overheating

[diggler]

Hi, I've had 94 3L for 1 year and done 25k no problem,however, when pulling small caravan on an incline it starts to overheat rapidly. Any ideas anybody please

[firefly]

Hi Diggler
we pull a 1350kg van,
if we go up a long incline then we do get a little raise in temp, but i learnt the hard way, how to drive an auto towing.
what i did was put the car in 2nd manually and left it there thinking that the higer revs speed would sort the hill out, i took it out of overdrive and put the etc on. how wrong was i the car reved its poor old kick nacks off and the gauge read into the red.

what we do now is on the start of the hill i take it out of overdrive and then never ever go above 2500 revs, this allows the turbo to work and doesnt over stress the engine we went up the big pennine hill on the m62 last year doing this and it flew up 50mph no worries and even if this does start to rise you could also turn the heater on full blast on the hot setting open the windows its amasing how this helps, id get your fan checked it may be faulty, and check yer fluid levels, i have a extra transmition cooler fitted for peace of mind. hope some of this helps

[diggler]

Thanks Firefly I think I'll have a look at the transmission oil cooler.Appreciate your reply, good to know i'm not the only one expieriencing the problem.

Hi Diggler
we pull a 1350kg van,
if we go up a long incline then we do get a little raise in temp, but i learnt the hard way, how to drive an auto towing.
what i did was put the car in 2nd manually and left it there thinking that the higer revs speed would sort the hill out, i took it out of overdrive and put the etc on. how wrong was i the car reved its poor old kick nacks off and the gauge read into the red.

what we do now is on the start of the hill i take it out of overdrive and then never ever go above 2500 revs, this allows the turbo to work and doesnt over stress the engine we went up the big pennine hill on the m62 last year doing this and it flew up 50mph no worries and even if this does start to rise you could also turn the heater on full blast on the hot setting open the windows its amasing how this helps, id get your fan checked it may be faulty, and check yer fluid levels, i have a extra transmition cooler fitted for peace of mind. hope some of this helps

[da SLUG man]

it's cos the transmission cooler is integrated with the main rad... plenty of write ups on an extra cooler installation knocking about... be good to check trans fluid level, coolant level etc anyway.

[dirtydog]

I pulled 1400/1500kg van up some longish hills with no worries, ECT on and sometimes overdrive off. Most hills keep my foot planted and by time you get down to 2nd it wont drop any more speed but as said sometimes you make more progress with a lighter foot as you might be a gear higher using the torque instead of a gear down at 4000rpm.
If yours is only a small van I would get it checked over.

[TonyN]

Check the rad isn't blocked (inside and the fins on the outside), and the viscous fan is working correctly, and of course you have enough coolant.

If water level is correct it'll be the one of the above, if the water level is low, check for leaks on the hoses or rad cap or rad. If the expansion tanks is full up/overflowing, then the pump or viscous fan isn't working and the coolant is getting to hot, or you have a air lock or head gasket/head gone.

[diggler]

Thanks for the info. Trans fluid+coolant levels ok.

it's cos the transmission cooler is integrated with the main rad... plenty of write ups on an extra cooler installation knocking about... be good to check trans fluid level, coolant level etc anyway.

[diggler]

Thanks. Could be rad on inside as it has had a repair in a previous life

Check the rad isn't blocked (inside and the fins on the outside), and the viscous fan is working correctly, and of course you have enough coolant.

If water level is correct it'll be the one of the above, if the water level is low, check for leaks on the hoses or rad cap or rad. If the expansion tanks is full up/overflowing, then the pump or viscous fan isn't working and the coolant is getting to hot, or you have a air lock or head gasket/head gone.

[diggler]

Thanks for reply. Will do

I pulled 1400/1500kg van up some longish hills with no worries, ECT on and sometimes overdrive off. Most hills keep my foot planted and by time you get down to 2nd it wont drop any more speed but as said sometimes you make more progress with a lighter foot as you might be a gear higher using the torque instead of a gear down at 4000rpm.
If yours is only a small van I would get it checked over.