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[MarkieB]

Just got what I hope is a good price for a tidy vehicle;

looks as though it needs a new radiator + intercooler

is there a legal electronic parts catalogue for a 1995 disco?

are there various aftermarket radiator/intercooler possibilities such as all-in-one, large intercooler etc?

cheers

[MarkieB]

Alright, careful inspection indicates it hopefully won't need an intercooler, thank goodness for that; although I've ordered a new rad as the old one is quite rotten; now I've got one more question

the symptoms I had, that had encouraged me to think the intercooler could have been as rotten as the radiator, were

driving along at 120km/h+ on the autoroute, a hot day in central France

after a while, no real acceleration from ~115km/h to 130km/h; accompanying smoke

very gentle acceleration allows me to increase the speed, not suddenly though; heavy acceleration leads to the loss of power plus smoke

that tells me it's to do with the turbo, perhaps..

Is that normal for a 300tdi?

how would I test the turbo, up to what revs is it safe to test it while parked? what noises should I be listening for?

cheers

[Projectblue]

Alright, careful inspection indicates it hopefully won't need an intercooler, thank goodness for that; although I've ordered a new rad as the old one is quite rotten; now I've got one more question

the symptoms I had, that had encouraged me to think the intercooler could have been as rotten as the radiator, were

driving along at 120km/h+ on the autoroute, a hot day in central France

after a while, no real acceleration from ~115km/h to 130km/h; accompanying smoke

very gentle acceleration allows me to increase the speed, not suddenly though; heavy acceleration leads to the loss of power plus smoke

that tells me it's to do with the turbo, perhaps..

Is that normal for a 300tdi?

how would I test the turbo, up to what revs is it safe to test it while parked? what noises should I be listening for?

cheers

You don't say what colour the smoke is, but guessing not blue. Could it be lack of air with it being warm? I always work on the principle of before the big options, check the cheaper ones. Air filter first and then check the EGR. The best thing is to remove the EGR completey as it gets gunked/fails.

If you have to put a new intercooler in, buy a big shiny new one from someone like Allisport and hoof the pump up a bit

[Les Henson]

I suggest you get it running properly before you modify it. If the fins are ok on the intercooler, then flush it out (petrol is what I use). The radiator and intercooler are seperate items within the same frame, so there's no real need to have to replace both if only one is faulty.

Take the pipe off that goes from the top of the intercooler to the inlet manifold and look to see if there's a build-up of marmite in the neck of the manifold. This is an indication of the EGR valve failing in the open position. There's an EGR blanking kit available from the usual L/R suppliers for about a fiver - the inlet manifold has to be taken off and cleaned out - I use petrol to do this. The 300TDi engine is over cooled anyway, so unless it's actually getting too hot, then replacing the rad isn't a priority. If you have an excessive amount of marmite in the inlet manifold, then curing this problem makes a dramatic difference in performance.

Les.

[MarkieB]

You don't say what colour the smoke is, but guessing not blue. Could it be lack of air with it being warm?

Just 'normal' [i used to own 2.5 n/a diesel so I [b]know[/b] normal diesel smoke] diesel smoke I think

lack of cool air is my thinking, too

Air filter & EGR sound well worth looking at, cheers

Thanks Les for the pointers too, I'm a Bovril man myself

it was getting seriously hot after climbing a long hill at autoroute speeds in the hot sun, hence no hesitation in ordering a new rad — it was the heat in the South of France that demolished the old 110 this summer [LT77 in 34° heat on the autoroute, more economical to flog as-is & replace] — although 'normal' warm weather + hill climbs seem alright for the disco

[honitonhobbit]

Before you do the whole EGR thing check your Intercooler to Manifld pipe isn't collapsing on boost demand. Usually caused by a delamination of the pipework

[MarkieB]

I've just spoken to the original owner who had got £500 for it from a garage when picking up a [ptui!] Vito, it seems it's had one head skimmed then replaced, probable gasket leak around one cylinder [at least] that could account for the overheating..