Feeling the heat

[mart 870]

On bank holiday Saturday we went to Buxton to get some practice in for the following meeting on the Monday. On the way theres some whopping great hills to go up (the Leek to Buxton road if anyone knows it) and as we neared the top of the biggest hill of them all the temperature guage rose up and just went into the red as we crested the top at a speed of about 35mph. The car`s a 94` 3.0L auto and we are towing around 1500kg give or take a bit and have driven to other meetings and not had a problem although the trip to Buxton has the steepest hill/slowest climb.

We got to track and checked the water level in both the rad and the header tank and both levels were fine and the coolant was merky but nothing much to worry about.

Back at home i drained the coolant out and flushed the system though until the water was nice and clear again and refilled it with a 50/50 mix and bled the system properly.

Monday comes and the gauge goes up but doesnt quite go to the red on the same hill - an improvement but still not good enough (before the Surf i had a 2.0L petrol auto Carlton that would go up the hill slower but the gauge would never move) My Dad used to repair rads for a living and said it was possibly due to the oil cooler being part of the rad thus heating the coolant up and also said it might be a problem with the fan and to be honest i couldnt hear it cutting in although it was spinning up when i was warming the car up when i bled system.

I`ve seen one or two of you have put Coolers on your car - can anyone give me some information on fitting one, i`ve seen a couple of sites selling them but they are a little vague.

[JimL]

one possibility is the fan, there is a service you can do on it to try and eliminate that from the list of suspects http://slowspeed.com/repair/fanclutch.htmlI've done it.

[Vagrant No2]

You will know when the viscous fan is working as tends to have quite a deep 'roar' as it locks in and draws the air through .


Rick

[JimL]

Staying on the viscous fan theory, when I went to the Toy parts counter this is what happened

Me: Ahem I'd like the silicon fluid which goes in the viscous fan clutch

Toypartsman: The what?

Me: You know ... silicon oil which goes in the viscous fan clutch

Toypartsman: Let me look it up, I definitely dont have it but lets see what the system says

Me: Here I have the part no. put that in your pipe and smoke it

Toypartsman: Hmmm Yes the part no is a 'live' one, we dont have it in stock but it should be in by tomorrow if you want it

Me: Yes

Days go by and no phonecall from Toypartsman so a week l8r I go back to check:

Me: I ordered silicon oil for the viscous fan clutch

OldtimerToypartsman: The what? Off who?

Me: ....... look I have the part no. too

OldtimerToypartsman: Who told you you needed new oil, I've never heard of this

Me: Got the info off the internet

OldtimerToypartsman: Riiiigggghhht, we've never done this before and I've no idea what you're talking about, the internet huh!

Me: So the stuff hasnt arrived?

Oldtimertoypartsman: No em are you sure about this I'm gonna have to check this with the other partsman when hes in tommorrow

end of dialogue...

all I can say is since Toyota parts counter people arent familiar with this fix imagine the amount of aging land cruisers and hiluxs which suddenly overheat and get a brand new fan clutch mechanism thrown on there at full cost when all that is probably needed is a change of the oil inside the mech.

This one doesnt cost more than £10 and they do say try the cheaper fixes first

[Vagrant No2]

There was a thread on here where someone used oil from a model car diff as was a similar spec.


Rick

[mart 870]

You dont happen to have the part number for the Fan oil do you so i can pester my local Toyota dealer lol

[Rob]

Servicing or replacing the fan clutch would probably be the next thing to do as already suggested. You should find quite a bit of info on this site relating to that.
Also, you might want to read this, seeing as your dad has spotted the AT oil cooler in the rad!
NB that link applies to KZN130s and not KZN185s.

[gemini]

You dont happen to have the part number for the Fan oil do you so i can pester my local Toyota dealer lol

http://www.yotasurf-online.co.uk/pub...t=silicone+oil

[JimL]

By all accounts 3000weight is what is used in these markets but in Australia, Toy Oz's default weight is 10,000. In the end, thanks to Gemini (Ian) I sourced some silicon oil in a model car shop. That said, he only had 1000weight and 10000weight in stock, so I took 15ml from each bottle and stuck it in there.


V important at this stage for me to stress that I havent had the chance to road test this, I just need some F**kin wheel nuts !

Anyway I have pics taken and know the awkward bits including how to get that big black O ring back into its place once its popped out - dont underestimate this bugger, it becomes about 2 inches longer once its out

[Guest]

On bank holiday Saturday we went to Buxton to get some practice in for the following meeting on the Monday. On the way theres some whopping great hills to go up (the Leek to Buxton road if anyone knows it) and as we neared the top of the biggest hill of them all the temperature guage rose up and just went into the red as we crested the top at a speed of about 35mph. The car`s a 94` 3.0L auto and we are towing around 1500kg give or take a bit and have driven to other meetings and not had a problem although the trip to Buxton has the steepest hill/slowest climb.

We got to track and checked the water level in both the rad and the header tank and both levels were fine and the coolant was merky but nothing much to worry about.

Back at home i drained the coolant out and flushed the system though until the water was nice and clear again and refilled it with a 50/50 mix and bled the system properly.

Monday comes and the gauge goes up but doesnt quite go to the red on the same hill - an improvement but still not good enough (before the Surf i had a 2.0L petrol auto Carlton that would go up the hill slower but the gauge would never move) My Dad used to repair rads for a living and said it was possibly due to the oil cooler being part of the rad thus heating the coolant up and also said it might be a problem with the fan and to be honest i couldnt hear it cutting in although it was spinning up when i was warming the car up when i bled system.

I`ve seen one or two of you have put Coolers on your car - can anyone give me some information on fitting one, i`ve seen a couple of sites selling them but they are a little vague.

Could be the Auto box getting hot and heating up the water again - the auto cooler is in the bottom of the main radiator and also restricts the flow quite a bit in the bottom hose.

For towing a secondary oil cooler is a good idea

Cheers

[mart 870]

Thats what me and my Dad were thinking Lucky, we`ll try the fan first its cheaper lol but high load and low speeds does work the rad hard and if the fan isnt working to its full potential then its not going to help matters. I`ll keep you all informed, thanks for the advice everyone

[marky]

why not fit a bonnet vent

[Vagrant No2]

why not fit a bonnet vent

Only fit it facing forward if its an intercooler . It should face the other way if no intercooler to draw the air from the engine bay , not force it into it against the flow of air through the rad . All that will do is stall the air flow .
Cooling fans only work upto a speed of approx 30 - 35 mph and then it is air flow through the rad that takes over the cooling . The air exists the engine bay normally under the vehicle .
By fitting a bonnet vent you would give the top of the engine extra venting to allow the hot air out if facing towards the rear .

Rick

[Rob]

Only fit it facing forward if its an intercooler . It should face the other way if no intercooler to draw the air from the engine bay , not force it into it against the flow of air through the rad . All that will do is stall the air flow .
Cooling fans only work upto a speed of approx 30 - 35 mph and then it is air flow through the rad that takes over the cooling . The air exists the engine bay normally under the vehicle .
By fitting a bonnet vent you would give the top of the engine extra venting to allow the hot air out if facing towards the rear .

Rick

Rear facing vent would also help keep the screen clear of snow etc in winter

[phorbiuz]

If you do decide on an aftermarket auto oil cooler, I've just fitted one. Made by Kenlowe, it probably took me half a day in total to fit including fresh Dexron II. I decided on fitting one after a bank holiday traffic jam from hell when I was towing.

If you want I can send you details of where I fitted it etc with pics. Just drop me a pm.