Maybe I am just paranoid, still working on my LR3 cooling system. Flushed the front heater core and about to do the rear. The issue I am having is that it overheats after maybe 15 minutes of driving and coolant boils out of the reservoir. There is no smoke, no milky oil and no bubbles in the coolant. I have performed a combustion leak test and the fluid stayed blue. Is there any other symptom to diagnose a bad head gasket or is there just air in the system? No rear heat at the moment but I am not sure if its air or if its clogged, I am about to try and flush it tho. Maybe a clogged radiator? Not sure how to diagnose that.

 

Wrong forum.

 

Has the correct coolants been used? For example, if you mix green and orange a gel develops that clogs everything - time to a new engine. But the rear core should not clog, not like the front can. You can easily feel the pipes in back underneath to see if they are warm. But you probably have air in the system, so it is a matter of bleeding it. You do NOT want to use the vehicle if there is any overheating taking place.

 

Oh boy. there was green coolant in the car when I purchased it. I immediately flushed it out and that was when the overheating issues began. It was fine otherwise. I have a new thermostat and radiator I need to install. I also just purchased a vacuum bleeder as well. Mixing coolant can make the engine toast?

 

If you flushed out the old, even just most of it. You will be fine. It’s when certain coolant are mixed at high concentrations that one has the issue. Generally most, not all, green and orange coolants should not be mixed. Google can help. With that said, green should never be used long term in a Rover anyway. Dexcool should be used, which is orange.

i would just keep trying to bleed out air. A shop vac can help. Also search for the procedure people have used. There are some tricks that help.

 

What was your flush procedure? You would need to run water through a few times until it drains clear. This includes bringing it up to temp with heat on full blast so the thermostat opens and circulates the coolant.

good purchase on the vacuum filler. I just did the same and it made the process a breeze.

 

I drained the system from the lower radiator drain port on the passenger side. Filled with distilled water, ran up to temperature, drain, fill and repeat. Did this about 6 times. Only issue is that I’m worried I still didn’t flush it properly because I’m having coolant flow issues with bleeding. Do you think I should try to flush it again? I was maybe thinking flushing the system with a hose when I have the radiator and thermostat off. Would that be a bad idea? Since i have new ones to install anyways.

 

So when I purchased the vehicle I noticed pink coolant at the bottom of the reservoir and it transitioned to green coolant towards the top of the reservoir. Like two distinct colors. Looks like it hadn’t gotten a chance to mix. I know for a fact the old owner topped it up with coolant right before I came to look at the car. (There’s a bottle of green 50/50 coolant in the front seat) He was not driving the car I should mention it just sat in his yard (bottomed out suspension). I test drive it around the block and towed it home. But now I’m worried because there was definitely two different types of coolant in the system when I purchased it. How likely would a coolant channel in the engine be clogged? Would I be fine replacing the radiator, thermostat and flushing the heater cores? I also have a vacuum bleeder so when I drain and refill next I shouldn’t have any air pockets.

 

Also can I ask what procedure you used for the vacuum fill? I’m not sure what PSI the system can handle when it comes to holding vacuum. Seeing videos of people using it and all the hoses being flat scares me

 

Check the bottle, some are fully compatible.

You can hook up a garden hose to the core lines and flush them specifically if you want. The ones specifically for the rear have quick-releases right at the firewall and those hoses go downwards into the wheel well.. The front heater core connections go straight into the firewall. So you could disconnect the rear ones and run garden hose into one end and see what comes out. You can flush the front core too. Nice thing about doing it this was is all the water is directed to the cores specifically and you can reverse flush em too.