range rover p38 1995

hi all we were on the motorway towing the caravan my temp gage went right up and red light came on i eased off the accelerator and the temp dropped but when i was climbing it rose again and light came on any ideas what is causing this please

blocked rad
duff pump
knackered fan

when would you like me to stop?

a bit more info might help

i would check coolant level some in expansion tank is not necessarily mean engines full ,check rad is hot allover core,also worth checking voltage at battery when revved

dogsbody said:

blocked rad
duff pump
knackered fan

when would you like me to stop?

a bit more info might help

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hi i did think water pump but wasent sure what imfo would you like please

brianbrianyi said:

hi i did think water pump but wasent sure what imfo would you like please

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Petrol or diesel would be useful to know. Viscous fan or blocked rad more likely than water pump IMO

Datatek said:

Petrol or diesel would be useful to know. Viscous fan or blocked rad more likely than water pump IMO

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very sorry its a diesel

if its a diesel a very common problem i have found dealing in p38's is the water pump impellor's fail on the 2.5 bmw engines, they often have plastic impellors that fail over time and break up, normally around 100,000 mls,, replace with a metal impellor type, that might be the suspect i think,,

I would start with the viscous fan. You can test it, sort of, without any great spanner work.
However if you are towing on a regular basis it's probably worth a complete overhaul of the cooling system. Rad out and a good flush, because of the stupid design with both the in and out pipes at the top you can't be properly clean it out whilst it's on the car. A new (definitely metal vaned) pump, maybe a fan and fresh coolant.

Another area to check is the battery earth. I had a loose earth which caused the temp guage to go into the red when it became less effective.

brianbrianyi said:

very sorry its a diesel

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If it has aircon, I can give you a mod to use the aircon fans for additional cooling

i had the exact problem a few weeks back turned out it was a blocked rad and a faulty viscous coupling it drove fine when not towing
for the price of it though i changed the lot rad/viscous coupling/water pump/thermostat and some one said the expansion cap can cause probs so i got a new one of them too
tows a dream
island 4x4 did all the parts i needed at very good prices

gfromleeds said:

i had the exact problem a few weeks back turned out it was a blocked rad and a faulty viscous coupling it drove fine when not towing
for the price of it though i changed the lot rad/viscous coupling/water pump/thermostat and some one said the expansion cap can cause probs so i got a new one of them too
tows a dream
island 4x4 did all the parts i needed at very good prices

Click to expand...

ohh and the mod from datatec is worth having too
cheers again for that mate if i ever see you i owe you a beer