Do you have to flush and bleed the coolant to replace the housing? My mechanic said it would take 3 hours to do the job. I was messing around in my engine area yesterday and it looks simple. Any thoughts?

 

You should probably drain to a level lower than the tstat to limit the mess. Will definitely need to bleed afterwards. Also a good time to replace the plastic bleeder as well.

 

I find any work on the 3 is relatively simple the second time; the first time, rarely.

Replacing the complete thermostat housing is a real good idea and guarantees that the thermostat goes in correctly, no missing, upside down or old pieces not removed and new parts forced onto old parts as the thermostat is already within the new housing.

As to the fluid, consider all new fluid. The real problem is getting all the air out so you do not want to be replacing fluid very often. The reason you put new fluid in is for corrosion control; temperature control is a secondary concern. Also mixing of different types is not a good idea. When people tell you that a fluid is OK to mix with other fluids, they mean in North American production vehicles, not the exotic foreign stuff.

Also I think you should use the official fluid, the orange stuff as you have an alloy engine, a heavy duty version of the Jaguar AJ-V8 engine, not Detroit cast iron that lasts for years regardless.

Jaguar AJ-V8 engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The pdf is the LR fluid and should be available in the USA.

 

I think Im going to let my indy mechanic tackle this one. Most times I would save money and do it myself, but since Im going to have them flush and replace , needs to be done right. Thanks for the replies!

 

I see you have a sump guard on your 2014 to do list, or is it already installed.

I found the link to the sump guard so I wondered about it. This is the first time I have seen them actually available in North America. Usually they are only in Australia or South Africa and the shipping is prohibitive.

FRONT RUNNER SUMP GUARD - 6MM / LAND ROVER DISCOVERY LR3

 

Its installed, it took 5 min to bolt on. I purchased it on craigslist from a guy who sold his LR3. Saved 50% buying that way. Im actually about to purchase the Frontrunner rear bolt on ladder.

My sump guard is black, looks sharp!

 

Do you have any pictures of the bash plate installed?

I am wondering how it fits at the front top so to speak.

I am surprised it installed that quickly and easily.

The rear ladder install will not be so easy. The rear door handle has to be removed I think and then put back on as the ladder uses some of the same bolt holes - I think, but by the sound of things, you will not have any problems.

The main thing I find is to spend a lot of time looking and thinking as to how to do something; the more time you put in up front, the better an install goes.

 

See attached sump guard

 

I think it is the black paint but the bash plate looks factory. It does not look like an add on. The plain aluminum tend to look bolted on aftermarket whereas that one looks just good.

I also see that the tow hook is now available without any fooling around.

Thanks for posting it.

Now if I could find one for half price.

 

It looks good. I have the Rasta one, which started out in a "natural" aluminum color, but I painted it black (since my LR3 is black) and it looks good, too...like yours.