Reiny

Kevin 7799, the gauges, indicators and brake lights use the same circuit, hence the same fuse.

Change the fuse and try to clean the fuse holder.

52mm

Have you tried heat? And I mean serious heat (oxy-acetylene)

Quinton Hazel pumps are excellent. I believe that's the brand Land Rover uses.

Yest that's right tweetyduck. What surprises me is how long it takes to reach operating temperatures. I went to buy the necessary spares yesterday. It was only a 5 mile drive but again, ambient temperatures were high. Gauge sat at around 80 most of the way so I presumed that the thermostat would be opening and closing to retain that temperature. However, when I got there, the top hose was still relatively cold. So does that mean that the coolant within the engine never went higher than 88 degrees? Anyway, I bought a new thermostat and replaced it and everything seems to be back to normal. I did make an observation though. I think I had overfilled the system last time i topped up. I realized this when I syphoned the coolant out of the reservoir using a length of rubber hose, then I removed the bottom hose from the reservoir, inserted the aforementioned rubber hose into the bottom radiator hose and syphoned that out too. Using this system, losses are minimal however, a glassful or so is almost always lost. When I refilled, I still had almost a litre left in the bucket, even after all the air had been purged. So I guess that's where the rise in level was coming from.

Thanks tweetyduck. Coolant is squeaky clean. I change it annually and flush the system through. Had a few minutes to spare this afternoon. First of all, after a short run, temperature hovered at around 80 degrees but the top hose was not as hot as I would have liked it to be. Furthermore, the reservoir was about 3/4 full again. Drained a couple of litres of coolant, removed thermostat, plonked it into a cup of boiling water, didn't notice any difference (which part of the thermostat is supposed to open?), refitted, bled the system and returned home (6 mile drive). Temperature gauge sat at 80 and upon inspection when parked, top hose was nice and hot. Therefore I can only blame an airlock or an intermittedly faulty thermostat. Will buy replacement thermostat and replace YET AGAIN tomorrow.

Thanks for yoru replies fellers. My money's on the thermostat. I have changed an average of one a year (usually they tend to stick open) over the past three years or so. Water pump was replaced last February (P-gasket last October). As you can see, the blasted cooling system has kept me busy. Maverick, yes I did have an issue with the cooling system in March during a short overland trip. The plastic on the thermostat housing broke (thankfully while i was parked and the engine was turned off). when I replaced it the car was parked uphill therefore I couldn't get all the air out of the system. I kept blowing into the reservoir and after dumping about 3 litres of original Land Rover coolant onto the floor (ouch that was expensive) I thougth that I should have purged all the air. Seems like i didn't.

Thanks Gemini. Removing the rad is a 30 minute jobby. However I have doubts that it is the culprit. My cause for concern isn't the fact that the engine is overheating because it isn't. It's the fact that the reservoir filled up. I have a hunch that it may be a faulty thermostat. I'll change that first. Ambient temperatures here are very high (32 degrees in the shade at 5 p.m. and there wasn't any shade anywhere). Running without a fan might be ok in the UK but certainly not here.

4 years ago.

My 300tdi has been fantastically reliable for the past 9 years however I have been plagued with a spate of cooling related problems. The engine has never overheated however it's only because I keep my eye on the temperature gauge and am a stickler for maintenance. So far I have replaced everything related to the cooling system (some items have been replaced more than once). Anyway, yesterday I was driving home and the temperature needle sat at just over 90 degrees. It usually climbs to 90 on 2 particular hills and goes down to 80 or 85 degrees as soon as the hill levels out. In a haste to get home I gunned the engine on a 100 metre stretch of road and the needle climbed a tad higher (never touched more than 95 degrees),then it went back to around 85. Popped the hood to have a look and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. I was a bit concerned however that the top hose wasn't as hot as i would have expected it to be. What was more worrying was the fact that the coolant reservoir was totally full! (it was half full in the morning). I opened it slowly. Usual amount of hissing (i.e. very little) and it opened with no fuss. Then I removed the spill pipe from the thermostat housing and the coolant level in the reservoir returend to its normal position until the spill pipe orifice overflowed. The top hose instantly became much hotter. Did I have the mother of all airlocks? Anyway, I ran the engine for a few seconds and upon turning it off, I realised that the cooling fan kept spinning. Viscous coupling was shot (just 6 months old and not purchased in a blue box. I'm not a happy chappy). Fished the old viscous coupling out, whipped the fan off, swapped viscous couplings over, took the car for a spin, hammered it as much as evening traffic allowed me to and the temperature sat at 80 degrees with no further bother whatsoever. I cannot understand what's happening. Do you think that the change in level in the reservoir was attributed to a duff viscous coupling?

