Series 3 really need help from experienced members, she might have to go.

Ok, i'm at an all time low now and i'm thinking of getting shot of the landie. As much as I love everything about it, it really is giving me so many sleepless nights, emptying my wallet, as well as severe grief from the wife. (standard landy ownership no doubt).
Ok, bit of history.... wife got tired of picking me up from train station everynight after 5 years and told me to get a car for the 18 mile around commute to station.
Obviously, a series was called for. Bought the first one i saw and have regretted it everyday since, poor thing.
First thing that went was head gasket (100% sure it i had gone before i bought it) and raised it's ugly head a few months in to ownership. Garage had the head off and reported that it either needed to be fully rebuilt (valves leaked like a sieve) or an exchange unit fitted. As it hadn't been upgraded to lead free, I took the opportunity to fit a Turner "performance" lead free head.
Garage reported that no thermostat was fitted and no water in expansion bottle.
So new head fitted, 82 deg bearmach thermostat fitted, new genuine radiator cap fitted, fantastic I thought, transformed the car.
Then i noticed the level in the radiator was dropping. (Until this point, prior to new head, the level was constant in the radiator and temp gauge below middle.) Now, temp gauge 3/4 up but totally steady, no overheating at all.
Have to fill the expansion tank up 1/2 litre ever week (about 80 miles).
No steam from exhaust, so assumed a leak, but can't find a trace anywhere.
So at the weekend, returned to garage and we had a good look over the old girl.
Richard the mechanic, felt all the pipe work. bearing in mind this was a 5 min trip, heater hose was hot, rad top hot, top hose hot, bottom hose cold.
Could see nothing bad out of the exhaust, dry and clean.
So he's suspecting radiator or water pump.
Not that i'm questioning him, but before the head change the coolant level never changed.
Would the radiator or water pump have been shot prior to this, I don't know? Something was obviously up
as the thermostat was missing.
Would the new head now at full compression now show up any faults in the cooling system?
I'm at a tipping point now, obviously a radiator and pump change is not going to be cheap and i'm none the wiser if it will indeed cure the problem.
At the moment, I'm not driving it, back on the bus, as i'm not sure if i'll damage her in anyway
Waiting on a quote but she might have to go.
Any help greatly appreciated, i'm not a mechanic, i just love landrovers (so does my 11 year old son, who i can't tell him what i'm thinking of doing), always wanted one and am hoping to keep this on, but am so down about the whole episode, I just can't look at the old girl in the eye at the moment.
Yours in desperation, Mark

Old Series water pumps dont usually just pack up unless the bearing and seal goes and spits all yer water on the deck.

Blocked rad is quite likely. Give it a good flush, forwards, backwards, upside down.....

Might as well do the engine block and heater matrix while yer at it

blue beasty, many thanks for the speedy reply. Like I said I'm no mechanic, but what would have changed immediately after the new head and stat went on to suddenly affect the cooling?

Man up! Given the amount of work you've done to the engine already what are you going to do, take it to the scrappy? A new radiator, hoses and jubilee clips is about £140.00, including VAT. It's not the end of the world....or your landy. Compare that to a radiator for your average car and its a cheap fix. Thermos's are diddly.I had a similar loss of water recently...after changing the radiator. If it's loosing that amount of water it's a small leak somewhere. Your more likely to spot it once its hot . Its almost certainly been a lingering problem before you did the head; it's just become more noticeable. Don't let a leak get the better of you and by the way, after that's sorted I guarantee something else will eventually happen that needs attention. Why? Because its an old vehicle and things happen, especially if you are doing 80 miles at week. Once you've fixed that give it a treat and buy new points, condenser, rotor arm and spark plugs and you'll notice a huge difference in performance with the Turner head. Chin up matey.

I'd agree on starting with flushing the rad , the best first option.

I think more generally on Series ownership, once you are over the tipping point on having spent more than it would be worth to sell, it can be surprisingly liberating, and you can end up with a well sorted car that won't depreciate and should appreciate if you keep it - so long as it isn't seriously flawed somewhere else, so it's a psychological process as well as a mechanical one. I spent the thick end of five grand on mine over the years and then because I wasn't using it, sold it for £1450 with a load of spares and a Sankey trailer - selling it was still a daft thing to do and I regret it every day

I know John, I need to give myself a good talking too! I've already replaced plugs, points, cap, condensor, leads, coil, rotor .......
I know what you are saying, but there does come a point of either crack on or sell on .... i'm there at the moment.
I tnink I need a good sleep!

markbigears said:

blue beasty, many thanks for the speedy reply. Like I said I'm no mechanic, but what would have changed immediately after the new head and stat went on to suddenly affect the cooling?

