Tropicalize a 3.9 Disco

[Daktari]

Hi all,

My Disco will be here (Caracas) in one and a half month ,and climate conditions are way different than in my country (Chile)

The Disco works fine in Chile ,never had a temperature issue and i always do regular services to the cooling system

Im currently driving a Toyota fortuner ,and it doesn't have heather matrix .The Air Conditioned has cold or colder as an option ,and i dont see any hoses coming out from the inside ,except the aircon hoses (yota is 4x2 and i want my 4x4)

So ,thinking in the V8 and the fact that air conditioning is vital here ,and i have to use the air conditioning as a way to escape from the high temperatures and also as a safety measure ,because windows close is a "must" here

I have to stay here at least for 5 years ,and then to Costa Rica ,so my landie will have a tropical shirt from now on

Do i have to eliminate the matrix heather?? and whats the best option to do it ?? (im thinking in some "U" shape tube or something)

I've been looking for bigger aluminium radiators and there's a few places were they made this rad's custom and one of the land rover services here can make the replace ,but i saw a lot of discos there ,still with the matrix heather ,all discos are from second hand u.s market

Engine oil and transmission oil radiator must be reinforced too??

any feedback is well appreciated

regards.

C.

[atancreti]

I would make sure you a/c condensor fans are working at full speed when the a/c is on. That will help big time... To check turn the key into ignition but don't start... turn the fan on and press a/c button. The fans should come on. As far as heater, I don't see why you would have to delete it... I would keep it, if your disco starts to heat up you can turn it on and blow out some heat............

[burn_e]

I would make sure you a/c condensor fans are working at full speed when the a/c is on. That will help big time... To check turn the key into ignition but don't start... turn the fan on and press a/c button. The fans should come on. As far as heater, I don't see why you would have to delete it... I would keep it, if your disco starts to heat up you can turn it on and blow out some heat............

This is usually the point when you realise that the heater matrix has a leak from rust, because it wasn't used for a long time.
Here (cars are desertised) most just put the mentioned pipe loop in and bypass the heater.
Of course there is this day once a year you would love to have a heater (can get cold in the desert) but normally a jumper will sort this out.

[Doctor W]

The bypassed heater trick is usually done when you don't want to fix a leaking heater core (matrix) and can live without a heater - it's a helluva job, entire dash out to R/R it or the A/C evaporator.......probably a good idea to run the heater briefly once in a while to circulate fresh coolant/anti-corrosive and definetly when flushing/filling the cooling system.

To prepare for really hot conditions, make sure coolant is high quality, and fresh.....consider using Redline "Water Wetta". Make sure viscous clutch on fan is good - if not replace with extreme duty type........ make sure electric auxilliary fans are working correctly.

Use a good synthetic engine oil......some LR's (my old D1 did) have engine oil coolers consider fitting one if you haven't got one.

If your Discovery is automatic, fit an auxilliary oil to air auto transmission cooler if not already fitted.

Fit a transfer case oil to air cooler if you haven't got one - my old D1 had these too but I think some later Discovery's had these as options and not standard.

Consider a power steering cooler too.

[Antichrist]

The heater can do duty as an auxiliary cooler if, for some reason, your engine does start to overheat.
Consider a extreme duty fan clutch if they are available there, or you want to pay shipping from the US. Imperial PN 215158.
If you install the above clutch you can also go with an Imperial metal fan blade. The stock blades have been known to shatter and take out the radiator. You do need to trim about 1/4-3/8" inch off the end of the blades to clear the fan cowl. Imperial PN 220618.
If you order one be sure to ask them to make sure it's the correct one. Someone on another forum bought one and it was mislabeled and was the reverse rotation version.

Since it's a 3.9 I'm assuming '94 or '95 so I'd pull the radiator and at least have it flushed, if not rodded, to make sure it's in good shape. HD recore if warranted.

[Daktari]

thanks a lot for the ideas !!

my disco is 97 (chassis VA) ,but probably for a different market as mine has distribuitor instead the coil pack that most of the U.S market 97 discos have ,but , mine doesn't have the matrix heather valve that works with a vacuum (saw that in my sister's 95 disco)

i've been using oem coolant since the car came out from the dealer (bought in the same L/R dealer) ,and at least last year i had to buy an alternative coolant from liqui moly ,always OAT coolant without silicate .Never ever touched a plastic plug due the galvanic current and other corrosion process that might damage the system and the radiator has a check every 2 years (i remove the radiator and i always take it to the guy that makes the mechanic flush process) ,pump was replace a year and half and i still have fan clutch because the service decide that the original is still working

The A/C fans work perfectly when the AC is on ,its been 14 years without temperature problems

not the same case with my P38 (previously my dad's car) ,dad overheat the engine two years after the car was brand new ,a new engine and a bigger radiator was the solution for at least 10 years ,when i receive the car , start with a lot problems with the matrix heather and a new one was installed ,but unfortunately a loose hose kill the engine in 3 months since the last cooling system check and the matrix replace,even with the bigger radiator and doing regular maintenance

in automatic transmissions ,i had a traumatic experience with 300 Tdi auto ,the trasmission had a failure a few kilometers away from the bolivian border .Taking the car out of there and then taking down to Chile was a whole experience (rollover included) ,the cause of the overheat ,a small and blocked transmission radiator

the following year ,we had a bigger radiator,a new transmission (and a new body ) and we travel trough Bolivia and also Peru without any problems

the only issue with the matrix heather is the replace of the part (take the whole dashboard out its a pain ,and i don't have the proper space to do it here) ,and i'm thinking mostly in not have temperature issues on highways and traffic jams ,and also there's a lot of inclinade hills here and in most of the road you want to take outside Caracas .I'm thinking in the idea that the volumen in the matrix heather ,can be added to a new and bigger radiator ,just a though

i'm checking the parts from Imperial ,at least with the bigger trasmission radiator i had a really good experience replacing original parts for better and bigger ones

Venezuela has very cool places to go ,and its amazing the amount of brands for equip the vehicle here (ARB,TMT) and here also you can have roof tents and roof racks local made with very good quality

thanks a lot!

[burn_e]

Just had a look at the temperatures you have to expect (around 25-35 C/75 - 95F) and I would say keep it stock.

When all parts are in working order the cooling system easily handles this.

Over here in the Middle East the Rovers are bone stock and still handle the climate pretty well.