RV8 3.9 is it terminal ?

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:30 am

I purchased a Range rover classic kit car (Land ranger) photos in my earlier thread. I think it has the 3.9 RV8 as this is what the V5 says.
After having the car delivered to my house on a recovery truck, I booked it in for an MOT on the same day. I didn't check anything on the car as I thought I would put it in for an and see what happened. I must admit I was more excited about getting an mot on it than checking the levels as the previous owner produced a receipt for £450 for a service on it 6 months ago and it had covered 50 miles since the last mot.
At the garage the tester checked the fluid levels and there was no coolant in the expansion tank. He filled it up and carried on with the test. Knowing the reputation of the RV8 I thought it was a bad sign.
The car failed on having no side repeaters. So I drove it home 3-4 miles, thinking that I would have to keep an eye on the coolant level. It was a roasting hot day and I did give it some right foot on the way.
As I pulled onto my drive steam started to bellow out from under the bonnet. I got the bonnet off and the steam was coming from the expansion tank, I could hear the coolant boiling inside. I was surprised to see that the electric fan on the radiator was not working. I looked around the engine bay and found a single random fuse holder with a blown 15A fuse in it. I changed the fuse and the electric fan burst into life. I then turned the electric fan controller so that it starts up at the coolest end of its spectrum. I topped up the expansion tank but not bled it etc. as in not sure what/if needs doing.
I have taken it out for a couple of little drives since and noticed that the bulkhead, dash and transmission tunnel really heat up and warm my legs which is hard in a car with no roof or doors. The temp gauge stays around the 1/3 mark.
Is it terminal? and what do I need to do/check to find out what is going on?
Thanks Ben.

DaveEFI · Post by **DaveEFI** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:39 am

Production cars have insulation on the bulkhead and floor to help stop engine heat getting into the cabin. Heat shields on the exhaust too. It's the sort of thing kit cars often omit. And the RV8 produces a lot of waste heat.

If the coolant temp is now remaining (near) constant, and it's not loosing coolant, sounds ok.

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 11:24 am

Thanks, I will keep an eye on the coolant. Does the system need bleeding?

DaveEFI · Post by **DaveEFI** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 12:03 pm

The Saint wrote:Thanks, I will keep an eye on the coolant. Does the system need bleeding?

No answer to that. It depends on so many things. The chances are some of your coolant system parts ain't in the same place as original. If the temp is staying reasonably constant and it's not loosing coolant it's probably just fine.

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 4:57 pm

Hi
I had two range rovers, both I found needed bleeding to get them to stop spotaniously chucking their coolent, this wasn't a big chor, I just started it up with the filler plug out and went around squeezing the various rubber hoses and topping up until air stopped comming out. Put the bung in, topped up the header tank and job done.
By the way I think that may be the only one of those on the road, I am pretty sure that is the prototype that did the rounds of the kit car shows and I am not actually sure if they guy who designed it ever sold another one. He also had a sort of "hummer" replica based on the RR . . .He didn't sell many of those either. That was definatly the better looking of the two kits really not sure why there arn't more.
Best regards
Mike

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 6:10 pm

you can cook an egg on the transmission tunnel of my dakar - literally too hot to touch.

As for your coolant, i suggest you top of the expansion tank when the car is stone cold, leave the cap of and let the car slowly warm up - as mike says, squezing the top hose until the air is out and it feels more firm with the water inside.

once the stat opens and the radiator gets warm you will need to think about getting the cap back on before it starts getting too hot.

and i doubt that 15amp fuse is enough for you fans. Ideally you want the two biggest fans you can fit in there both running via thier own relay and 30amp fuses.

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 8:01 pm

Thanks, I will try bleeding the system whilst the engine warms up.
Are there any tests I can (or get somebody in the West midlands to do) to check the condition of the engine? or to see if it has any terminal faults?
I don't want to be spending time and money on the engine if it is going to eat itself in the short term.

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:17 pm

buy a 'block test' kit off ebay and test the coolant for presence of hydrocarbons (head gasket gone)

DaveEFI · Post by **DaveEFI** » Mon Aug 26, 2013 10:55 pm

The Saint wrote:Thanks, I will try bleeding the system whilst the engine warms up.
Are there any tests I can (or get somebody in the West midlands to do) to check the condition of the engine? or to see if it has any terminal faults?
I don't want to be spending time and money on the engine if it is going to eat itself in the short term.

I think you may be over-reacting. Make sure there are no leaks - and that the filler cap to tank neck is clean with a good seal - and run it for a while. If it is using coolant, that's the time to investigate.

Quagmire · Post by **Quagmire** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 11:12 am

The floor of my Land-Rover 90 gets warm enough to melt haribo on a hot summers day. I can confirm that gold bears are in fact the stickiest substance known to man and are actually some kind of industrial adhesive with colour and flavourings added...

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Mon Sep 02, 2013 7:29 pm

I stopped panicking and checked the engine over Sunday morning. It didn't need much coolant. Although I'm not sure where the coolant level should be as the black expansion tank has no markings on it. It has a big indentation in the top centre of the tank, is the bottom of this the fill level?
I took the expansion tank cover off and massaged the top radiator hose until the engine got warm, I didn't seem to get any air out of the system.
The inside of the expansion tank cap was totally clean. I checked the inside of the oil filler cap and it was so dry and clean, I was worried that the engine had no oil in it. I checked the oil and it was at the max level.
So in all no signs of anything to worry about at the moment.
I do not think this engine (manual gearbox) is as powerful as the Range rover 3.9 auto with a full body that I owned years ago. The current one is turning 33x12.5 tyres which might have something to do with it.
I am constantly thinking on which other V8 to graft into I for a bit more power.

Eliot · Post by **Eliot** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 5:53 am

The Saint wrote: The current one is turning 33x12.5 tyres which might have something to do with it.
I am constantly thinking on which other V8 to graft into I for a bit more power.

Big tyres do lug the engine down - but a big lump of uncle Sam's finest iron solved the power problem for me.

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:42 am

Are you running 35's? I'm thinking about those. From your site the 35's look massive next to the 33's.
A 5.7 turbo will push out a bit more power than my 3.9.

kiwicar · Post by **kiwicar** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:14 am

Hi
a 5.7 turbo will push a bit more power than two 3.9s,
with the big tyres and a manual you will find the 3.9 rover sluggish either go for an auto with a nice high stall converter (something around 2400 to 2800 revs) but it will be a chore on the way to tescos. . . or buy/build something with more torque. Que Rosco trying to flog his gert big buick

. Easiest solution and biggest "bang for your buck" would be an iron block 5.3 LS chevy on a TH 700 R4, or a 4L60 and an adaptor into the transfer box, otherwise a 383/396 genI small block would be nice and torquie with a th350 and again into the transfer box as Eliot has done.
Best regards
Mike

The Saint · Post by **The Saint** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:19 am

I had better get another 3.9 to put in the back.
I had better start a new thread about a new engine, where is the best place to post that?