Temp gauge and coolant

[Jimbo]

My toyota surf (1kz-t 5 speed) died a couple of months ago (head cracked in a few places driving normally on a cool night) Now it is all just about fixed i want some people's opinions or knowledge on a couple of things.

1)Are Toyota temp gauges bad/faulty in that they show operating temp all the time and only move (past half way) once the damage is done (looks like the case with mine as it never overheated according to the gauge)
If so what is the solution to this? Is it time for an aftermarket gauge?

2)Some people have been telling me that a reason for this is that i was not using 'toyota' brand coolant. I replace my coolant regulary with quality coolant but have never used Toyota coolant. Is their coolant any better? or just more expensive.

Thaks

Jimbo

[V8Patrol]

Blown motors generaly tend to make ppl fit mechanicle guages and be "not so trusting" of electrical guages.

Standard guages whether they be holden/nissan/hyundia or what ever are realy just a "guage" and dont offer a real temp or pressure reading.... IE:95degrees and 65PSI will show on a mechanicle guage but the std car/4x4 guage will show somewhere between cool and too late.

Of all the blown / cooked motors I've seen over the years 99% of ppl didnt notice the std guage at all but instead noticed a heap of either steam or clouds of oil smoke before they realised what was happening and THEN looked at their guages !!

TFL (too f...... late )

Once a good quality guage is fitted it stands out better and ppl tend to "loook at em" far more often compared to std in the dash guages..... I've even wired in "red light" warning lamps in conjunction with the mechanicle guages in some of the lesser intelligent customers cars in the past ( one inparticular has em mounted on the top edge of his dash !! )

As for if its time you fitted a set of mechanicle guages.... I'd say its was too late ..... the damage has been done ....... but it would be a smart move to help prevent it from happening again !



As for coolant.....

Some say its the greatest stuff on earth.....
Others recon ya better of pulling up at the next and most dirtiest pothole and pouring the water from that into ya radiator !

I tend to agree with the dirty water from the pothole .....
after all .....
It all looks the same in 12months time anyway !
( at this time I should get off my butt and go to the shed and take a pic of a high quality coolant that has been in a car for less than 3 months.... the engine was power flushed, a new radiator fitted, along with all new hoses..... the color is still best described as green ........ ish black )

These days I use a good quality drinking water or rain water only.... I also add 100ml of that CLR product every now and then and I do a full flush atleast once a year.
Since I've been doing this my radiators are spotless inside as are the water jackets in the engine block......... over heating ..... whats that ??

Kingy

[The Master]

Wouldn't running clear water in a car cooling system potentially have the following three issues?

1. Aluminium corosion - the waterways would errode?
2. Potential water pump seal issues?
3. Greater chance of overheating or more importantly freezing water in the block?

Or is that just hog wash?

Carl

[murcod]

Supposedly straight water is a lot more effective at transfering heat than a 50:50 coolant mix that most vehciles use.

There's also this stuff http://www.redlineoil.com.au/product-in ... aterwetter that I've been tempted to try (but am worried about corrosion issues.)

I'm using their gearbox oils and they're fantastic.

[Beastmavster]

Wouldn't running clear water in a car cooling system potentially have the following three issues?

1. Aluminium corosion - the waterways would errode?
2. Potential water pump seal issues?
3. Greater chance of overheating or more importantly freezing water in the block?

Or is that just hog wash?

Carl

1) For an all alloy motor, or all iron motor no. For alloy head motor yes.

2) Nope. The seal is expanded by exposure to water, not the additives.

3) Freezing? Where does that happen regularly in Aus?

Boiling is more controlled based on the pressure of the system rather than the additives.

[kempster1]

Did your engine dump all of its water before you cooked it?

If it did, the temp gauge will not work correctly as they need water around them to work.

[Jimbo]

I think my engine was using a bit of coolant on the way there but i could not notice. Beofor i left on my trip i checked all fluid levels and as usual were all fine. 1 and half hours later i see the temp gauge move while i was letting the surf cool down from freeway driving. Touched the top read hose and it was cold!! Rad ha lost around 2 litres somewhere.

Once i got the head pressure tested the guy said that there were 2 cracks in the pre combustion chamber and 1 crack in 1 other chamber.

Anyway all is almost fixed and just want to try and make sure it doesnt happen again....too much $$$

Jimbo

[V8Patrol]

tiny bit off topic but ......


In the race bikes I ran I used "cooking oil" instead of water....

The "weight" was lighter than water (no real advantage tho )
Handled high temp circuts better ( 5degrees cooler running )
Muffled engine noise better ( more open zorst could be run)


Kingy

[BundyRumandCoke]

Some temp and oil pressure gauges have stop contacts built in to them. Mainly seen on tractors and machinery. If temp gets too hot, or oil pressure drops too low, motor automatically shuts down. But, with coolant, as already said, you need coolant around the sender for it to operate. So, a coolant loss probe is a good idea. You can buy them.

[pongo]

3) Freezing? Where does that happen regularly in Aus?

My daily driver when i was in bungendore was a ke55 carollover. I used to check water b4 i went to work at 5am in winter. You couldnt squeeze the top radiator hose cause it was frozen solid. It somehow never managed to cause any damage to anything. Was a bit worring the first 6 times it happened

Cheers

[cookiesa]

I'd spend the money on a low coolant alarm first. Have done this in my Disco as they are known for the gauge being useless until to late. Had a hose split last summer and the alarm let me know before any damage was done. (Hose was only 7 months old)

The one I have was through Ashdowns. It has a light but also a buzzer. Took me 20 minutes at an easy pace to install and as soon as the water level in the radiator drops by 5mm the alarm is buzzing.

[Hobbz]

I'd spend the money on a low coolant alarm first. Have done this in my Disco as they are known for the gauge being useless until to late. Had a hose split last summer and the alarm let me know before any damage was done. (Hose was only 7 months old)

The one I have was through Ashdowns. It has a light but also a buzzer. Took me 20 minutes at an easy pace to install and as soon as the water level in the radiator drops by 5mm the alarm is buzzing.

Link ?

[cookiesa]

Australian site www.ashdown.com.au

[ludacris]

I am running coolant in my motor as the block is steel but the water pump is alloy and are known to carrode. Some motors like the Holden V6 needs a special coolant compared to others in which you can use any. Have you priced the Toyota coolant because average prices for non genuine are $10. Some genuine parts are not expensive but then other genuine parts are 400% over aftermarket prices.

LudaCris