Does anyone know the normal operating temperature of a 300tdi? I have just sorted out the stock temp gauge, and installed a digital sender & gauge in the top of the head.
My stock gauge climbs to midpoint around 55C, and never budges after that. I have not seen it raise past midpoint.
My digital gauge climbs to 88-90C and stays there when driving around town.
Pushing it a little, or a long highway drive brings the temp up to 90-92C. I maxed out at 103C pushing hard along the Sea to Sky, and then settled back to 90-95 along the Upper Levels Highway.
Does this seem normal? Keep in mind the stock gauge needle never moves above the halfway point through all this fluctuation.
Thanks for any advice.
300tdi Operating Temperature?
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roverdevin
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red90
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The stock thermostat should open at 88 C and close at 83 C. With a good coolant gauges, you can see the clearly.
Sounds like you have a bad stock gauge or a mismatched sender and gauge.
If it ever goes above 88 C, there is something wrong in the cooling system. In my experience it is very common for the viscous unit on the fan to not work. It is simple enough to test.
Sounds like you have a bad stock gauge or a mismatched sender and gauge.
If it ever goes above 88 C, there is something wrong in the cooling system. In my experience it is very common for the viscous unit on the fan to not work. It is simple enough to test.
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roverdevin
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Thanks for the reply. I was worried about the fluctuation, and it would not surprise me if the gauges were mismatched. This is a TDI retrofit into a V8 Discovery. I installed the digital gauge for just this reason.
I did replace the temp sender for the car with the correct Tdi Discovery sender, and I thought it worked ok as the needle seems to follow the digital temp up to 88C, but then stops there. There must be a 300Tdi specific gauge for the Discovery?
The cooling system is "working", to some extent--the car always wants to sit at 88C, and returns there after working. What bugs me is the spikes nearer 100C on long climbs. If this is not normal, I'll definitely be doing some troubleshooting.
What is the method of testing the viscous fan, other than listening for the air pull? The rad is not too old, and looks to be in good shape, but I'll do a flush and change the thermostat as a matter of course.
I did replace the temp sender for the car with the correct Tdi Discovery sender, and I thought it worked ok as the needle seems to follow the digital temp up to 88C, but then stops there. There must be a 300Tdi specific gauge for the Discovery?
The cooling system is "working", to some extent--the car always wants to sit at 88C, and returns there after working. What bugs me is the spikes nearer 100C on long climbs. If this is not normal, I'll definitely be doing some troubleshooting.
What is the method of testing the viscous fan, other than listening for the air pull? The rad is not too old, and looks to be in good shape, but I'll do a flush and change the thermostat as a matter of course.
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red90
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There are reports from 300TDI Defenders that the stock gauges are dampened and do not probley show overheating. No idea if this holds true for Discos as well.
Drive until you get to that too hot a point and pull over. Quickly pop the hood and try to stop the fan safely with something like abrolled up newspaper. Obviously be careful. If it is working you will not be able to stop the fan. If it is dead, the fan will stop.
It is usually possible to hear it locking up from the increase in fan noise, but it is harder with the "noiser" diesel engine.
Drive until you get to that too hot a point and pull over. Quickly pop the hood and try to stop the fan safely with something like abrolled up newspaper. Obviously be careful. If it is working you will not be able to stop the fan. If it is dead, the fan will stop.
It is usually possible to hear it locking up from the increase in fan noise, but it is harder with the "noiser" diesel engine.
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roverdevin
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further to the above...
-I removed and tested my thermostat....begins opening at 88C, fully open by 98C.
-I tested my viscous fan...appears to be engaging properly.
-I replaced a slightly leaky pressure cap with a good one.
-I removed the stock sender and boiled it while attached to the stock gauge...Interesting results. At 60C, it hits the bottom of "normal zone" at 70C, its sits plop in the middle of "normal zone" it stays exactly there as the water temp climbs to 105C, then begins going up again. At 110C, its at the top of "normal zone" at 115C, it shows overheating. Dampened, as mentioned above.