You're one lucky bloke! You've got time and money to burn!

I recently converted an old under-sink reverse osmosis reservoir. It had a tyre valve already fitted to it so that was one problem less. I drilled a hole at the bottom, welded a 1/2" BSP socket to act as a filler hole, split the whole reservoir down the middle to remove the rubber bladder inside and re-welded it shut (pain in the butt to do). To use, stand on its end, fill with required lubricant, close filler plug, attach to compressor, pressurize to about 30 psi, attach hose to little valve on the end, open valve and wait. Easy peasy. It was a revelation after 15 years of cursing every time i had to use the manual oil pumps.

Coniston green is a real pig to match.

How easy is it to snap that drain plug? I'm petrified of trying to undo it.

Thanks to all for your replies. I managed to purchase the correct part and fitted it. Removing the broken part was going to be a pain so I resorted to hammering a small chisel down the plug slowly in order to break it off piece by piece. After about 10 minutes, I decided to remove the thermostat to avoid damaging it, tapped the broken plug just once and out it popped.

Thanks for your replies fellers but I really don't know whether or not they stock them here. I'm not a local so I wouldn't know. This morning my parents are coming over and they're taking me to the nearest dealership. Hopefully I'll find the part in stock.

This topic is exactly the one i've been looking for. I have the exact same problem but I don't have any spares in hand. The problem is that I'm currently on an overland trip and I'm bang in the middle of a mountain range in Sicily (I'm from Malta). Luckily, my parents are about an hour away and they offered to drive me to the nearest dealer (about another hour away from here) tomorrow morning to purchase the cap. For the time being, I've slapped a great big gob of Hylomar 302 over the bit that remains screwed within the housing and have plonked the bit that snapped off on top of it. This happened just before dinner tonight and it was dark and getting cold so I left it be. I was thinking of trying to secure it with cable ties tomorrow morning. Do you think that this is enough for the 150-or-so mile trip that I need to drive to get me to the ferry to return home? Hopefully I'll be able to purchase the damn part tomorrow morning but I had better plan for the worst case scenario. The engine hasn't overheated in any way and even though there's a largish trail of water beneath the vehicle, the level of coolant in the reservoir has only dropped by about half an inch.

Yes it is speed related. It increases up to about, say, 20 miles an hour, then it's either drowned by other noises or it disappears. I have a hunch that it's the UJ's. there is some up and down movement of the spider within the cups.

I'm hearing a ticking / rattling sound from the transmission, especially at slow speeds and only when in gear. It increases upon acceleration but at higher speeds, it either disappears or gets drowned by other sounds. It is obviously more audible when the vehicle is being driven close to buildings. A few months ago I thought it was the UJ's on the front prop. I changed them but if I recall correctly, the rattle remained (there's still some slight play in the UJs - something to do with buying unorginal UJs which had probably mangled the yokes when fitted). Then winter came and I rarely wound the window down and I almost forgot about it. Now that warmer weather is here and the window is open most of the time, the noise has come back to haunt me. Can anyone give me an idea where I should start looking? I'm a bit concerned because I'm going for a short overland trip in 10 days and I don't want anything big to go boom. Just in case it helps, gearbox in question is an r380.. Report to moderator 195.158.106.6

Thanks bogmonster. Will a 27mm socket still fit over the nut which lost its cover?

I'm new to alloy wheels so please excuse me if this is a stupid question. Anyway, I just lost one of the chrome covers covering the weel nuts. Are these covers sold separately or do i have to change the whole wheel nut?

When you undo the hose connection, pack the area with a rag and give the pedal a couple of pumps. It'll get rid of most of the fluid.

Thanks bogmonster. Thant's the part number i was looking for.

I have just purchased a set of dark grey Freestyle alloys (as fitted to Discovery 1 ES models) and am missing a couple of centre caps. I have scoured ebay but have only managed to find silver ones. Can anyone give me the part number or an indication where I may be able to purchase these blessed centre caps from?