Jon W Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 I have had my Thor V8 discovery for a while now and had my 1st problem with it last weekend. Let me set the scene: 2001 127kmiles lpg al l running really nicely. Temp gauge always reads normal ( but have read the normal range is 78-107c so not very helpful) however I have always thought it seem really hot when you open the bonnet after being driven, but have put it down to it being a V8 as they seem to hold a lot more heat in the engine bay than the diesels. Rad is nice and clean, and I have checked the viscous fan previously and it seems to shift a lot of air and will snap a pencil when tested. I was away for the weekend so before I left I checked the oil and coolant on the discovery. Water topped up but only fractionally it seems to use a little to be fair but nothing excessive. Oil topped up too. My wife took her horse out to a competition about 40-50 miles away, got there no problems, on the way home she got about 2 miles into the journey temp gauge into the red and light on. She pulled over as soon as she could where it was safe with the horsebox (I had prewarned her of what to do if such a situation should arise), she hear it bubbling when she turned it off. Opened the bonnet and steam coming from the expansion tank and a lot of water lost. She couldn't tell whether it was a split hose or what so got it recovered to be safe. Since then i have had a good look over it and nothing obvious, I have refilled it with water and bled it through. Taken it out for a good run and given it some work to do. And all seems fine. No oil in the water No water in the oil so could I have not tightened the cap properly? Leading to the water gradually boiling out could the thermostat be faulty and have got stuck closed? Is the water pump failing? When I took it out for a run I was giving it a good hard drive to try and get it really hot but in hindsight it was quite fast road work so good air flow. My thoughts are change the thermostat as it's cheap and easy and possibly the water pump which is a bit more expensive and a bit more work. What are your thoughts? Or should I be looking at a sniff test or compression test? I would have to find someone with the right tools for this. whatever is to be done needs to be done right as it spends the majority of its time towing the donkey around Your thoughts are much appreciated! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Could be a split in expansion tank, they can close up again afterwards and go unnoticed. I would take thermostat out and test it, I doubt it would be sticking shut, it is normally the other way -not closing properly. I wouldn't be so quick to say head gasket or worse, it is likely it is not that at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon W Posted August 18, 2017 Author Share Posted August 18, 2017 Ok I can swap the tank with a spare from a Td5 I have easy enough. Taking the thermostat out isn't possible as they have it in the radiator hose like the Td5 as opposed to in a housing like normal V8s have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 10 hours ago, Jon W said: could the thermostat be faulty and have got stuck closed? The radiator should feel pretty cold then. I'd agree with Bowie, more likely to be another issue than head gaskets, but it's always a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 29 minutes ago, elbekko said: The radiator should feel pretty cold then. I'd agree with Bowie, more likely to be another issue than head gaskets, but it's always a possibility. Maybe hook up the horse box again and see what it does when it works hard, and speed is low Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballcock Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Has it got air-con my V8 would over heat when towing, I took the air-con rad off to find the electric fans were seized and the ali rad a little corrosion never had a problem after until my rad leaked the other month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon W Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 Well we had a development today. Drove to work today 12 miles fine. Then drove e slower twisty way home with hills to work the engine at low speeds. The results were a bit of loss of power them the battery light came on! Pulled over quick and switched off. Result being a collapsed idler bearing had thrown the belt off. Took belt off and nursed it home stopping a lot. Then battery went flat so had to get a jump start and got home. Only got into the red once so hopefully all ok. So this could have been my problem maybe if the idler was stiff maybe the fan wasn't being turned as it should be? I am going to replace both idlers and the tensioner while it's apart. The other idler maybe newer anyway as it has had the ace removal tensioner put on. Shall I replace the water pump? Do they wear out? It's not leaking or anything. Just while it is apart I would rather do everything but it is another £65quid. Rad had been getting hot so water was circulating. Aircon rad doesn't look in great health and I have found the electric helper fan is seized so I will change that as well i have found the source of my small water leak, just under the air intake there is 2 small hoses which attach to a plate, this is leaking when hot under high pressure, so need a new gasket or tightening up Just hope all gaskets and heads are ok. Should have stuck with the Td5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 33 minutes ago, Jon W said: Well we had a development today. Drove to work today 12 miles fine. Then drove e slower twisty way home with hills to work the engine at low speeds. The results were a bit of loss of power them the battery light came on! Pulled over quick and switched off. Result being a collapsed idler bearing had thrown the belt off. Took belt off and nursed it home stopping a lot. Then battery went flat so had to get a jump start and got home. Only got into the red once so hopefully all ok. So this could have been my problem maybe if the idler was stiff maybe the fan wasn't being turned as it should be? I am going to replace both idlers and the tensioner while it's apart. The other idler maybe newer anyway as it has had the ace removal tensioner put on. Shall I replace the water pump? Do they wear out? It's not leaking or anything. Just while it is apart I would rather do everything but it is another £65quid. Rad had been getting hot so water was circulating. Aircon rad doesn't look in great health and I have found the electric helper fan is seized so I will change that as well i have found the source of my small water leak, just under the air intake there is 2 small hoses which attach to a plate, this is leaking when hot under high pressure, so need a new gasket or tightening up Just hope all gaskets and heads are ok. Should have stuck with the Td5 As a matter of recourse, I change the water pump on my 300 TDi every 100 000km (60 000 miles) I also change all coolent pipes and thermostat at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 (edited) Sounds like you found the problem, slipping belt = no water pump and no fan. That'll overheat in a hurry. Oh, and the little plate on the throttle body can just be bypassed, you only need it if you plan on driving in really cold climates. Edited August 20, 2017 by elbekko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon W Posted August 27, 2017 Author Share Posted August 27, 2017 All back together and working again. It was the cause of the problem as it is fine now. Just got to find out which hose is dripping intermittently probably just a clip not seated properly. Here is the idler, previous owner must have used a cheap part as it was plastic whereas the genuine one I replaced it with was metal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 27, 2017 Share Posted August 27, 2017 Yes I would say that was failed..... Nice work, and no head gasket or liner problems to be seen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 On 20/08/2017 at 4:10 PM, elbekko said: Oh, and the little plate on the throttle body can just be bypassed, you only need it if you plan on driving in really cold climates. No not really, thats quite important. The manfold heat prevents the inlet getting too cold from evaporation and causing the fuel mixture to condensate in the manifold. It will create lags in fuel supply and mixture variations, even at normal ambient temperatures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heated_air_inlet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 On an injected vehicles that's not really so much of an issue. I have however had icing in the carb on an SU-equipped 2.25 (which ran very nicely actually...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoSS Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 True, i should have specified, Carb'ed. On injected it could actually help performance by cooling the charge.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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