-I drove to Princeton and back(long climbs.)...the stock gauge ran normal throughout the trip. The digital ran 88C normally. When climbing, as high as 106C. When coasting downhill, as low as 75C. Return to 88C is usually under 1 minute of returning to "normal driving". That was Tuesday, with air temp as hot as 30 in Princeton. Coming home today was cooler, and I couldn't get it above 95C.
-I pulled over when it was reading "hot", and opened the hood...it didn't smell hot, and when I carefully opened the coolant expansion tank cap, there was not any evidence of running overly hot or boiling.
-I took it to a local Land Rover specialist for a checkup...who suggested that the location of the digital sender, at the top of the head next to the exhaust manifold, as well as the nature of the sender might be expected to read higher than the stock gauge sender location. He also mentioned 100C+ when working hard was not unusual.
All in all, I'm feeling a little better about things, as it "appears" to be working normally. I am going to move my digital sender forward to the Tstat housing and see what difference it makes.
Not sure I'm too confident with that stock gauge though...It might as well be a warning light as it doesn't actually "gauge" anything. I guess it's to keep people from worrying about operating temperature fluctuations. Hmmm....
-I removed and tested my thermostat....begins opening at 88C, fully open by 98C.
-I tested my viscous fan...appears to be engaging properly.
-I replaced a slightly leaky pressure cap with a good one.
-I removed the stock sender and boiled it while attached to the stock gauge...Interesting results. At 60C, it hits the bottom of "normal zone" at 70C, its sits plop in the middle of "normal zone" it stays exactly there as the water temp climbs to 105C, then begins going up again. At 110C, its at the top of "normal zone" at 115C, it shows overheating. Dampened, as mentioned above.
-I drove to Princeton and back(long climbs.)...the stock gauge ran normal throughout the trip. The digital ran 88C normally. When climbing, as high as 106C. When coasting downhill, as low as 75C. Return to 88C is usually under 1 minute of returning to "normal driving". That was Tuesday, with air temp as hot as 30 in Princeton. Coming home today was cooler, and I couldn't get it above 95C.
-I pulled over when it was reading "hot", and opened the hood...it didn't smell hot, and when I carefully opened the coolant expansion tank cap, there was not any evidence of running overly hot or boiling.
-I took it to a local Land Rover specialist for a checkup...who suggested that the location of the digital sender, at the top of the head next to the exhaust manifold, as well as the nature of the sender might be expected to read higher than the stock gauge sender location. He also mentioned 100C+ when working hard was not unusual.
All in all, I'm feeling a little better about things, as it "appears" to be working normally. I am going to move my digital sender forward to the Tstat housing and see what difference it makes.
Not sure I'm too confident with that stock gauge though...It might as well be a warning light as it doesn't actually "gauge" anything. I guess it's to keep people from worrying about operating temperature fluctuations. Hmmm....
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red90
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Apparently the 300TDI gauges are known to work that way. I would suggest getting a replacement. The VDO Visions fit in really well visually and work accurately.
Metric: http://www.egauges.com/vdo_ind.asp?Type ... PN=310-108
Imperial: http://www.egauges.com/vdo_ind.asp?Type ... PN=310-105
My gauges.
http://rovers.red90.ca/maingauges.jpg
I've used on of the senders that also has a high temperature switch. I've wired that to a buzzer. Came in really handy the other day when I had turned off my electric fan for a water crossing and forgot to turn it back on.....
Metric: http://www.egauges.com/vdo_ind.asp?Type ... PN=310-108
Imperial: http://www.egauges.com/vdo_ind.asp?Type ... PN=310-105
My gauges.
http://rovers.red90.ca/maingauges.jpg
I've used on of the senders that also has a high temperature switch. I've wired that to a buzzer. Came in really handy the other day when I had turned off my electric fan for a water crossing and forgot to turn it back on.....