Overheating and towing - 2.4 & 3.0ltr auto

[rubblebags]

in prep for sending rad off for re-core I removed the bumper and people-killer to find that my efforts in removing the mud from the Reading mub bath a couple of months ago was not upto scratch. I'd say 25% of the rad was fully blocked right through. I think I take the prize for the biggest plonker on the forum!!!!!

Anyway have flushed the rad through in both directions. Removed the therm and flushed entire engine and rad through. Lots of white bits but nothing too scarey came out. Gonna replace the therm (when it turns up from Milners) adn refill with coolant. Whats the best stuff to use ? Was planning on the usual blue cool stuff, non-alcohol etc.... Any suggestions ? I read on this forum about a diesel cool additive (I assume for the coolant ). Anyone had any experience ?

Keep you posted as hoepfully be taking the caravan for a test up-hill drive this weekend to see if its cured?!......hmmm!!

No your not a plonker. I done just the same thing thought I had cleared the pinwood s**t and in my attempts to do it with a pressure washer at the venue bent the tops of the vanes over. Once that stuff hits the hot rad it sets like concrete. If your air con rads are underneath check them too.

Geoff

[Keith]

I had an ATF cooler fitted last year. The ATF cooler fits in front of the existing radiator and is plumbed in in tandem with the original cooler in the bottom of the radiator. This was done as a result of advice from a garage who seem to know what they are talking about. I tow about 1600kg and have noticed how much cooler everything is including the transmission tunnel and the air rising when you lift the bonnet.

The cost was £175 fitted.

Keith

[Malenibo]

I have a seperate oil cooler fitted for the auto box. I got it from Kenlow (Check out the website they list the Surf) cost £95 DIY fitting about an hour. I am a bit worried now though after reading your post as I am about to go over to France at the end of the month and although I have had the Surf some 5 months I have not had the oportunityto hitch up to the caravan. Had no problems with the cooling to date. Now I gonna be watching the temp gauge like a hawk

[marky]

ok guys same old towing overheating worries. my 2.4 surf tows 1250kg caravan laden up & down dale the temp guage has only risen above normal once when towing up a really long steep hill on the M62 the highest motorway in britain near Huddersfield this was over a 2 mile stretch but soon came down again when on a level surface my surf is standard no colling mods.

[Tallyman]

Heh Marky, no wonder you don't have any cooling problems if you keep towing through water. Bet that plays hell with the floor of the caravan though. Could have an indoor swimming pool (ROTFL) in your van!!!!!

I've just fitted an oil cooler kit to my Surf. Got some pics of the job if anyones interested and a link to the site of the firm I bought it from (Speedflow Products Ltd). Also, can let you know some of the problems I encountered with fitting if needed.

Now I still have to sort my viscous fan clutch. Gave up on it today as I didn't have the right sort of 12mm spanner to undo the nuts holding it on.

[marky]

mike stick the piccies on for the guys

[Malenibo]

Hi Markey. love the pic in the water, showed it to the wife. "If you think you are going to do that with my caravan you can think again" was the swift retort. Well managed to hitch up for the first time today in the garden to check out the electrics and fit new waste pipes as the dogs had chewed them all off. the tow ball height is 19 inches and the van looks level. Still have not towed it with the Surf yet the first will be pulling out the drive and on route for the ferry. .

Malcolm

[Tallyman]

OK, lets see if I can get the hang of uploading attachments.

Pic 001 is the kit which came from Speedflow. It's a Mocal 13 row cooler (part 561-13), size 265mm wide and 13 rows high (about 6 inches including elbow connectors), the elbows are purchased separately from Speedflow as you can choose which connectors you want. Also included was 2 metres of the blue reinforced pipe and three fitting brackets with nuts & bolts. In the end I only used 2 brackets but they're only about £1.50 so it was worth the extra just in case. Only thing not included was the jubilee clips. Cost was £117.20 all in, including 24h delivery time by Citylink. Ordered Tuesday - on my desk in work Wednesday lunchtime.

Speedflow website link: www.speedflow.co.uk
E-mail address: info@speedflow.co.uk
Tel: (020) 8530 6664 - speak to Fay (very helpful).

