Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and a new Discovery 2 (1999) owner. I bought this truck off of a friend so I've been in it for many rides. Since my friend has had it, there's a warning light that's always been on: it looks like a thermometer in water and it's red.

When my buddy bought the truck, the previous owner said that the light was checked out and it was a sensor. Had it fixed but it later came back on and he just ignored it. So my buddy did the same thing for two years and it ran just fine.

My friend has moved over seas and sold me the Disco 2 for next to nothing so I couldn't pass it up. It's been running fine but that red warring light bugs me./ Everything on the truck works fine, engine temp needle is always right in the middle of the gauge, no other issues.

Should I bother paying a mechanic to look at it. I live in the eastern townships of Quebec and there are no Land Rover mechanics in the immediate area.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

Is this light in the temperature gauge, or is it on the other side of the instrument cluster above the fuel gauge?

 

The temp light on the right side is for transfer case/transmisison overheat.

The temp light in the water temp gauge is driven by the same sensor that drives the gauge. You have a bad or disconnected coolant sensor. When it fails, the engine computer defaults to a display equal to 185 degrees, and turns on that light. In default, it uses the incoming air temp to the mass air flow sensor as a substitute until engine warms up.

You can unplug existing sensor and read it with an ohm meter to see if it is bad. Screw out, screw new one in. This is not a "grounding" sensor, so you should be able to plug a new sensor into existing cable and clear light. Or test with say a 1000 ohm resistor from Radio Scrap plugged into the cable. Don't drive that way, engine temp is used to control mixture.

Sensor is like $25 from Rock Auto, Atlantic British, etc. see Sensor Coolant Temp BOSCH Engine for Discovery Series II available at Roverparts.com

Or explore local salvage yard...

BTW - you can find all of this and a lot more in the free download of the RAVE set of tech manuals and owner's manuals, link below. RAVE means Rovers A'int Very Economical.

Note: Gauge will always be an "average" of the temperature, it shows 9:00 for a very wide range. Look into an Untra Gauge and see the kinds of displays you can get.

 

Sorry yes, the warning light is on the far right side of the dash.

 

OK - right church, wrong pew;


Here we go on the transmission / transfer case high temp warning:

Since you can drive truck, and there is no great whine from transfer case, you probably have fluid in both tranny and T/case. WE HOPE!

It is a good sign that light come on and stays on, instead of comes on a few minutes after you start driving.

These sensors are wired in parallel, so either one can turn on the light. Unplug each sensor until light goes out. Problem could be bad sensor, or a ground (skint place) on the Black/light green wire.

The sensors are there to warn you that fluids are way too hot, from heavy use (towing, rock climbing), or low fluid.

In addition, check to see if you have multiple grease fittings on the front drive shaft, if not, see rebuild propshaft article in tech section. Shaft will fly apart and impale transmission, knocking a big hole in the case.

 

ok, thanks for the tip Sav Buzz. There is no whine or any weird noises coming from the transmission or T-case. So, hopefully it is just a sensor and yes, the light comes on at start and stays on solid. A good sign I hope.

 

These are traditional idiot lights, they do not even route to ECM and don't generate codes. But you would want to be checking those fluid levels anyway, and changing fluid in diffs, tranny, and transfer case; as part of your regular maintenance. Rovers are not "fill-and-forget".

 

More great tips Sav Buzz. Is it pretty straight forward changing the fluids as you mentioned? I guess there should be instructions or locations of for the various drain lugs on the RAVE?

I assume or hope that I don't need any specialized tools to do that?

 

And in our tech sticky area, usually with photos of real Rovers. The photos in the RAVE are of high fashion model Rovers with no battle scars or under body oil sludge, it just a'int natural.....

When draining the diffs or Transfer case, be sure you can open the fill fitting first...., uses a 1/2 inch socket or breaker bar drive. Transfer case drain is a regular looking bolt, but has a magnetic stud attached that helps you evaluate how much metal is in there. This is a case where you don't want the chunky stuff.

If you have a pair of ramps, put both on one side, will make it easier to get to some things, being 255, I need all the ground clearnace I can get!

If you come out from under a Rover all clean - you missed something.

 

just to clarify even if it was not constant it could be a sensor. my light goes on and off and sometimes flickers. i came back from an off road trip and found it the one behind the radiator disconnected. never worked right since. going to replace it when it warms up.