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Maybe just draining and refilling just stirring things up. It's not an uncommon problem.

Even if it's the pump it's not a big worry, you don't have to delve into the side of the engine like many modern motors it's nicely bolted on the outside and easy to change but like I said the only usual issue is the bearing going.

Check for signs of evaporated coolant under the pump.

It will run hotter with a stat. ...that's what they're for

thanks guys for the help. So, bearing in mind it's probably the original rad. Should i get a new one (any recommendations?) or get the old one overhauled?
Not sure what the quality is on new rads?

markbigears said:

thanks guys for the help. So, bearing in mind it's probably the original rad. Should i get a new one (any recommendations?) or get the old one overhauled?
Not sure what the quality is on new rads?

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Flush it first unless it's leaking

only reason I asked about a new rad, was the mechanic wants to do a power flush costing £70, not far off a new one.
I'm usually of the opinion of doing things right first time and the fact that the labour will be a few quid.

If the rad is old and looks unloved then a new rad might be the way to go, depending on how vigorous the power flush is it might cause more problems as opposed to just revealing them, but do you have a quote for a new rad including labour before you make a decision?

If any doubt get it re-cored ...

i'm going to supply parts, hence question on make of a new one, bearmach? or get re-core, just wondering what today's quality is like compared to original fit. waiting on a labour quote. How many hours do we think?

Personally I'd get a new one. The Bearmach one I bought was clearly aftermarket, probably made in India. It took a lot of fettling to get the mounting bolts to line up and in the end it was so badly out I missed one hole in order to get it fitted, not a disaster. I did the whole job in one evening in April with head torch, not as bad a job as I expected despite that glitch. Then you'll be in happy landy land!

I'm too old and warty to read it all so apologies If someone already said it , but it's bound to run hotter now if it had no thermostat before. The clue is in the name.
If you spend money on it al least you'll know the bits that are serviceable. If you sell it and buy something else you could just end up with a different set of problems.

If someone charged me that kind of money to stick a powewash head in mi rad I'd punch him square on the jaw.
Get the bottom hose off and give it a damn good bash out with a hose. The faster the water the better and the longer the better. If you can be arsed take it out and shake holy hell out of it whilst flushing both ways. Keep going until the water runs clean and then do it again. Taking a rad out is a few bolts and half an hours work, its beginners stuff. You can even get a pot of central heating cleaning jollop and throw that in a few days before to loosen things up. If its knackered, this will show it up and its time for a bermarch replacement that will cost just over a ton and keep you going for a few more years.
Its what we do as trattor owners. Thats what separates us from the twonks with micras.

Stick with it Mark, for the sake of your lad and because this is a very minor problem - hell, keep an eye on the temp, keep it topped up and use it........................ the leak will make itself known eventually.

If there is no clouds of white smoke then it is unlikely to be a head gasket gone but I would be tempted to pull the spark plugs and check for water. Have you checked the oil, having said that if it was leaking .5L a week of water into the sump it would be running, lets say not well!
Check the cooling fins on the rad as they will rot out on an old rad, if they are rotten get a new rad because you are at risk of overheating. If it looks ok with no signs of weeping and the fins are all ok back flush it with a garden hose.
You could have the impeller on the water pump has come off but that would cause you to overheat very quickly, so unlikely. But look for signs of weeping around the fan area as a seal may have failed, can you see any water marks on the underside of the bonnet as water leaking from the pump can get flung around by the fan. Unless you still have the fan shroud in which case it will be inside that
Have you checked the heater matrix on the bulkhead? If you put the heater fan on does you windscreen fog up? If it does then you probably have a leaking heater matrix, or a leaky landy.

Seeing as it had a headgasket issue and had used coolant etc, Theres a good chance the previous owner used k-seal or a similar additive to hide the symptoms which does cause blockages in the rad. Dont even bother flushing it just get it re cored or replaced (NOT BRITPART)

Thank you so much guys for all the help and advice. After a good nights sleep and and giving myself a good talking too, I've decided to replace both the radiator and waterpump and see how it goes. Having a look online at various suppliers, is there a decent radiator manufacture out there? Anyone better than the other? All the ones I've seen don't state a supplier and john a few posts up had a problem with a Bearmach one. Any experience on rads greatly appreciated.