Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I were at Stockton on the weekend and blew a lower radiator hose so after a trip to Repco at Raymond Terrace to get a new hose and some coolant I were going again, but I were overheating when ever I got on some soft sand especially going up a dune. As I were only on there for about 10 mins before the hose went i cant say if this was happening before hand. I drive a coily with standard gears (but not for long )
and 215's (soon to change too ) and were wondering if this is normal or there might be something wrong

if its the 1.5" ish hose that goes into the motor below the airbox, i blew the same one! only mine split right on the hose clamp, and right underneath.... so i didnt know it had blown, and assumed that cos i didnt see any leaks, the rad fluid on the ground came out of the overflow tank (which was open).

i drove on soft sand towing mates on bodyboards with no fluid for over an hour, it was only when the choke came on that i knew something was up... so we drove out of the dunes, and 10km to a mates house before calling RAC. it was only on the last 2km that it started really dying - blowing smoke etc. But, of course the head was pretty much annihilated after that =D

I reckon youll be just fine. if youre scared you can always get it checked out?

If its still overheating with new hose though, maybe thermostat is stuffed? is it really overheating or just a guage reading?

Same as alien. check ya thermostat isint stuffed or the rad isint blocked. May be worthwhile to get a leakdown test on the head as well.

A new rad in mine has made a world of difference.

thanks

Nic

alien wrote:I reckon youll be just fine. if youre scared you can always get it checked out?

It was fine on the hard sand and has been since its just that if something is stuffed i'd like to know now when it will be easy to fix as aposed to being out on a track somewhere and have something go

alien wrote:If its still overheating with new hose though, maybe thermostat is stuffed? is it really overheating or just a guage reading?

The guage was going up and lost probably 1ltr of coolant through the overflow tanks overflow and it sounded like it was boiling in there it sucked the whole of the tank back into the radiator when it cooled down completley.

I am mainy wanting to know if this is normal ie overheating and if not what do people think may be wrong

Mine was doing similar. Only overheat when idling for a while or climbing sand. Mine would overheat and spew it coolant out and then the rad cap was cool to touch.

If it is sucking it back into the engine it sounds fine. I would still get a head test done if you are unsure.

Mine was the head had two leaks in the head gasket.

thanks

Nic

Despite maybe having a faulty hose, Stockton does tend to give Sierra's and quite a few other brands of 4WD's a hard time in the cooling department. This is made even harder for our little zooks to keep up with the demands placed on their quite small coolant capacity. Just a couple of tips that may help though:
Depending on tyre type and size, you may have to go down a lot lower than most magazines and 4WD experts state when conditions get really soft at Stocko. I have 215/75/15 BFG M/T's on my Sierra and when the conditions are extremely soft, I have to go down as low as 9psi to get adequate traction and float on the sand. Once you get the right bagging of your tyres, the engine doesn't have to work as hard and the old girl will tend to run a lot cooler as well. Just take it easy on cornering and you'll probably find the line you need to take to turn is a lot wider than normal. Whenever you stop on Stockton, try to park into the wind and shut down. This chills down a Sierra cooling system real quick .

If your cooling system is OK it should not have aproblem cooling under ANY conditions, I have run most of a 38 degree day with 35's and a 1.6, Stock 1.3 radiator 70% or better clogged with mud (see my lil pic below my usermane .. thats the boghole that clagged the radiator up)


The all alloy construction of the Zuk motor allows it to cool very easily, and quickly.

Check the radiator cap, it may be faulty.