Pic 0003 is the Surf stripped of it's A bar, bumper and the sidelights. Bumper is held on by 2 bolts each side under the front and one each side just inside the wheelarch. There's a hole in the plastic dirt guard to access it. The bolts holding the A bar are obvious. The wires hanging down are for the PIAA foglights. You can do the job with the crome light trim in place but I removed mine to make it easier to see everything.

Pic 004 is the cooler fitted in place on the brackets supplied. These are easy to bend into shape but should still hold it quite steady. There are a number of pre drilled and tapped holes under the front cross member in front of the aircon rad. I'm not sure what size thread they take but I had a couple of old metric bolts that fitted perfectly. Make sure you use a large flat washer under the bolt head to spread the load. I also used a couple of cable ties to hold the top bracket of the cooler steady.

Pic 006 is the cooler in place with the pipes connected. The feed pipe (o/s)had to be routed under the radiator as the only gap through passes very close to the steering box, so made it a bit tight to get through safely, so under was easier. The return pipe went through a gap next to the bottom of the aircon rad (n/s) and then loops round to connect to the input to the in-rad cooler and is tied to the origial return pipe (Pic 007).

The blue pipe supplied is high temp / high pressure and a bu..er to get on to the existing 3/8in pipes and on to the elbows to the cooler. The elbows took ages to connect as the pipe won't soften very well even using boiling water and a heat gun. I resorted in the end to feeding a suitably sized drill bit (plain end) into the "nut" end of the elbow and pushing like h.ll on the elbow to get it fully home. The blisters still haven't gone down. Similarly, getting the pipe onto the existing feed pipe from the autobox is difficult. It would be easier with the rad removed but I'm not about to try that just yet. The feed from the return onto the radiator input was easier to get at and you can push against the weight of the car to get it seated.

The bottom of the opening in the plastic valance on the bumper is a very very close fit with the cooler in place, so I resorted to a little butchery on the plastic to give a few mm gap (thanks Phorbuiz for the advice) and then used a short piece of 15mm pipe lag foam each side between the bumper and the cooler fixing brackets to stop any vibration rubbing on the cooler vanes.
Everything seems OK and leak free at the moment (touching large piece of wood!!). Proof will be when we tow the caravan down to Dorset in three weeks.

[mart 870]

Personally after seeing just how badly restricted the 3.0L auto rad is i`d still get the oil cooler removed from the rad. I`ve just come back from the Isle of Wight to deliver a classic car on my trailer (car and trailer weigh way over a ton) and on the way down i was touching 90 on the M27 trying to make up lost time and the the gauge never moved an inch, even being stuck in traffic couldnt get the needle to move.

Adding an extra cooler will help but on a 3.0L at least it`ll never cure the problem due to the restriction.

http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5405

[europa88]

Personally after seeing just how badly restricted the 3.0L auto rad is i`d still get the oil cooler removed from the rad. I`ve just come back from the Isle of Wight to deliver a classic car on my trailer (car and trailer weigh way over a ton) and on the way down i was touching 90 on the M27 trying to make up lost time and the the gauge never moved an inch, even being stuck in traffic couldnt get the needle to move.

Adding an extra cooler will help but on a 3.0L at least it`ll never cure the problem due to the restriction.

http://www.yotasurf.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5405

Just shown the design of the 3.0 auto rad to a local rad specialist and we think the best solution may be to reposition the water inlet to the right of the oil inlet! This keeps the toyota oil to water cooler as designed but should remove the blockage to the water inlet! he is going to put a thicker core and rebuild the top tank for me as well!

Still gonna need a large air to oil cooler for the transmission though.

Will keep you all posted on the outcome.

[RAB]

Overheating probs. 94 3ltr TD

Hi fellas! Ive had overheating problems for 4 years now but only if pushed to hard. Have replaced existing rad with new one from Milner offroad thinking that would solve the problem. No difference. Then replaced thermostat. Still no difference. Personally I cant see any reason why a new (ATF) Auto Transmission Fluid change & a secondary oil cooler from Kenlowe wouldnt cure the problem. After all the thermostat controls the constant temperature at low speeds (to prevent engine wear) and the additional oil cooler should take care of the overheating at higher speeds/under strain. True? Feed back anyone? Cheers!!