Discovery 1 3.9 v8i overheating through expansion tank!

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Bushcrusher

Bushcrusher

Active Member
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Location
Dorset near the sea
Hi guys, hope you are all well and not affected by the covid.
OK I will start at the beginning, took the old girl for mot and during emissions test the you get lad was reving the engine hard (surely not normal protocol? ) any way I notice coolant spewing on floor and had to get his attention fast. He then shuts off and says with a smile I've overheated it! No **** you dumb ass I growl back.
Anyways I left her to cool right down top up coolant and drive the mile home slowly.
She seemed ok, so went to collect caravan and half way there needle rose so pulled over, coolant escaping from header tank again what has that mot ****t done?
Changed the thermostat ( it's the jiggle pin one) made sure pin at top, flushed engine and again when out needle rises so stop same as the other two times! I touched top rad hose and it had no coolant in that I could feel only air as able to squeeze pipe.
So I'm stuck, I've read all the threads going on this but I need the wisdom of you guys!
Things I've changed again are
Thermostat
Flushed engine through both ways (no suit or gunk came out)
Used air line to blow through (no restrictions that I can tell)
Drained the coolant into a large container (to save new coolant )
Drained the coolant into five ltr drums through fine filter mesh, noticed at bottom of large container what I can only describe as silver ultra fine glitter but not loads but enough to concern me.
So I've ordered viscous fan tool
New original manufacturer's waterpump
New thermostat and gasket
I will remove radiator and get professionally Flushed (it's the brass radiator )
I'm also going to remove heater matrix and flush as that could be source of sliver glitter?
I could by pass it , but will see what' gets Flushed out.
So is there anything else I should do or change? I must add she had been sat 5 months before mot so did a load of crap get sacked through?
I would really appreciate any tips or advice on this.

I raise front end when refiling with coolant.
PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN AS THIS IS FRYING THE ONE BRAIN CELL I HAVE LEFT! AND THE WIFE KEEPS SAYING THAT IT'S A MONEY PIT
 
How long have you had the car? Have you had any other engine issues in the past?
Glitter in the coolant can be one of the many stopleak style products to 'cure' failed headgaskets.
Do the hoses get rock hard?
 
Hi kermits rr, had the vehicle for 2 years now, never had a issue before coolant wise and the pipes do go hard . The one from thermostat seems to be full of air and not so hard but hot. If that makes sense
Many thanks
 
The ideal is to fill it up as best you can as per the book, then run it to normal temp with the pressure cap off. It should get hot enough to open the stat without worrying about boiling over. Then let it cool and put the cap back on.
A sniff test is never a bad thing, a friendly mot tester should be able to help
 
The reving of the engine is normal at an MOT test, although it’s called fast idle test, around 2500-3000 rpm so not a problem... normally.
The overheating issue could be caused simply as the engine is running in an enclosed space on a hot day with a faulty cooling system, an example the viscous fan didn’t lock up.

Any way an over heated V8 isn’t good news as the could leave some damage as a result, iffy head caskets or more seriously a slipped cylinder liner.

If you very lucky lucky the refilling with coolant system should have been enough to get the engine back to normal.

Anyway as your replacing the water pump was it faulty and not circulating the coolant around the engine ? also any large adjustable spanner will loosen the viscous fan from the pump.
 
Bushcrusher said:
Hi guys, hope you are all well and not affected by the covid.
OK I will start at the beginning, took the old girl for mot and during emissions test the you get lad was reving the engine hard (surely not normal protocol? ) any way I notice coolant spewing on floor and had to get his attention fast. He then shuts off and says with a smile I've overheated it! No **** you dumb ass I growl back.
Anyways I left her to cool right down top up coolant and drive the mile home slowly.
She seemed ok, so went to collect caravan and half way there needle rose so pulled over, coolant escaping from header tank again what has that mot ****t done?
Changed the thermostat ( it's the jiggle pin one) made sure pin at top, flushed engine and again when out needle rises so stop same as the other two times! I touched top rad hose and it had no coolant in that I could feel only air as able to squeeze pipe.
So I'm stuck, I've read all the threads going on this but I need the wisdom of you guys!
Things I've changed again are
Thermostat
Flushed engine through both ways (no suit or gunk came out)
Used air line to blow through (no restrictions that I can tell)
Drained the coolant into a large container (to save new coolant )
Drained the coolant into five ltr drums through fine filter mesh, noticed at bottom of large container what I can only describe as silver ultra fine glitter but not loads but enough to concern me.
So I've ordered viscous fan tool
New original manufacturer's waterpump
New thermostat and gasket
I will remove radiator and get professionally Flushed (it's the brass radiator )
I'm also going to remove heater matrix and flush as that could be source of sliver glitter?
I could by pass it , but will see what' gets Flushed out.
So is there anything else I should do or change? I must add she had been sat 5 months before mot so did a load of crap get sacked through?
I would really appreciate any tips or advice on this.

I raise front end when refiling with coolant.
PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN AS THIS IS FRYING THE ONE BRAIN CELL I HAVE LEFT! AND THE WIFE KEEPS SAYING THAT IT'S A MONEY PIT
Click to expand...

Slow down!
As said glittery stuff is a stop leak potion of some sort. Check the radiator core isn't blocked - do not attempt to clean the core with a pressure washer, you can destroy it that way. Viscous fan tool???? what's wrong with either 1.1/4 or 32mm spanner - works for me? Don't forget LEFT HAND THREAD!

Anyway, water pouring out of expansion bottle is classic head gasket failure, I've been there a few times! If you can get a sniff test done that would be good but if not then you need to be looking at compression testing.

HTH
 
kermit_rr said:
A sniff test is never a bad thing, a friendly mot tester should be able to help
Click to expand...

But maybe not the one you've just been to :(
You'll soon know if it's a slipped liner (hopefully not) if it starts tapping when hot.
Does sound like it could be HG failure … good luck with the diagnosis/cure.
 
Ratae said:
Defective expansion tank cap?
Click to expand...
I agree, its been known to happen i believe.

But as the only vent is the air/vacuum vent in the cap, the expansion bottle does have a vent fitted directly, but then if the caps vent or seal was iffy there would have been traces of coolant laying on top of the bottle below the cap seen way before the vehicle blows it top.
 
Sadly this is what happened to my 3.9 V8, would idle all day and not get hot could drive steady no problem but as soon as you started pushing it or towing it would blow its coolant out the expansion tank.

This got worse rather quickly to the point It would idle but any kind of throttle under load would make it overheat, I too tried all the coolant related bits, viscous unit, thermostat etc.

Finally gave in and ordered a head set and tore into it, made up a pressure tester as no obvious blown headgasket and it was leaking coolant up the side of a liner due to a crack in the block behind the liner.

Not meaning to be the bearer of bad news but sounds very similar to my experience.

I’ve had another though that did blow the headgasket and I managed to replace it and it continued for 50k without issues.

like others have said though get it sniff tested to avoid unnessesary part replacement and if you do have the heads removed insist the block is pressure tested before being built back up. This can be done in situ with the heads off.
 
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