Driving on sand?

[RockyF75]

Oil cooler worked well on the MK TD patrol we have am going to try one on my F75 rocky. Cost about $70 for an air cooled one.
Just a thought......

Oil cooler tacked onto cooling system?


I went for just a short drive today with the 'good' stuff, and it gets hot heaps quiker now ... but if I understand the situation correctly, the temp guage will be, in effect, not accurate, as the boiling point is now 132deg, so if the guage goes right up, it wont nessesarily mean its overheating

So now, how do I know when I need to pull up and give the engine a rest I'm thinking I should have stuck with water and an anti-corrosion mix, no glycol.

chances are if your temp guage says its hot, it means its hot. if your engine blew a head gasket not long ago and you had the work done its usually a good idea to look at the entire cooling system. ie send your radiator out to be flush profesionally, replace the thermostat and have a good look at your w/pump. to me it just sounds like a cooling prob, your blown head gasket would have been the result of the prob and not the cause. a blown head gasket will result in: a coolant leak, loss of combustion and/or oil/coolant transfer...
just my 2 cents but prob just something you already knew

yeah the headgasket didnt really 'blow' as such, was leaking, quite badly actually, but it was leaking (not so bad though), and progressivly getting worse over about a year, till I finally just did it. My rad is crapo, and is on the shoping list straight after shocks. Would it be worthwil trying new thermostat 1st as a temporary measure, since their pretty cheap?

[crazymanwithavan]

Hi RockyF70,
just getting back to your question about overheating when driving hard in sand, (I'll leave the oil debate to better qualified people).

I found out the reason for my overheating is probably due to a worn water pump.
I'm replacing it with a 2nd unit in the weekend.
I'll get back to you with the results.

Yes some of the "purists" will be leaping up and down with their expert advice regarding 2nd hand pumps, but for $25 I'm hoping it will last for a short while until I pick up my lotto winnings

[murcod]

Yes some of the "purists" will be leaping up and down with their expert advice regarding 2nd hand pumps, but for $25 I'm hoping it will last for a short while until I pick up my lotto winnings

If the pumps off you can see how worn it is. Worst thing that could happen is leaking seals.

[RockyF75]

thanks for the reply crazy man, but i've replaced the water pump around october last year, bearings seized on it. I know my radiator is craphouse, bent fans, rusty coolant etc, I am just looking for ways of extending its useable life cause i cant afford another 500 on my car atm. Just needs to last atleast 2months or so and I really need it cooling ok this w/end.... guess i just havta hope its not a scorching hot day ..... maybe throw sum ice on the block and top of the rad

[Patchy]

i've replaced the water pump around october last year, bearings seized on it. I know my radiator is craphouse, bent fans, rusty coolant etc, I am just looking for ways of extending its useable life cause i cant afford another 500 on my car atm. Just needs to last atleast 2months or so and I really need it cooling ok this w/end.... guess i just havta hope its not a scorching hot day ..... maybe throw sum ice on the block and top of the rad

to have your readiator overhauled doesnt cost alot of $$$ maybe $80 at the most, if you take it to a specialized raddiator repairer. they should be able to fix everything bar an actuall core leaking & even then they could probbaly patch it up

from what i know you should be getting your cooling system fixed before you get "shinny chrome plated, super long tavel shocks". if you get it bogged and in the frustration you forget to take a glance at your temp sensor, well

p.s: it wont hurt to put a new thermostat in. BUT if you over heat your engine with the new thermostat you could destroy it and you will have to replace it again

[crazymanwithavan]

Hi RockyF70, as promised, I'd get back to you on my overheating and replacement of my water pump.

I replaced the water pump, (which was leaking slightly), and then ran it for a couple of days.
Though I noticed it still went pass half way mark on the temp gauge, before dropping slightly.

I then ran some Nulon radiator flush for about a week and then drained it in the weekend. Then poured the whole 5 litres of Nulon antifreeze into the radiator. I only ran water previously, (because of the leak).
Now the temp gauge just reaches halfway mark and stays constantly there. Where as before it would swing about a little even after the pump replacement.
I haven't gone off road yet, but all looks good.
All up it cost $30.00 water pump, $12.00 for radiator flush, $30 for antifreeze, scalded hand: priceless.

[lay80n]

All this talk of the anti-boil and anti-freeze properties of coolant has to be looked at in another way. First, what makes the coolant not boil in a pressurised system, coolant- wrong. It is the pressure in the system. When water is under pressure its boiling point is raised, so when your motor warms up, the coolant expands, creating pressure in teh system. The pressure raises the boiling temp of thhe coolant, and the pressure release spring in the radiator cap allows escess pressure to bleed off into the overflow bottle. A motor will run at correct temp with plain old water in it (100 deg boiling temp) as long as the cooling system has no leaks! (though i still recomend putting in good quality coolant never the less). Small leaks not only allow loss of coolant, but more importantly allow loss of pressure in the system, allowing hte remaining coolant to boil at a lower temp. Even if you coolant etc can hold up to 132 deg, you motor wont like it, so if the temp gauge reads HOT, thats cause the motor is HOT and not happy about it. Also ensure that when you are re-filling your coolant etc, that you do it as per factory procedure, to avoid air pockets ETC, i know my old f75 used to get air pockets if filled quickly, and i used to remove the AC temp sender on top of the thermostat housing to ensure that there was no air in there (air flows to the highest point in a system). From memory rocky with 28L turbo diesel took about 10.5L coolant.
hope this helps, i had a few cooling issues with my rocky and am a mechanic by trade, so if you got a question feel free to ask.
Layto....

[crazymanwithavan]

Hey lay80n, thanks for your comments.
I agree that plain old water is a good coolant.

Actually, I wasn't pointing out that the antifreeze was making my radiator run cooler, rather that the lubricating properties of the antifreeze has helped the coolant flow better and hence better cooling efficiency. (and that the rust crap had gone which helps!).
My thermostat was gummed up a bit, (though I have clean it), and I would have imagined that the antifreeze lubrcating properties would help it open and close a bit smoother, (though maybe I should replace it).

Antifreeze is a general term, but really it does a couple of other things than just stop your coolant freezing.
It also prevents rust and lubricates seals and moving parts.

[RockyF75]

*update**update**update*

Got a new radiator and put it in with help from a mate. Also did thermostat (which was a real pain due to a snapped bolt)... now it sits just under 1/2 way. Goes to 1/2 way in traffic and has not gone past yet. Will see how it goes on the freeway soon.

Heres how bad the old radiator was :

[Sweeney]

Looks like the radiator core had it!
The best thing to do is get it recored, which costs around $350-450 but it will help greatly with the overheating issues.
I F60 use to go over half way travelling at 100-110kmph, new radiator core and thermostat later it now sits at 1/3 at 110kmph.

[HotFourOk]

nah he got a new one as he said... seems to work a lot better