Recently purchased a 91 RRC (130,000K) from the original owner. The truck is extremely nice. This is my first RR;therefore, don't know much about RRs (much more about Jaguars!).

Don't know if I have a problem. The electric aux fan in front of the condensor has been coming on lately with temperatures here in NC 90F or better without the AC on. The temp. gauge needle is stays about 1/8 inch left of the middle of the gauge and never moves toward the center (or towards hot). The coolant in the recovery tank never boils. I used my infrared temperature reader & where the temp sender is screwed into the thermostat housing reads 187F. The left side of the radiator (where top hose goes to the thermostat) reads 186F;the other side where the lower hose goes into the radiator reads 175F. Recovery tank reads 140F. Truck runs perfectly. Any feedback to a novice would be much appreciated. On the 91 RRC, is the temperature guage the exact temp of the engine or is it just showing a normal range (like later model Jags)?

Richard

 

Like all Land Rovers it goes from cold - normal - too late your engine is toast.
My 90 RRC temp gauge sits just about where yours is sitting

 

You may want to consider cooling system clean up.

Outside - remove all leaves and trash from fins. Both sides. Use a water spray (not pressure washer) to wash out trash between fins.

Inside - remove coolant, flash radiator in reverse direction and use a chemical flush per label. Flush with distilled water then re-fill with 50/50 coolant (not Dexcool).

Take that IR thermometer and point at fins after truck is warmed up, and switched off. More than 10F change top to bottom indicates some build up inside the radiator. Blocked rows are cooler. If rad shows that find an indy rad shop that will boil it out with an acid dunk, and unsolder one of the tanks and rod out the calcium (about $75 - $100).

Test your visocus fan clutch. When cold it should spin by hand for maybe 1/4 turn, feel like peanut butter inside. When warmed up fully, should still spin, but when released should stop well before a whole revolution. Freewheeling is a sign of lost clutch fluid.

You can spend about $15 for a new thermostat and gasket, go with a 180F one.