Lots of cooling ideas/questions

[800Days]

I have a 2nd Gen 3.0L TD Auto, It’s also black and on a sunny day heats up like an oven. We are planning on driving around the world in it fully loaded.

I'm about to set out and give the whole cooling system a good overhaul after spotting some furry deposits near the bottom of the rad. I have spent the last 2 days trolling the site for all the info I can gather.

Here is a list of mods/checks/upgrades I’m planning on doing to upgrade the system to deal with hot climates and the extra weight in the vehicle. Any advice on the following would be greatly appreciated.

Checks

1) I’ve checked the viscous fan as best I can, with the engine ticking over it spins fairly quickly and with a few revs, it speeds up and whips up a bit of a whirlwind. With the engine hot and stopped after a long run the fan spins but has a fair bit of resistance. Can I do any other checks on the fan other than this? I might very well pull it out and refill it whilst I have the rad out. Any tips on what CST oil I should use to top it up, am I right in thinking the higher the CST number the sooner the fan kicks in? For the time being I’m happy it’s working correctly.

2) It seems there is a bit of conflicting information on the forum over the electric fan in front of the radiator. From what I can gather (on my model, 3.0L TD Auto) this is an auxiliary fan which should kick in when needed. Can anybody confirm this and what is the best way to test it? When should it kick in?

Upgrades

1) Firstly before I do anything else, I’m going to fit an electronic water temp gauge and sender (currently in the post) just to check what temperature it’s running at the moment. This should give me a good idea of how successful my mods are. I’m planning on putting the sender in the top rad pipe, is this the best place? I want to keep the original gauge and sender working as a back-up (not that it ever moves from halfway).

2) Next on the list is to fit the Ken Lowe extractor fan on the bonnet. Somewhere at the back with the vent facing the windscreen. This should improve the airflow through the engine bay and rad no end. Apparently these fans can lower the engine bay temp up to 12 degrees, and with a black car in sunny climates that should certainly help keep all the temps down. We’ll check how good it is once the temp gauge is done.

3) With such a hefty trip planned I’m going to stick a new rad in to ease my mind. Does anybody have any experience with the replacement rad from Roughtrax?

4) Whilst I’ve got the front end in bits, I’m going to stick an ATF cooler in, I’m planning on sticking this inline before the rad ATF cooler so the oil is cool before it enters the rad and boils up the water/coolant. Is this a good idea? I’m planning on mounting the ATF cooler either behind the bash plate or behind the front bumper; does it matter if it is lower than the rad?
Does anyone have any other suggestions/tips?

[Albannach]

1 - Replace the oil anyway. Use 7-10,000 CSt silicone oil. Standard is 3,000.

2 - It's for the Air con on a 3.0.

1 - Yes

2 - It's Kenlowe, not Ken Lowe. (Ken Lee sprang to mind here for some reason)

3 - Yes, they are good quality, but check the cap doesn't rub once it's fitted.

4 - Some say before, some say after. I'm a before kind of bloke. It doesn't matter how low or high it is, so long as it's got air flowing over it or a fan blowing through it.

[slobodan]

2 - It's Kenlowe, not Ken Lowe. (Ken Lee sprang to mind here for some reason)
.

Me too,

"if dibby dibby doubt yoo"

[gary-r]

im in 30 degree heat with mine - i put small atv fans on my oil coolers to help in traffic, they would help a fully laden truck keep the atf temps stable. i tried mine in traffic and they drop the atf and oil temps by 10 degrees fairly quickly.
i have them manually switched and only use them if i see the temps soar in long traffic jams.
they were only a tenner each on e-bay. theres more pics on the lexurf v thread that may give you some ideas

[Tallyman]

I have a 2nd Gen 3.0L TD Auto, It’s also black and on a sunny day heats up like an oven. We are planning on driving around the world in it fully loaded.

I'm about to set out and give the whole cooling system a good overhaul after spotting some furry deposits near the bottom of the rad. I have spent the last 2 days trolling the site for all the info I can gather.

Here is a list of mods/checks/upgrades I’m planning on doing to upgrade the system to deal with hot climates and the extra weight in the vehicle. Any advice on the following would be greatly appreciated.

Checks

1) I’ve checked the viscous fan as best I can, with the engine ticking over it spins fairly quickly and with a few revs, it speeds up and whips up a bit of a whirlwind. With the engine hot and stopped after a long run the fan spins but has a fair bit of resistance. Can I do any other checks on the fan other than this? I might very well pull it out and refill it whilst I have the rad out. Any tips on what CST oil I should use to top it up, am I right in thinking the higher the CST number the sooner the fan kicks in? For the time being I’m happy it’s working correctly.

