Cracking heads

[robb4x4]

I've just bought my first Surf, after years of Land Cruiser ownership, and am a little concerned about the regularity of cylinder headscracking after over heating. The Surf I've just bought has a new head, but I will be spending all summer driving it up mountains in Croatia in 40 degrees, so is there something that I can do to prevent it getting too hot, or is the problem always due to coolant and diesel mixing in the block as I read on another thread? Can I add another radiator like my friend did on his Rangie? Cheers

[whirly03]

i imagine it will be fine,,,,,if your worried just use a little more anti freeze in your mix to raise the boiling point higher..........

[andrewlee31]

its a design fault with the originalk head design that leads to the 2.4 heads cracking. if it was fitted with a modified head it will be fine. either way with a new head it should be fine anyway mate

[TonyN]

You don't say what Surf you have? but assuming its a 2.4.....

If you have the better designed new heads, your no worse of than any other car for cracking a head.

Best thing to keep it cool if you have a Auto is a seperate tranny cooler.

I wouldn't worry about an extra rad, think about maybe replacing the original one with a thicker cored one if your going somewhere really hot.

Make sure your electric fan in front of the rad works, this is already a factory fitted back up for the viscous fan, and should be enough in most cases.

[max6674]

Change your coolant cap regularly.. I caught mine letting water out under load and letting in air when not.. Mine even went into the red twice before I realised the cap had gone.. and no cracked head !

(if you ask me there is too much talk of heads going and not enough talk of the minor things like a simple cap...)

[pkdj2307]

i just fitted a new head (its a stevo modified one) while i had it in bits i serviced the viscous fan and topped it up with fluid, this makes the fan more efficient, my surf runs around 88 degrees and as sweet as a nut

[dirtydog]

toyota pre-mixed coolant is an option. the red one i think is what you need, maybe they do different types for different climates?