Is it overheating?

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sd6446

New Member
Posts
7
Location
Reading, Berkshire
Hi,
I recently bought my first a Land Rover - an LR90 2.25 petrol (1984). Given its age, there didn't seem much wrong with it, although the temperature gauge was not working. I therefore replaced the sender and found the temperature went v. quickly into the red (just idling on the drive for a few mins). I have just replaced the thermostat, but the gauge still ends up in the middle of the red. If I run it without the thermostat, the gauge is much lower, in the white area. I don't know if it's relevant, but even after a short drive the hose at the top of the radiator is hot, but the one at the bottom is cold - maybe it takes a while for the heat to go through? I have flushed the radiator, and the flow through it seemed ok. I still can't work out whether the sender is accurate, or whether something else is wrong (waterpump?). Being an absolute novice, any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve
 
did you get the right temperature sender for the gauge ?

If the top hose is warm/hot then the thermostate is open.

be sure your coolent system is well bled ? no air locks
 
Welcome to the site.

What's your location?

I use an IR thermometer to see what is going on in cases like this.

Did you check the operation of the thermostat while it was out of the Landy?
 
Wow. Thanks for the quick responses.

W.r.t the temperature sender, it's a PRC2505, which I believe is the right one, and looks the same as the broken one that I took out. Not sure about the bleeding of the system though - I've just filled it up with water/coolant and hoped for the best! If you have any tips that would be great.

I'm in Reading (-just updated my profile!). Will have a look on ebay for an IR thermometer. I did check the old thermostat and that was working ok, but bought a new one anyway. Did wonder about getting a lower temperature one...
 
I'm only in Tadley, and I work in Reading - so if you need a hand, give us a shout. I've got an IR thermometer in my Landy, so I could come and point it at your engine :D

It's certainly possible there's an air lock in your coolant somewhere. Parking on a steep hill can help! You're sure there's no air in the radiator?
 
I'm only in Tadley, and I work in Reading - so if you need a hand, give us a shout. I've got an IR thermometer in my Landy, so I could come and point it at your engine :D

It's certainly possible there's an air lock in your coolant somewhere. Parking on a steep hill can help! You're sure there's no air in the radiator?

Wow. V. kind offer. If you get a chance I would be really grateful, although we're in N. Reading (Emmer Green) so may be out of your way.

No, I have no idea if there's any air in the radiator - how could I check?
 
I've tried running it on a steep hill, but don't think it's changed anything. I'm not convinced it is actually hot, as the water in the expansion tank is still cold, and the temperature reaches red within a couple of minutes of running.

Out of interest, is it likely that the Britpart temp. sender that I've used could be responsible for the high temperature reading (as opposed to a genuine Landy one)?
 
I've tried running it on a steep hill, but don't think it's changed anything. I'm not convinced it is actually hot, as the water in the expansion tank is still cold, and the temperature reaches red within a couple of minutes of running.

Out of interest, is it likely that the Britpart temp. sender that I've used could be responsible for the high temperature reading (as opposed to a genuine Landy one)?


:mad:
Britpart = ****part
 
It's highly likely that the sender isn't all it's cracked up to be. If you didn't buy a genuine thermostat then the same could be true of that. I bought a Britpart thermostat (didn't know any better) but being paranoid I chucked it in a pan of water with a thermometer - it didn't open until around 100 degrees. I tested the one that was in the Landy already - it opened at about 55 degrees! Spent £10 on a genuine Land Rover one and whadyaknow? It opens at just under 90 degrees.

Dunno how you're fixed during the week - but if you want me to point my thermometer at the engine / rad / hoses I work in Reading not far from the station. Failing that, I could pop over your way before I go home one evening. Let us know.

Ian.
 
I've tried running it on a steep hill, but don't think it's changed anything. I'm not convinced it is actually hot, as the water in the expansion tank is still cold, and the temperature reaches red within a couple of minutes of running.

Out of interest, is it likely that the Britpart temp. sender that I've used could be responsible for the high temperature reading (as opposed to a genuine Landy one)?


If it was airlocked at the stat then the temp reading may of been air temp rather than water temp :eek::doh:
 
Thanks again Ian. Following on from your comments I bought a thermometer today and checked the thermostat - found it was working ok (about 84 degrees). Therefore, I then took the new temp. sender out along with the temp. gauge, connected them to a battery and put the sender in some water on the stove. I found that the gauge enters the red ("H") area at about 74 degrees. Given that the thermostat is designed to open at 84, I'm guessing that this is v. wrong. Also, I've just noticed that the temperature gauge is a "PRC3106", which doesn't match any numbers I can see in the parts manual. Could this explain the mismatch? Anyone have any ideas of what the correct sender would be for this temperature gauge?

Thanks,
Steve.
 
Just to let you know, I finally bought a VDO temperature gauge with matching sender and the problem is resolved. I checked the unit in some hot water with a thermometer first, then installed it in my 90 and it works a treat! Thanks for all the advice. Shame I couldn't get a sender to match up with my existing gauge, but even adding some extra resistance in the circuit wouldn't give a good enough range of movement between 'normal' and 'overheating'.
 
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