Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi All

My playpen in usually the Nissan one, but my F.I.L. has a 97 Petrol cruiser that overheats WAY too regularly. Its done in sand on Moreton, Fraser and Double Island and yesterday driving up to Maleny.

On the weekend, before the trip to Maleny, he flushed the radiator and motor and replaced coolant. I suggested he replace the thermostat next, but as I'm unfamiliar with the quirks of the vehicle, thought I'd better ask here.

Does it have a viscous drive fan? Do these often fail? What other regular failures are there?

ANy help greatly appreciated.

Your on the right track. toyota sell oil for the viscous fan and thats probably the reason it overheats on load. I would also do the thermistat as they have a tendency to sieze after being in a BBQ.
The rad could be blocked with dirt/mud and it could be blocked internally, especially if he has gone from red toyota coolant to green aftermarket...they dont mix.

Was the radiator professionally flushed? I had an overheating problem with my petrol 80 series a while back and getting the radiator professionally cleaned fixed it. Another thing to look out for is the viscous hub fan can play up.

Ta for the responses so far gents.

I spoke to him today and told him about the viscous fan and he's looking at it too, as well as replacing the thermostat.

The thing that I neglected to mention was the accessories he has on the car: TJM front and rear bars 240 of fuel carrying capacity and a set of rear drawers that are, invaribly, full of heavy stuff.

Would this extra weight be enough to make it overheat? If so, I'd suggest to him to get a bigger (triple, quad core??) radiator. Would you think this would be the way to go?

I had a similar problem with mine, turned out to be the radiator core, I got the radiator joint to pull the tanks off to clean it properly, and when they did the core feel apart. It looked normal when it was togather, and showed no signs of being in this condition. I havnt had a problem since replacing the radiator.

Agree with whats been suggested here, no need for a bigger core radiator. The factory one is more than sufficient for the weight you're carrying. Just pull the rad out and take it to a rad shop to have it properly cleaned out (tanks off and rod the core). While the rad is out, pull off the viscous fan hub and split it open. Get 2 x viscous hub oil from Toyota and put that in and put it back together. Get a replacement thermostat while you're at it and put it all back together. Done.

ps: viscous hub oil is part no: 08816-10001
pps: Genuine Toyota coolant is also a good idea, make sure you flush out all the green crap if thats been used before.