Disco 2 Newbie..May have Bought a Lemon!!

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Seanies76

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16
Location
Somerset
Hi All! This is my first post and I am looking for your expert opinions please, Im sure most of you may have gone through some of these issues, please bare with the story, I may go on a little lol!

Ok so a month ago I bought a 2001 Series 2 Disco with LPG conversion. It started running lumpy with a miss fire, the leads and plugs were new as it had recently been serviced, they are Bosch parts. I had a play around and decided to replace the MAF unit. Problem solved as it seemed to run much better, however is still lumpy and lacking a bit of power when driving, I have purchased some Magnecor leads, but looking at doing the job with the LPG system in the way is rather daunting as I have no experience with Gas. Can anyone tell me how straight forward this is to remove the inlet manifold and replace the leads???

Problem 2. The guy I purchased it from did not put coolant in the system. I started the car the other morning after a heavy frost, it sounded funny so I switched it off and checked the engine. The coolant pipes were frozen solid!! I defrosted the system with hot water and a hair dryer, took ages, but done the job. I then drained the system, replaced the thermostat, filled with a good coolant. Since doing this the vehicle runs into the Red on the temp gauge! There are no leaks, water is flowing through the system, but the gauge keeps going mental! I never flushed the system, could this be an issue? The water appears to have gold flakes in it? There is no water in the engine oil, no oil in the breather tank. What do I do here? Change the temp sending unit? Im at a loss!

Any help, advice or guidance would be great please, as I can't help thinking I have bought a bit of a lemon with the problems that keep popping up!! Cheers All!
 
Could be a sensor duff, and i think the temp sensor and gauge are controlled by the ECM/U so might be worth plugging it in if you have or know anyone with a decent one. Only thing i could think of for gold flakes is old antifreeze/corrosion/rust kinda gunk i had in my series, so if its all full with no leaks could be blocked, a bottle of Forté may help you out there, ive used their engine flush and diesel treatment (you may benefit from petrol system cleaner too) to fantastic results so far, they can solve hidden problems for a small price sometimes, if you can get hold of any :)
 
The flakes could be something like k-seal a temporary solution for a leaking head gasket, which now you've removed from the coolant system its overheating. If this is the case then yes you've bought a lemon
 
johnlad said:
The flakes could be something like k-seal a temporary solution for a leaking head gasket, which now you've removed from the coolant system its overheating. If this is the case then yes you've bought a lemon
Click to expand...
Looking at the heads, one side has been replaced as the gaskets look new, not sure why someone would only do one side though, bit strange to me lol
 
RyanDay1 said:
Could be a sensor duff, and i think the temp sensor and gauge are controlled by the ECM/U so might be worth plugging it in if you have or know anyone with a decent one. Only thing i could think of for gold flakes is old antifreeze/corrosion/rust kinda gunk i had in my series, so if its all full with no leaks could be blocked, a bottle of Forté may help you out there, ive used their engine flush and diesel treatment (you may benefit from petrol system cleaner too) to fantastic results so far, they can solve hidden problems for a small price sometimes, if you can get hold of any :)
Click to expand...
Where is the temp unit located on these? Im handy enough with spanners but not ever worked on a Land Rover before, is it in the Rad or elsewhere?
 
matgriff said:
If the heater is not blowing air it could just be air locked.. there should be a bleed/fill procedure in the workshop manual for your engine.
Click to expand...
Air lock would make sense and could explain the irratic temp guage. +1 on the k seal. If it has had a dose, it should be coating the inside of the expansion tank.
 
Seanies76 said:
Where is the temp unit located on these? Im handy enough with spanners but not ever worked on a Land Rover before, is it in the Rad or elsewhere?
Click to expand...
The thermostat is a plastic t piece like a fork in the road, 3 hoses connected to it and a pita to access between timing cover and rad
 
No experience of this engine, but if you managed to get it running with the coolant iced up could it be that the impeller in the water pump has become detached from the shaft? Might explain the engine getting hot and the heater not working.
Could be an air lock which can stop coolant circulation.
 
As an update, for the last 30 minutes I have had the engine running with the expansion tank lid off so see how much air comes out, there has been alot!! Heater is now blowing warm, not hot, so Im guessing air lock, so I will have another crack at it tomorrow in the day light...thanks for all the advice so far!
 
Take the plug off the top of the thermostat housing, run engine check for bubbles. I had similar and there were bubbles, it was the head gasket, luckily mine is a 300tdi.
 
There is a pipe from the top passenger side of the radiator, runs under the fan cowling and into the header tank. This allows air in the radiator to bleed into nthe header tank. in the tank it comes through a long stainless steel needle which allows air through but not much water. Check that the needle isn't blocked with debris.

You must use a 50/50 solution of OAT coolant on the V8, it needs it for anti-corrosion as well as antifreeze.

Working on the engine with LPG isn't too much of a chore, but be methodical when stripping it down and take pictures.

Peter
 
listerdiesel said:
There is a pipe from the top passenger side of the radiator, runs under the fan cowling and into the header tank. This allows air in the radiator to bleed into nthe header tank. in the tank it comes through a long stainless steel needle which allows air through but not much water. Check that the needle isn't blocked with debris.

You must use a 50/50 solution of OAT coolant on the V8, it needs it for anti-corrosion as well as antifreeze.

Working on the engine with LPG isn't too much of a chore, but be methodical when stripping it down and take pictures.

Peter
Click to expand...
Thanks Peter, Im planning on having another look at it this afternoon
 
OK.....so today I replaced the leads with Magnecor 8.5mm, Bosch Plugs. Rough running has now stopped as the plugs were old, plus the ht lead to cylinder 1 was not on the coil pack!! Well Happy as it now runs lovely...

Apart from the heating problem!! I have flushed the system, expelled all air to the best of my ability, put decent coolant in. It has a new rad, I replaced the thermostat. It runs to red and stays there, doesn't move further, like off the guage. Still no heat in the cab.

Clues I have...
1. Hoses are soft and Hot
2. Viscous fan spins freely hot or cold
3. Facing the engine, there is a metal pipe that goes down into the top of the engine and is close t the rocker cover, its corroded and makes a slight hissing sound from a corroded area. I do not know what this pipe is called.

Looking at earlier comments, when I started her when she was frozen, could I have damaged the water pump? Or could this pipe be depressurising the entire system??

HELP!!!!!
 
Seanies76 said:
OK.....so today I replaced the leads with Magnecor 8.5mm, Bosch Plugs. Rough running has now stopped as the plugs were old, plus the ht lead to cylinder 1 was not on the coil pack!! Well Happy as it now runs lovely...

Apart from the heating problem!! I have flushed the system, expelled all air to the best of my ability, put decent coolant in. It has a new rad, I replaced the thermostat. It runs to red and stays there, doesn't move further, like off the guage. Still no heat in the cab.

Clues I have...
1. Hoses are soft and Hot
2. Viscous fan spins freely hot or cold
3. Facing the engine, there is a metal pipe that goes down into the top of the engine and is close t the rocker cover, its corroded and makes a slight hissing sound from a corroded area. I do not know what this pipe is called.

Looking at earlier comments, when I started her when she was frozen, could I have damaged the water pump? Or could this pipe be depressurising the entire system??

HELP!!!!!
Click to expand...

1, soft and hot is ok, = not over pressurized
2, stall test needed, rolled up newspaper, will it stop the fan when up to temp (search)
3, pic of pipe, could be vacuum leak, could be LPG ??
 
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