Curious Temp Gauge Readings.....

Saint.V8 said:

I do have the Combined test on my ticket, also have the Institute of Mechanical Thuggery (IMT) advanced certificate in Hammer use too...

I have the opportunity to use whilst under the influence of Tea and would Custard Creams be suitable or would it need to be some form of Digestive?

My girlfriend can hande a mean Screwdriver in a tall glass with a cocktail umbrella and Orange Slice, if I bribe her enough with shoes and clothes she is willing to sit on the drive with me, does that count as adequate supervision?

Click to expand...

Im gonna give big thumbs up to the custard cream, thems good biccys :thumbup: as you got the IMT that supersedes the need to have supervision, but too be honest if your good lady is anything like mine, you won't want her near a multifunctional tool such as a screwdriver

:hysterically_laughi

Ant as you are well aware design office staff are not allowed to use tools. You lot can do enough damage with a HB pencil and a plastic square.
PS You would need written permission from a production manager. Small professional fee involved of course.

wammers said:

Ant as you are well aware design office staff are not allowed to use tools. You lot can do enough damage with a HB pencil and a plastic square.

Click to expand...

Oh so very true Tony, I have had my fair share of bawllings from the Workshop following a few misplaced lines!!

Luckily I get on very well with the shop boys, and I always try to get their input into the design/mod process as much as possible - no point in me drawing something they can't produce easily or efficently....

Many others in the D/O don't do that, and you should hear some of their arguments...!! I prefer to play a little smarter - makes my life sooooo much easier....

In this repsect, I have earned an honorary Tools licence to use *some* tooling under guidance!!

wammers said:

....
PS You would need written permission from a production manager. Small professional fee involved of course.

Click to expand...

And I have seen some of their invoices....If I could afford their fees, I'd have a 2012 S/C L322....!!!!

Saint.V8 said:

And I have seen some of their invoices....If I could afford their fees, I'd have a 2012 S/C L322....!!!!

Click to expand...

I am retired so pretty cheap.

These little darlings have a known issue of the heater failing which leads to coolant leaching up the loom and into the ECU connector giving exactly the symptoms you describe. Check for the code " map cooling"

rewmer said:

These little darlings have a known issue of the heater failing which leads to coolant leaching up the loom and into the ECU connector giving exactly the symptoms you describe. Check for the code " map cooling"

Click to expand...

Will plug the All Comms in tomoz and see what is logged - when you say heater, do you mean the Cabin Heater (HEVAC system) or the Electronic Heated Thermostat Heater??

Thermostat heater. It is quite rare, but worth checking.

Many thanks Rewmer, I will check it when I get the chance to pop out to the car park at work!!

It did do it 5-6 times on the 20 mile journey to work this morning....

I drove with the window down to see if I could hear if the viscous fan was locking up or if the auxillary fan was cutting in and out, but I couldn't hear anything above the traffic noise.....

It rose to 3/4 held for 3-5 seconds than back down again...curiously on 2 occasions the needle did drop rapidly, and the other times it crept back down over 1-2 seconds....!!

Thinking about it my first car...the shed of a frontera it was... Used to do that. Ended up being the thermostat. Randomly it used to jump up to 100 and then the fan would go mental and it slowly came down to 90 again. Changed the thermostat and belt for the fan new coolant and the problem went away. Was especially frequent on motorway drving.

Unrelated vehicle but should provide more evidence for the thermostat argument.

Cheers Aero,

My thoughts are with the thermostat - so will change that first me thinks....

I had the chance a few minutes ago to get to the car park and plug the All Comms in (I carry a 12" Note Book and the All Comms Lead in a small Camera Flight Case at all times - cos it's a Range Rover and you never know!!) went through all the subsystems and read all the logged codes - no faults logged....

I am going to place the Thermostat on order and change that on arrival - in the mean time, I am keeping a close eye on the gauge!

OK Got the stat didn't order it, ther eis a GSF Car Parts place near LHR so popped in there on the way home - the cost was the same as Island plus delivery....just gotta wait now for the car to cool down to fit it....

I have watched the Legend that is Storey Wilson's video a few times now - looking at the access and etc, I don't think there is a need to remove the fan and shroud - there is plenty of wiggle room ('he says that now- wait 'til he does it' I hear from the crowd!)

Did it a fe wtimes on the way home - curiously and I noticed this this morning too - doesn't do it for the first 25 minutes of the journey and then every 3-5 minutes - upto 3/4 wait a few seconds then back down again, twice it went up then straight down quite rapidly....hmmmm I think it is and electrical glitch - I'll change the stat and monitor it - could be the temp sender - I'll change that next as it is only a tenner or so....

