Overheating problem

Considering purchasing a 1999 TD5 , but appparently it overheats after about 100 miles of motorway driving. He says no water loss from anywhere and fine once cooled down. Anyone know what this could be and shoukd I steer clear??

if it's certain that there's no coolant loss at all might be something simple and easy to fix or more complicated like combustion gas leak into the cooling system which means head gasket or cracked head

the simple thing is if the viscous fan is fubar'd and it doesnt lock when the radiator gets hot or the thermostat is blocked closed, the only thing you can check yourself is to drive it untill the engine gets really hot and see if the radiator is hot too this rules out the thermostat and if the radiator is hot try to stop the viscous fan with a rolled newspaper, if it stops without ripping the paper then the viscous unit is gone and that's why it overheats on a long run... if there's combustion leak the top hose gets rock solid when it's hot then go away...even a faulty tank cap can lead to overheating if it's valve doesnt work well

for the combustion leak a sniff test can be relevant as well

In my short time as a land rover TD5 owner, what I've learnt is; if you have any doubt, steer clear.

Equally, it might be something simple (like low oil level perhaps...)

On balance, it would be a no from me. Its enough of a gamble buying a 15 year old car that doesn't appear to have any issues never mind buying one that obviously does.

But then, I'm a cynic.

;-)

An interesting situation regarding the fan - I removed my siezed fan about 5 years ago and have never had a problem with overheating, even driving through London on the hottest day of this year. If you are on a motorway (and moving!) there is enough air flow through the radiator to keepthings cool. What do you mean by overheating and cooling down.
Sorry - haven't really helped here !

chrimcne said:

An interesting situation regarding the fan - I removed my siezed fan about 5 years ago and have never had a problem with overheating, even driving through London on the hottest day of this year. If you are on a motorway (and moving!) there is enough air flow through the radiator to keepthings cool. What do you mean by overheating and cooling down.
Sorry - haven't really helped here !

Click to expand...

I have an overcooling issue as I have fitted an extra large all aly radiator.though my temp gauge sat bang in the middle I was only getting 68-78 reading on my nanocom.the most I have got is 88 uphill with a caravan on the back.dont rely on your gauge sitting in the middle as an indication of not overheating.as the gauge only goes to the top when its too late.