2) It seems there is a bit of conflicting information on the forum over the electric fan in front of the radiator. From what I can gather (on my model, 3.0L TD Auto) this is an auxiliary fan which should kick in when needed. Can anybody confirm this and what is the best way to test it? When should it kick in? It's definitely for the aircon on a 3.0L

Upgrades

1) Firstly before I do anything else, I’m going to fit an electronic water temp gauge and sender (currently in the post) just to check what temperature it’s running at the moment. This should give me a good idea of how successful my mods are. I’m planning on putting the sender in the top rad pipe, is this the best place? Yes, but remember to earth the adapter. I want to keep the original gauge and sender working as a back-up (not that it ever moves from halfway).

2) Next on the list is to fit the Ken Lowe extractor fan on the bonnet. Somewhere at the back with the vent facing the windscreen. This should improve the airflow through the engine bay and rad no end. Apparently these fans can lower the engine bay temp up to 12 degrees, and with a black car in sunny climates that should certainly help keep all the temps down. We’ll check how good it is once the temp gauge is done. Done this to mine. It does work but may take a while to lower the temp by any significant amount unless everything else is in good order.

3) With such a hefty trip planned I’m going to stick a new rad in to ease my mind. Does anybody have any experience with the replacement rad from Roughtrax? I've got the refurbished one and I've had no problems at all with mine since fitting it.

4) Whilst I’ve got the front end in bits, I’m going to stick an ATF cooler in, I’m planning on sticking this inline before the rad ATF cooler so the oil is cool before it enters the rad and boils up the water/coolant. Is this a good idea? I’m planning on mounting the ATF cooler either behind the bash plate or behind the front bumper; does it matter if it is lower than the rad?
Does anyone have any other suggestions/tips? If you put it after the radiator then the bottom of the rad will still be getting very hot ATF fluid running through it, negating the point of having the extra ATF cooler which is to reduce the temperature of the water flowing back into the engine. Definitely fit it before the rad inlet.

See above

[Ploddit]

I did the temp gauge mod and I'm very very happy.

It stays in the middle most of the time - only last week in 35° with a 400kg trailer, roofbox, full of family and kit, aircon on, going up hills in the alps at low speed did it start to get near the red (which is only 100°) now.

As it approached the red I heard a lot more noise from the viscous fan, into which I recently stuck 50mls of 7000 oil.

Thoroughly recommended.

[yorta2]

Hi 800 Days, if, after a run and with the engine at normal operating temperature, you switch off the engine and the fan rotates more than a few blades before stopping, you do need to service the viscous clutch. In Australia, Toyota provides 10,000 ccs silicone oil (but it is generally warmer here), and I use that.

[800Days]

Thanks for all the replies. I know it's Kenlowe, but the area I live 'Lowe' is a popular surname and I was in autotype mode. I can't wait to get my Ken Lowe Non Stick Wok.

[Overland Tonka]

Just bought a small wok for my trip to the middle east..perfect for two and fits the cooker nicely.

Oh and the planned mods and the advice on here is spot on... Diff breathers for the tropics??.... Bullbar for those get out of my way moments and wandering animals?

[Overland Tonka]

Oh....and move your number plate up top or use a sticky one on the bonnet. If you fit a aft cooler you WILL be amazed how much diff it makes if part of it is blocked by the plate.

[800Days]

Just bought a small wok for my trip to the middle east..perfect for two and fits the cooker nicely.

Oh and the planned mods and the advice on here is spot on... Diff breathers for the tropics??.... Bullbar for those get out of my way moments and wandering animals?

Snorkel is on (which should help a little with cool air too) and I have all the parts for the diff breathers, just not got round to doing them yet.

[Overland Tonka]

Snorkel is on (which should help a little with cool air too) and I have all the parts for the diff breathers, just not got round to doing them yet.

Snorkel looks cool and is great for rivers...I've got one, the but is as Chris Scott says in his book sahara overland the cool air thing and the dust thing is a bit of a myth. A good thing to do though is to use either the sticky oil that motor bikers use to spray onto their air filters or grease..take your air filter out and coat the inside of the air filter housing...replace your filter. When you check your filter at a later date you will see that loads of dust, crap etc is stuck to the sides of the housing...simply wipe out....

[800Days]

Quick question regarding the inline ATF cooler, does anyone know the size of the fitments at the bottom of the rad, just about to order a cooler and can't look at mine as the misses is out in it. 1/2 or 5/8 BSP?

[TonyN]

Its just a hose barb, 8mm ID I think.

[800Days]

Its just a hose barb, 8mm ID I think.

Perfect, so I can get either the 1/2 or 5/8 oil cooler and just use adapters on the hoses?

Something like this would work, I guess?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5pcs-1-2-BSP...-/270784309018