Ok Ant don't know much about these but done a bit of reading. Apparently there are two cooling fans. A viscous and an electric auxiliary. Just a though, but if your viscous has gone duff temp rise maybe due to that, only when electric fan trips in is it cooling. Have you checked the viscous?

wammers said:

Ok Ant don't know much about these but done a bit of reading. Apparently there are two cooling fans. A viscous and an electric auxiliary. Just a though, but if your viscous has gone duff temp rise maybe due to that, only when electric fan trips in is it cooling. Have you checked the viscous?

Click to expand...

Hi Tony - Yep, but not with the newspaper test but with the bonnet up and listening test with a bit of gentle accelerator pedal....

When the temp gauge moves, the fan roar does increase for about 20-30 seconds then drops back to the normal whir once again.

I have just had me tea, so about to don the grubbies and go and attack it with a spanner - wish me luck!

One out and one in!!

Managed to do it without taking the fan out, although I can assume that access is easier to swing the spanner/ratchet with the fan removed, but it is possible to do it with it in place - a little paitience is needed with the lowest bolt closest to the block, as this is hidden in amongst things but as I am 6'3" with the Rangie in access, I am just tall enough to lean over the grill/slam panel and get my hand in a position to get my finger tips on to it to undo..!!

General procedure:

• Remove Acoustic Sheild
• Undo Jubilee clips on both ends of the intake ducting
• Remove little pipe from duct ( I couldn't get one of through fear of breaking it, but it was long enogh to allow the duct to be positioned out of the way)
• Unclip the hose to the Stat housing and pull of hose tuck to one side trying not to lose to much coolant!
• Remove multiplug
• Undo 4 bolts on Stat housing
• Tiny tap with the wooden handle of a hammer - off it comes
• Stuff rag up the hole to try and prevent as much coolant loss as possible
  
• Refit is the reverse!!

I did find a chaffed wire leading to the Stat heating element - I wonder if this is the cause of the odd behaviour, as this element heats the stat up and opens it further to enhance cooling, if it was making intermittant contact, it would be opening and closing the stat just enough to raise then lower the temp (I'm hoping anyway).

Remade the dodgy wire connection with a temp fix until I can splice in a new connector, and refilled with 4 litres of 50/50 coolant mix.

Refilled according to RAVE - Open Bleed screw, keep filling until a stream comes out of bleed screw, tighten and fit cap, run up to temp. Allow to cool and recheck (which I'll do in the morning).

During the run up phase, the temp sat bang on the 12 o'clock position for the 15-20 minutes I left it there with gentle revving up to 2000rpm every so often, and the temp gauge didn't budge.

There is a way on the L322 to get the temp reading in digital on the message display, it read 105degC (which is the stat temp) and didn't move for about 10 minutes so fingers crossed, all is well.

The true test will be the drive to work in the morning.

Curious to note though is the old stat is light brown in colour - is this normal?? or has an additive been added at some point?? (pic attached).

Itching to know if it worked!

Hope it's not a sign of Rad Weld or the like.

Datatek said:

Hope it's not a sign of Rad Weld or the like.

Click to expand...

If it coppery and sparkly then rad weld. Was it in the hoses as well?

Update time:

Checked the coolant level this morning and it is still up to the COLD mark so all is well there.

On the L322 as I said in a previous post, you can bring up a 'Hidden Menu' on the message centre that can give you the coolant temperature reading on the message display. So I used that on the way to work this morning.

My journey is 7 miles of country type lanes to a dual carriage way for a mile to the M25, then 8 miles on the M25 (at a decent time where it flows at about 50 for the entire length of my journey on it) then off at Heathrow and it is 3-4 miles down a small dual carriage way then onto the stop start of the Airport perimeter road - about 20 miles in total of a good driving mixture.

The temperature rose to 106degC (Stat working temp is 105) then fluctuated from 106 to 108degC all the way, the needle didn't move from the 12 o'clock position at all....so far a result.

I have a bit of spanner rash on my left arm were I had to get it down between the fan and the block.

I will keep an eye on it for the next few days, and also keep an eye on the coolant level too.

I have a feeling the stat was probably fine, and the fault was the chaffed wiring I found - but for the sake of £60 for the new stat, atleast I know it is new.

I will splice in a new connector into the loom to take out my temporary repair job I did by using a through crimped connector and heat shrink but for the next few days it will suffice.

A simple job all in all, and I cannot thank the LZ members enough for you kind words of support and **** taking - as Hannibal says in the A team - 'I love it when a plan comes together!'

Ant.