Normal running temp

Had my face lift td4 53 plate 16 months and last winter fuel consumption dropped, so to get up to normal running temp takes about 5 miles and in my experience with other cars thats about 3 miles to many, now do I go to the hassle of changing the thermostat to see if that improves it or may be a radiator blind, as I am led to believe that the Freelander is over cooled. Your thoughts would be welcome gents

illy

how old is the car (sorry but 53 plate means nothng to me...)

you can check the engine running temperature (coolant temp) through the OBD port if you have a suitable piece of kit

should run around 90C

Just checked mine (2004 Td4) and it was around 10C low and variable according to driving speed, load etc.

I wouldnt be surprised if yours was goosed

5 miles heating time may be ok - depends if its uphill, down hill, heavy foot or light

Modern diesel take ages to warm up. My previous car, a diesel Yeti took more than 5 miles to warm up in the winter. That was a new car.

digby said:

how old is the car (sorry but 53 plate means nothng to me...)

you can check the engine running temperature (coolant temp) through the OBD port if you have a suitable piece of kit

should run around 90C

Just checked mine (2004 Td4) and it was around 10C low and variable according to driving speed, load etc.

I wouldnt be surprised if yours was goosed

5 miles heating time may be ok - depends if its uphill, down hill, heavy foot or light

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53 reg runs from Sept 2003 until end February 2004. 03 runs march 03 until end August 2003.

My TD4 takes about the same time to heat up to normal.

thanks nickcc

can you explain the basis of the plate number system ??

I left the UK in 1987 before all this new fangled stuff came around

thaks

digby said:

should run around 90C

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My TD4 runs at between 77ºC and 80ºC

digby said:

thanks nickcc

can you explain the basis of the plate number system ??

I left the UK in 1987 before all this new fangled stuff came around

thaks

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Hippo beat me to it

The needle of the temp guage should be bang on halfway, if not the thermostat could not be closing properly. It's very common on these BMW engines for the stat to stick slightly open and almost never stick shut instead. It is an arse to change properly, but a good compromise is this method:

THERMOSTAT REPLACEMENT : M47R Diesel Powered Derivatives - 75ZT Community

Read the lot. It's very easy to do- I did mine in the rain last Sunday and it was a doddle. I lubed the new Renault 5 stat with neat coolant and then pushed it in most of the way, then used a screwdriver to poke it down more a bit at a time. It doesn't have to go as far in as in the pics- mine has about 2-3mm clearance of the stat rim and the plastic housing so the bulb is in the plastic housing itself and it's fine. Warms up real quick and is then stable on the halfway marks. My heater actually works now as well...

thanks for the link Hippo

sijwhite - your hippo is running too cold - needs a new stat. personnally i would not use the renault stat bodge but suffer a bit and put a real one on....

Thanks for the input chaps, by your response it seems as my car is probably normal then.

cheer
illy

As a Freelander owner there's nothing normal

digby said:

thanks for the link Hippo

sijwhite - your hippo is running too cold - needs a new stat. personnally i would not use the renault stat bodge but suffer a bit and put a real one on....

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Why not? The 'real' ones are renowned for failure so it will only go again- after you're forked out 5+ hours labour to have it fitted. You know the official Land Rover technique involves removing the engine don;t you? The M47 engine was designed to be longitudinal so the belts and pump, thermostat etc would be easily accessible at the front of the car. Half the problems arise because MG Rover and Land Rover turned the engine transverse.

Fitting a Renault type stat made by Gates will work fine. You will do more harm continuously running the engine at a lower temp than spending 10 minutes fitting an inline stat. No harm with an inline stat.... oh and more mpg because you will be running at the correct temp. Try it and you'll see- you can always fit the proper one later if you really must.

Hi Spacemonkey

Yeah i know about doing the stat - did mine 2 weeks ago - and yes its much easier on the 320d !!!

my dislike of the renault stat idea is simply based on then having 2 stats in the circuit and even if the original 1 isnt working right i just wouldnt feel good about this type of solution...

anyway, each to his own as they say

Thinking of doing this mod......... My td4 temp gauge sits around the middle but even with heater on full gives out very little heat

digby said:

Hi Spacemonkey

Yeah i know about doing the stat - did mine 2 weeks ago - and yes its much easier on the 320d !!!

my dislike of the renault stat idea is simply based on then having 2 stats in the circuit and even if the original 1 isnt working right i just wouldnt feel good about this type of solution...

anyway, each to his own as they say

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Fair enough... I would suggest though that peeps can at least do it as a temp measure until being able to do it properly. That would be less of a bodge, in my mind, than just leaving it. My research suggested that the cooling was waaaay over specced on the TD4 so even with one working stat in the top hose (bulb almost in the block) and one failed open one down below, there is still more water flow than needed. You could buy a used top hose and then swap between Renault stat and regular once fixed, but keep the renault pipe for when the proper one goes again...

Looks like I'm going to have to do this mod too, water temp gauge is sitting at about a 1/4, it's usually my wife that uses it for work which is a 8 mile drive each way but I took it to Edinburgh and noticed the low temp on the gauge. I've got a Scangauge 2 fitted so will set one of the gauges to display water temp and take it for a run to see what it gets up to.

I can't fit the Freelander in my garage, don't fancy spending hours working on it in the Scottish weather and really don't want to pay a garage 4 or 5 hours labour to fit the standard stat so will give the Renault one a go.

Worth a try at least and apparently no harm done. Of course, one thing the Rover guys have noticed is that the temp sensor and the stat are obviously in different places but it still works better IMO than leaving it with an open stat.

I fitted the Gates thermostat today, before fitting it the highest water temperature displayed on the Scangauge 2 was 65 degrees but was normally 58 - 62.

I had to grind off the metal clamp with my dremel, the thermostat is a tight fit so it helps if you take the hose off and put the thermostat end in some really hot water to soften it.

Went for a run and the car heated up nice and quickly then I watched the temperature drop a bit when the thermostat opened at 87 degrees, lovely heat coming out the vents.