ONE LIFE LIVE IT. D90

ONE LIFE LIVE IT. D90

Active Member
Hi all

Traveling back on the motor way yesterday in my 1995 300tdi the vdo temperature gauge reached 99 degrees. I was doing 65 mph with no load at all, just one passenger. Although you could feel the wind and the engine working a bit harder.

Is 99 too much? It normally sits at 92 all the time. It didn't seem to get any higher than 99 though regardless. Although it may have if there was some load on board. I pulled off at the next junction and felt the top hose, it didn't seem too hot at all. So I carried on off the motorway (close to home) at 95-97 degrees

Any thoughts? Thanks alot
 
could be the sender is not working properly.

or... if you can feel the top hose without scalding yourself... water pump not working?
 
Seems hot. Something is amiss. If the top hose is not hot, at that temp you won't be able to hold it. Thermostat stuck shut? Water pump not pumping? (Vanes can come off the shaft)
 
I would be surprised it it really ran at 92 all the time, I would bet good money its quite a bit lower.
 
Cheers for the replies guys. Mmmm something doesn't sound right. The water pump was new about 2/3 thousand miles ago (airtex) and the thermostat is genuine land rover 88 degree which was changed about 6 months back.

The temperature gauge is Vdo, and so is the sender.

I have got an infa red temp gun I can double check the accuracy of the gauge, it's only a cheap one though
 
I've got a 96 300 tdi and same VDO set up (and LR stat). Mine sits at about 91/92 consistently, might have been up to about 94 on occasion but never 99. Have you checked coolant level at the rad and t/stat bleed bolts to make sure you don't have some air stuck in it?
 
Kwakerman said:
I've got a 96 300 tdi and same VDO set up (and LR stat). Mine sits at about 91/92 consistently, might have been up to about 94 on occasion but never 99. Have you checked coolant level at the rad and t/stat bleed bolts to make sure you don't have some air stuck in it?
Click to expand...

Thanks kwakerman. I haven't checked those things, I will do that.

Would the air still be in there after 3k miles though? It normally sits at 92 also, is it seemed hotter when working harder at a higher speed.
I would have thought it would be cooler when at that speed, due to the air blowing through the rad. It wasn't warm weather either.
 
ONE LIFE LIVE IT. D90 said:
Thanks kwakerman. I haven't checked those things, I will do that.

Would the air still be in there after 3k miles though? It normally sits at 92 also, is it seemed hotter when working harder at a higher speed.
I would have thought it would be cooler when at that speed, due to the air blowing through the rad. It wasn't warm weather either.
Click to expand...
You may possibly get air trapped if you have a minor head gasket leak but it should self bleed through the t/stat 'jiggle pin' the 'Y' fitting. Always worth a level check as a first check. Cooling air speed and Engine power are not directly related. If you double the cooling air speed (by doubling your road speed) you will actually need 4 x the engine power to achieve this due to aerodynamic drag. if the engine is working 4 x harder it will produce more heat which needs dissipating.
You could always do a re-run in 'normal' conditions to see if it does it again..
 
I have full vdo setup on mine, gauge and sender and dedicated new wire, runs constantly at 88 deg unless abused or stuck in traffic in the summer
 
vilguy said:
is your rad in good condition or are the fins rotting out?
Click to expand...

Cheers kwakerman and Ste, that's interesting.

And cheers vilguy, the bottom of the rad isn't the best. But I've seen worse, it's clean external. And flush internally thoroughly approx a year ago now with fresh coolant. If the top hose doesn't feel too hot to the touch by hand, is the rad doing the job though?

I'm starting to think it maybe an earth issue or air lock to tell the truth. It's not the first time I've had an earth issues with it seeming like over heating. However that was remedied a year ago by cleaning the earth's perfectly!
 
ONE LIFE LIVE IT. D90 said:
How do you bleed it trax? As per the workshop manual?
Click to expand...
manual! nooo.. i'm not sure what it says tbh. mines a conversion so the headers probably is a slightly higher location.

i undo the rad one until it flows coolant out, close it. move onto the one on the thermostat housing, open until coolant flows out, close. top up tank.

obv tanks topped up if it drops too low.

on my setup the rad is lower than the engine one which is lower than the header max mark.. which i think should be standard.

replace the placcy ones with rad brass ones btw.
 
trax said:
manual! nooo.. i'm not sure what it says tbh. mines a conversion so the headers probably is a slightly higher location.

i undo the rad one until it flows coolant out, close it. move onto the one on the thermostat housing, open until coolant flows out, close. top up tank.

obv tanks topped up if it drops too low.

on my setup the rad is lower than the engine one which is lower than the header max mark.. which i think should be standard.

replace the placcy ones with rad brass ones btw.
Click to expand...

Cheers everyone. Is that bleed method with the engine running trax?

I'll get the IR gun on it tomorrow and report back, if the IR gun doesn't match what the gauge is saying I'll clean the earth and see what that brings. I'd like to fit an additional earth anyway, but not sure where.

At least I know 99 degrees isn't really the best for it. Am I banking on about 90 degrees constantly?
 
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