Hairy Moment

[smurfL6]

Towed out boat from West Wales to Cornwall, she coped well with all the hills on the A30. Towing the boat up from the bay earlier and I could hear hissing when we arrived at the campsite. Panic stations, hubby gave it a look over the noise was coming from the top hose from the rad...... Bleeding hell we're done for I thought (been here before) Checked the water, it was fine........ Duh I been checking and topping up the expansion tank. Hubby opened up the rad filler and topped up with 2 litres of h20.....Took it for a thrashing and so far so good..............God I hate worry all the time if the head is gonna cook - Hope running it dry has not damaged anything

[Balllsy]

Fingers crossed for you.

[smurfL6]

Just ordered new rad cap and thermostat to be delivered to campsite by thursday. Temp gauge not showing overheating and expansion tank ok, but just seems too pressurised and smells hot, not doing too much milage just down the road to launch the boat and back up the hill to the campsite....Just spent a small fortune on this baby and I dont need this right now

[BUSHWHACKER]

Make sure both heaters are set to hot before topping up the cooling system, and leave the cap off overnight to let any air escape.

The engine got hot due to the hills and towing due to the inefficient ATF cooler in the bottom of the main radiator, and probably didn't have enough airflow through the rad to bring the temps down before you arrived at the campsite.
The next time the temp gauge starts to creep up, set the heaters to hot and switch the fans on full blast so that the coolant can 'expand and cool'.

[KERRSURF]

What he ^ said.

If it's cooking off water you will soon know, keep a daily check on the coolants levels. When truck is cold open rad and then start to check for bubbles in the rad.
Proper coolant flush treatments (the 2 pack kind) are easy to carry out and takes about an hour or so, well worth it to see all the muck getting washed out.

[Wolfracer]

I've started putting the rear heater on as a matter of course when towing v heavy dtuff.... just to be sure. Turning AC off also helps when the needle moves...

[stormforce]

Vince will tell you how hot mine got while towing about 3.5t up the steep hill to his place a few years ago.I let it cool a bit for a little while and carried onto Vince's place where we left it to cool completely and topped up.
I had always had the temp creep up to the red when towing 2.5 -3t and the truck went on for a few years running like that till the engine blew up on me,but that was my own fault due to lack of looking after it

[smurfL6]

Cheers for the advice, after having all the work done on her recently we did think maybe an airlock in the system, we've left the rad cap off for tonight and though the temp gauge didnt move on the way down we were watchful on keeping an eye on temp, the fan was on a lot but we were towing and there were a lot of hills. I think its the original rad cap as its got Jap writing on it, so hoefully a new cap and thermostat to be sure we'll be ok

[dieselboy]

It's easy to get an airlock in the 2.4. I've found out the same way you just did. My temp went into the red but didn't blow a head or gasket. I spent ages trying to get the air lock out, though.

[jmc]

Don't want to add to your worries but bear in mind that the stock temp. gauge only has three positions: "stone cold", "probably about right" and "too late".

[smurfL6]

Took her for a spin to the shop this morning came back checked water and topped up by about 1 Litre :/ Airlock ? Time will tell I suppose

[Albannach]

Don't check the level when the coolant is hot, only check it when it's cold (cold = left overnight).

I'd stick a new thermostat and radiator cap on it ASAP, never run without either, that's asking for trouble.

[smurfL6]

after topping up water system and fitting new rad cap and thermostat Truck has been a gem all holiday and got us home from Cornwall this evening.....
Pics of the biggest fish I've ever caught to follow............

[smurfL6]

Dont know his weight but he tasted mighty fine

[shokenore]

Nice catch

where were you fishing out of?