Smelly Disco

I've not had the Discovery long and have now noticed when youre going slow along little roads and lanes (sub 20mph), it smells as if its running hot hot. Temp guage is sitting perfectly half way and drops to about 5mm under the half way point when driving at normal road speeds. Ive pulled over when it smelled hot and cracked the expansion cap off, while running, expecting it to blow steam all over and be pressured up, but it was just the normal little brief hiss and then can take cap off fully with no drama and there is plenty of coolant in it too.

Any ideas why it would smell so hot but apparently be all fine?? Im new to Landy's and Rover V8's

Its a 3.9 on a P plate if that makes any difference.

Cheers guys.

Ali block and head+v8=lots of heat soak

I did wonder if it was just a Land Rover smell that I should ignore but thought it best to ask.

odd if temp gauge moves at all after up to operating temp.

It gets to temp when driving (just below half), then will rise a little to half way when going up slow hills and trundling about under load, then will drop back to just under half way when driving at normal road speeds again. Heaters are warm no signs of coolant loss or any head gaskety type signs. Just smells hot thats all.

What e said!

Mine doesn't move a jot even when flooring it up reasonably steep hills, even when I had block problems.

Hmmm, Ill have to keep an eye on things then. How long does yours take to warm up guys? Mine seems to take a while, I wonder if my thermostat is a bit iffy.

Might be that the thermostate has been removed because the rad is blocked, my 3.9 temp gauge never moved after replacing the rad, even towing 2 ton + up Holden hill (Exeter).

change stat first port of call as its the cheapest. I did mine today

get a "waxstat" one not ****part!

check rad is hot all the way across to make sure its cooling efficently will cause serious problems on a 3.9 when weather gets hotter if not ,very common fault ,a lot of cooling system problems i seen have had poor rad v8 and 300 tdi

my temp guage moves a few mm between slow driving/off roading and cruising speeds.

just before the leccy fans come on it goes a little further too if its working hard.

never get a definite smell though - but they do let out a hellalot of heat so i am probably used to it

and no (fett) i dont think it's another telltale sign that my engine's on the brink of disaster!

in fact i went laning last week, drove all the way to wales, laned solidly from 8am til 4pm, then laned solidly from 8 til 3 ish the next day, then drove home.#

lots of fuel but never missed a beat, even through the corwen carwash twice.

i was VERY chuffed

p.s. sorry for the thread jack.

lol, yeah that guage still shouldnt move though noisy

A reasonably new exhaust?
Clutch getting a bit heated with constant gear changes?
Something in contact with the exhaust? (plastic bag or summat like that)

fett said:

lol, yeah that guage still shouldnt move though noisy

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yeah yeah well mine does!!!

fett said:

odd if temp gauge moves at all after up to operating temp.

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That kinda depends on a number of factors. If the engine has not been running long, but has reached "normal" running temperatures, it is quite possible for the water in the radiator to be significantly cooler than the water in the engine's water jacket (especially with the winter temps we are getting.) Then, when the thermostat opens to allow circulation, the cooler water will hit the temp sensor and the needle will drop a little, soon to recover to "normal" depending on how sensitive the sensor is and how frequently the reading is checked. Many modern gauges do not give a constant reading of the current temperature, the electronics only take a sample reading every so often. (If you doubt this as an example, try leaving your ignition switched on when you fill up with diesel and watch the fuel gauge on your dash.)

Also, I'm curious, when you say it smells hot, is this from inside the car as you are driving along, or is it when you stop and sniff the bonnet (or under it)

If it's from inside the car, have you considered maybe something blocking the air intake vent for your heater fan?
Or maybe a badly fitted (high) exhaust heating up the floor pan?

If it's from under the bonnet, most engines and peripherals which are running at "normal" temperatures will make some mild ticking noises as they cool down for the first few seconds once the engine is switched off, but, in the case of an engine running significantly hotter than usual, these noises are much more intense and obviously so, it's difficult to describe as one man's description of these noises could be far from another's man's impression of them. Also, there is usually a sort of haziness to the air around the engine if it's seriously overheating so I suspect everything is ok in your case, believe me, you'd know if it was very seriously overheating, you'd never get near enough to open the pressure cap on the radiator without some degree of trepidation and a lot of thick rags, and if you did get it open, you'd probably never do it a second time for the rest of your life.

Clanforbes said:

That kinda depends on a number of factors. If the engine has not been running long, but has reached "normal" running temperatures, it is quite possible for the water in the radiator to be significantly cooler than the water in the engine's water jacket (especially with the winter temps we are getting.) Then, when the thermostat opens to allow circulation, the cooler water will hit the temp sensor and the needle will drop a little, soon to recover to "normal" depending on how sensitive the sensor is and how frequently the reading is checked. Many modern gauges do not give a constant reading of the current temperature, the electronics only take a sample reading every so often. (If you doubt this as an example, try leaving your ignition switched on when you fill up with diesel and watch the fuel gauge on your dash.)

Also, I'm curious, when you say it smells hot, is this from inside the car as you are driving along, or is it when you stop and sniff the bonnet (or under it)

If it's from inside the car, have you considered maybe something blocking the air intake vent for your heater fan?
Or maybe a badly fitted (high) exhaust heating up the floor pan?

If it's from under the bonnet, most engines and peripherals which are running at "normal" temperatures will make some mild ticking noises as they cool down for the first few seconds once the engine is switched off, but, in the case of an engine running significantly hotter than usual, these noises are much more intense and obviously so, it's difficult to describe as one man's description of these noises could be far from another's man's impression of them. Also, there is usually a sort of haziness to the air around the engine if it's seriously overheating so I suspect everything is ok in your case, believe me, you'd know if it was very seriously overheating, you'd never get near enough to open the pressure cap on the radiator without some degree of trepidation and a lot of thick rags, and if you did get it open, you'd probably never do it a second time for the rest of your life.

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I agree, but thats not to say that once fully up to temp, stat opened and temp recovered then under varying loads temp gauge should move.

Mine is 21 years old.

fett said:

I agree, but thats not to say that once fully up to temp, stat opened and temp recovered then under varying loads temp gauge should move.

Mine is 21 years old.

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Lol, yep we both seem to agree, that the gauge can move but that doesn't necessarily mean that it should or shouldn't.