Mediamab Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 (edited) Hey everyone. Another fun Saturday So decided to take my LR 90 for a drive, just to see if it affects tapping noise (incidentally it may have done) but I have the below two issues… Only when driving (idling on drive no issue) the engine suddenly drops power or totally looses it. When it lost all power it would start but immediately die. Did that a few times then suddenly it started and got me home luckily. Assuming this is either electrical or fuelling?! When I got home I left it running for a couple of minutes. When I turned the engine off it stopped with a couple of slow cranks which I’ve never noticed before (is this normal?!). Then the coolant system started making a lot of funny noises, spat coolant out of the overflow on the header tank and sat there quite obviously boiling and took many minutes to stop. Interesting the first time I saw the temp gauge almost to the middle. (Usually sits at the bottom of the white line) it has Prestone coolant in it and I’d checked header and had plenty before I set off. hit me with your words of wisdom that hopefully don’t make me cry ha I’ve never known coolant to boil! IMG_0457.mov added a video but I’m pretty sure that noise is boiling coolant?! Edited February 3 by Mediamab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 For some reason it looks like you have managed to over heat it, it could be anything from a weeping hose clamp or bad electric fan to a head gasket failure, hard to tell from a distance I'm afraid, but I'd be checking the cheap things first. It seems like your temp gauge is not calibrated properly to the sender, otherwise it would normally run in the middle of the gauge, I would advise getting this sorted.... The running on you experienced can be an overly rich carb, but also I've seen it when an engine has got too hot, I wouldn't worry about that until you get the overheating issue sorted. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Is this a sign of coolant leak? Blown head gasket? Ive noticed sometimes when colder and idle I get it but wouldn’t say this badly? truck has a viscous fan that seems to run fine IMG_0458.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Now it’s heated up no white smoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Odds on your temperature gauge & sender were not made for each other. I gave up p*ssing about with mine and fitted a VDO vision gauge & sender. Once you know your real temperature next thing is to work out why it's getting hot - what flavour fan does it have fitted? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Yeah it’s on my list though I guess this is proven it’s off and mid way means boiling point! just got the standard viscous fan im wandering with that smoke if its a blown head gasket? I guess could also be cause of the tapping and lack of power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 2 hours ago, Mediamab said: Is this a sign of coolant leak? Blown head gasket? Ive noticed sometimes when colder and idle I get it but wouldn’t say this badly? truck has a viscous fan that seems to run fine IMG_0458.mov 8.84 MB · 0 downloads Was this from dead cold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Also, I wasn't trying to say it is either a hose or the headgaskets, more there's a myriad of things that sit in between those two things that it could be. Have you given all the hoses etc a really good check? It could just be the level dropped enough to get hot. An IR gun for £10 is always useful when diagnosing these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 8 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Was this from dead cold? No it was about 45mins after the boiling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 6 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Also, I wasn't trying to say it is either a hose or the headgaskets, more there's a myriad of things that sit in between those two things that it could be. Have you given all the hoses etc a really good check? It could just be the level dropped enough to get hot. An IR gun for £10 is always useful when diagnosing these things. Yeah I couldn’t see any coolant leaks at all from the hoses. I’ll have a fresh look in the day light tho to see if any signs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 6 minutes ago, Mediamab said: No it was about 45mins after the boiling I'm no fortune teller, but that amount of steam would suggest a HG. Does it pressurise the cooling system when cold? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 2 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: I'm no fortune teller, but that amount of steam would suggest a HG. Does it pressurise the cooling system when cold? If I undo the header tank cold there doesn’t appear to be any pressure, no hiss or anything to suggest relieving it. Assume that’s what you mean? Would/could the head gasket cause the issue I had with the engine cutting out when driving? Or that more likely electrical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Given you have no idea how hot it was getting, I'd wager that was the fuel boiling or something else. Solve one at a time... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 I assume the lack of cold pressure suggests an issue with head gasket too? I guess if I can’t find any obvious leak then symptoms mixed with the white smoke leans that way? It may well be time I accept to start getting into the engine to solve this issues im having..