Range Rover - Overheating 2.5 diesel

My RR 2.5dse[bmw engine] has developed a serious overheating problem.
its ok on tickover and gets up to nornal temp but as soon as she is put under load she bubbles up and dumps her water through the expansion tank overflow. suspected an airlock and have drained down the system on several occassions but to no avail. local landrover dealer has even vacuumed the system and changed the thermostat as a precaution.Yet she still overheats under load. Any suggestions before we go the headgasket route.

Hi my mate had the same problem with his RR, turned out the water pump had gone seems its a common thing with them as its made of plastic, may still need a head gasket and skim if its boiled a lot.

cheers for that will investigate the waterpump

Hi,
Did you find out if it's caused by the pump?

As I have the exact same problem I bought a 97' DSE with only 95k that had suddenly boiled up and had split the plastic top to the radiator, I removed the head thinking it was a head gasket, couldn't see anything wrong with it, had the head re-faced, pressure tested, used a genuine BMW head gasket, and new genuine head bolts, new radiator, etc.
Runs fine when idling, but after a mile or so, temp goes straight into the red, even in a cold winter evening, stop the engine for 15 - 20 mins, temp drops to normal, drive another half mile, temp shoots into the red again!!
Dooing me head in now!!!!!

My mates 2.5 RR did exactly the same. Start from cold, go a mile or two then big gushing geezer from the header tank, let it cool all ok, another mile and off she would gush again, got a friend who does landys to tow it in and have a look at it, he was certain it would be the water pump and sure enough it was, turns out that the pump impeller is made of a plastic material and with age and heat it goes brittle and drops of, as a consequence the water cannot circulate and she gets hot, would be best I think to whip the pump off and have a look before doing anything else.
Hope this is of help Sprox

Thanks for the info Sprox.
I'll have the pump out one evening this week and have a look at it.
If the impeller breaks up and comes off the shaft of the pump, can you get the bits out? or did you have to flush them out?
Cheers,

No probs, he was lucky the thing was in one lump and just fell out, if it has broken up it would be best to flush the bits out so as not to cause any damage later on, good luck with it.Sprox

Well, I bought a new pump, as I was convinced it was causing the problem I have, as the symptoms are exactly the same, undid the bolts and pulled the pump out praying it would fall to bits in my hands..........nothing......complete and in the same shape as the day it was put in there, nothing wrong with it at all !!! Bugger!!!!
Back to the drawing board, (crosses of water pump from list!)

hello my R R does almost the same I've replaced everything ticks over no problem when I drive if I go over about 55/60 temp goes up to red if I back off again to 50/55 the temp goes straight back down to just over half way again any one had this before please

Having recently gone through this myself, I would have a look at the radiator. When its hot check to see if it's hot all over. If it's hot along the top (the plastic bit by the inlet and outlet pipes) but the rest cold then it could be the baffle inside the rad have gone. The baffle directs the coolant (if looking towards the front of the rangie) down the right side then up the left side and out the outlet into the thermostat.
If the baffle has gone then the hot coolant goes into the outlet, straight across the top and into the thermostat thus not getting cooled.

hope this helps

mick

hello mate thanks for getting back to me I've changed rad, bottle,water pump, cap,thermostat but would have thought if it was head gasket it wouldn't cool down so quick oil is ok no water no steam coming out the back

I'm all for recycling but I take my hat off to the newbie for re-cycling a 7 year old thread.
Is this a record?

As for your cooling problem, are you saying that if you go over 60mph the gauge rises into the red but falls again immediately you drop back to 50mph?

Have you tried it at the same engine revs but a different gear to check that it's not an electrical fault?

brillo said:

hello mate thanks for getting back to me I've changed rad, bottle,water pump, cap,thermostat but would have thought if it was head gasket it wouldn't cool down so quick oil is ok no water no steam coming out the back

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Did you check the stat before you fitted it? Lots of duff ones around. Same goes for the RAD, quite a few around with a missing baffle.
Is the carpet wet in the drivers footwell? If so the heater O rings may be leaking causing loss of coolant pressure.
Do the RAD hoses pressurise?