming along like a tour bus with fans blazing. This was my first Land Rover so I was fairly excited about taking it to the horse race and parking in the infield and “partying”. That car had maybe 20,000 miles on it. It never overheated and of course I did not run an ultra gauge. Yet, it was at Land Rover Nashville getting head gaskets about a month later. Discos are like my Bloodhounds... they don’t tolerate heat well. I’ve often wondered what temp that car hit that day while idling that I had no idea about.

 

I'd budget/plan for having an issue down the line (ie carry tools and inspect the vehicle more often, find a place to work on it) and if nothing happens nothing happens. I ran up to 230F briefly when I sprung a leak and lost over half my coolant and I haven't had any issues so far (knock on wood!).