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Lack of pressure when cold is good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 2 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Lack of pressure when cold is good... ah ok well one good thing then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 It sounds like with the tapping sound, potential blown head gasket and my initial hopes to change the cam and fit stage 1 head that maybe it’s time to go with that work and take any other issues I come to. I assume it’s actually best to remove the engine from the truck? I feel that would be simpler and allow a good clean, paint of under the hood and sort electrics out too. How hard is the process to remove the engine? (Appreciate id need a crane etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 If that is an original low-compression 3.5 unit there's little point spending money tuning it. And as Bowie says I would not jump straight to assuming a head gasket problem given that right now you don't even know how hot it's getting or appear to have a working cooling system. Whatever you do you'll eventually want a working temp gauge so that's a no-brainer - step #1. The fact it managed to overheat suggests the fan or rad or water pump is either not working or not being effective - you can test viscous fans by seeing if they "stiffen up" with temperature. Does it have a cowling on the fan? Is the rad in good nick? Anything making any noises? Anything leaking? Any collapsed or damaged hoses? Thermostat good? Heater getting hot? Next up is to actually do the basic checks of what else is wrong - is it losing water, is it mixing oil & water, is it pressurising the cooling system, does the cooling system pass a pressure test? Assuming the stock rad there's an easy 1/2" BSP port in the top of the rad you can use to pressurise the system and look for leaks. And, again as someone else said - always start with the cheap stuff. A decent stat is like £10 and 5 minutes to change, it's a damn sight easier to rule that out for £10 than spend a weekend and £250 doing head gaskets only to find out it was a £10 stat or a clogged radiator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 If you are taking out the low comp 3.5, ready a 3.9 (easiest) ,4.0 or 4.6 to plop in. First two will give you an extra ~50-70BHP, and the latter nearly 100. And you could do it for less than the cost of a cam, lifters and a pair of stage 1 heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Yeah not suggesting I’d skip checking all the simpler items…. Previously cooling has all been fine, no leaks, can see the instant the thermostat kicks in as temperature goes down suddenly and top pipe gets hot. Fans working fine, cowling all fitted, no leaks, no collapsed or damaged pipes. Cooling system does pressurise for sure as have opened once when still quite hot and helps a decent pressure for sure. Water pump shoots water out (with pipe removed and quick crank) so that seems fine. Rads replaced 3 years ago and seems very good condition. Does the sender match the gauge, agree it would appear not. I’ve ordered an IR thermometer to see what it says re temperatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 5 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: If you are taking out the low comp 3.5, ready a 3.9 (easiest) ,4.0 or 4.6 to plop in. First two will give you an extra ~50-70BHP, and the latter nearly 100. And you could do it for less than the cost of a cam, lifters and a pair of stage 1 heads. Are the larger engines pretty much a straight swap? I was looking at the 3.9, I didn’t know if my carb setup can just switch across? Also looking around didn’t seem to be that common bar companies selling very expensive rebuilds. is the 3.5, being low compression, just going to see little improvement then with a new cam and stage 1 heads? I really do feel somewhat I am not seeing the performance from my current engine as it should stock though, it lacks little to no get up and go, overtaking would be impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 A low comp 3.5 has very little need for more airflow from either a cam or especially heads, you need the bigger capacity engines and/or a compression ratio bump. 3.9s with a dizzy can be found in many a rotting disco second hand on eBay. Your car would bolt on and a tiny tweak to the wiring to the dizzy and you are up and running. Even if you are using a leaky toilet to fuel it, it will be infinitely better than the 3.5 Havw you checked timing BTW? Makes a amssiv difference to performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mediamab Posted February 3 Author Share Posted February 3 Na timing I haven’t got to, need to get a gun ordered as I agree it’s likely not helping. I guess a part of me likes that it’s original and I’m not after serious bhp and so improving in its current size would be nice. But I would like it to feel like it wants to try and move ha I was doing a lot of searching and appeared Torquemax cam and stage 1 heads would hopefully bring me to 180bhp or would you say that’s just very unlikely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Very, no chance in fact. Like I say, you would need high compression pistons at a minimum to make the most of the cam and heads, and any quoted figures for improvements are enormously optimistic and can basically be ignored. Even with stage 1 heads and a cam and hi comp pistons if you broke 165 I would be very, very surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul C Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 The engine I have just removed from my 110 is a serpentine 3.9 that I put a carb manifold and cd175s on. When I got it in a 96 discovery it was overheating. I found tin plate gaskets and loose head bolts and replaced those but still was heating, checked the timing and found the vacuum advance was knackered, replaced that and it has been fine ever since. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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