Temp up to 111

[johnyrover]

Good evening trendsetters!

Went for a blat down the coast today, and crawling into Byron the temp got up to 111. I think I'm up for a new radiator (no real drama there) but ye olde beastie never really got down to top dead centre for the rest of the day. Ended up doing about 3 hours actual driving at about 107 degrees. Just wondering if there are any concerns I should be aware of, or are these old beasts o.k. as long as you got go anywhere near the red? Needle never got past 1.30, and temps were as read from the Nanocom. Any thoughts as usual gratefully accepted.
Cheers.:)

[TheTree]

Hi

Mate that is pretty hot and a would be concerned!

Perhaps a radiator flush is in order

Steve

[johnyrover]

Yeah I wasnt real impressed. I'm gonna go the whole hog and get a new radiator. The existing one has a bit of rust and decay so I think its time. So would you say no long trips in the heat of the day till the new one goes in, or do you think it would be ok as long as it didnt get any hotter?
Cheers.:)

[rc42]

It could also be a faulty thermostat but don't rule out a faulty temperature sender or gauge either.

My 4.6 overheated once but the gauge stayed central so I replaced the sender and installed a second sensor in the top radiator hose with it's own gauge. I prefer to have a second opinion about something as important as temperature on these engines.

I also completely removed the thermostat and bypass hose so it gets full flow through the radiator all of the time and it now runs between 75 and 95 depending on external conditions. Not recommended if you drive anywhere cold but it's great for Brisbane.

EDIT - Just remembered, it could be your viscous fan coupling too, I had to replace mine as it wasn't locking up as it got hot.

[TheTree]

Hi

There is no way I would ever remove a thermostat, to start with it will massively increase your engine wear.

I am going to fit an Aussie Desert Cooler radiator, about double the OEM radiator, but all aluminum, no plastic.

Steve

[rc42]

The purpose of the thermostat is to allow the engine to heat up faster and make it run hotter than it otherwise would, even when fully open it still has some effect and makes the engine run hotter. The running temperature is about efficiency and emissions and not engine wear, that's all about oil which protects over a wide temperature range.
For an engine sensitive to overheating in a hot country its not really necessary and I think mine is better off without it.

The all aluminium radiator sounds good though, I've had the plastic return to the expansion tank break off and there's no way to properly fix it. I got a cheap Britpart radiator from the UK which has worked well but I'd still like to swap it for a better built one, especially if it has a higher cooling capability.

[benji]

Mmm, something's wrong forsure. On the hwy at 44c mine sits at 87-89, ideling it'll go up to 100, but the condensor fans won't turn on high. We did 350km in 40+ yesterday and the highest I could get it up to was 93 on the hwy. That's with a new waterpump, thermostat, and viscous hub, with a newish radiator.

At 130 I think you're in head gasket damage territory for sure! In fact the liners were shrunk into the block at around 150.

In saying that though, I will be going the aussie dessert radiator next year.

[Keithy P38]

Ill throw in my 2c...

I'm running an OEM radiator in mine. Will always be running an OEM one too! I've found it to be sufficient in the Tropical North QLD heat over many years!

I will be on a 5yr replacement cycle to ensure it doesn't let me down!

Cheers
Keithy

[Hoges]

You need a temp at least around 87-90 deg C to allow the engine EMS to begin to run "closed loop". Also, the quicker you get to operating temperature, the quicker the engine tolerances conform to design specs and as SteveFarmer points out, reduce start-up engine wear. 94-96 deg C is fairly standard particularly if you are running 50% OAT coolant as specified. A recent trip up the Hume Hwy from Melb to Kiama saw ambient temp of 41 degC+ and intake temps of 56 DegC... coolant temp hovered between the specified 94-96 deg C... new radiator/water pump/thermostat etc.

[johnyrover]

At 130 I think you're in head gasket damage territory for sure! In fact the liners were shrunk into the block at around 150.



Top temp was 111 but if the temp needle was a minute hand it would have been sitting around the 1.30pm mark (I should have put the pm in the first comment - sorry ). Well away from the red but further past the 12 midday mark than I was comfortable with. Not 130 degrees. Christ I think I would have had a bit of poo coming out if it got that hot.:D
Many thanks for all your thoughts.:)

[TheTree]

Hi,

My take is that every carmaker on the planet uses a thermostat in their cars, if they could save money by leaving it out, then they would.

Just like the under bonnet heat issue I am sure the LR engineers spent plenty of time optimising the cooling system.

The main reason I am going to the Aussie Desert cooler radiator is better, longer lasting construction, I believe the core is basically the same as an OEM radiator but the tanks are welded aluminium.

Steve

[rc42]

Don't get me wrong, the thermostat is a great idea, it allows accurate control of the engine temperature no matter what the external temperature or work load (within the limits of the cooling system capacity). This is good for efficiency and emission control and is why every car has one.

For my particular case, I've had a major overheating event, fortunately no long term damage but the next one could be its last. My P38 is an occasional use holiday car, it's generally only used on hot days and is usually towing a camper trailer or a boat, the camper trailer is used frequently on beaches and sand tracks so the engine has to work hard.

Because of this I decided to mimic the engine condition where the thermostat is up to temperature and fully open so that the cooling system is as efficient as it can be, the viscous fan still works as normal and the engine typically runs at about 80C on those hot days.

The thermostat is a 3 way valve so it can't just be removed, the radiator bypass pipe has to go to so a new top hose is needed (I put an inline temperature sensor into that too).

I still think that removing the thermostat was the right thing for me to do, for most people or cars getting regular use it won't be.


Start up wear happens when engine parts are moving but the oil is not up to pressure, this is unavoidable but with good and regularly changed oil plus additives like MOS2 it can be minimized. For a 14 year old engine with 160k I'm not sure that the tolerances get to design spec at any temperature but a long as the oil is there and under pressure there should be no significant metal to metal contact.

[TheTree]

Hi

It's my understanding that the wear we are talking about is wear from unburnt petrol causing cylinder wall wear.

Is It Good To Remove Thermostat To Stop Overheating? - Car Talk - Nairaland (http://www.nairaland.com/445208/it-good-remove-thermostat-stop)

Bearing wear is due to the oil not being up to pressure for a second or so when the engine starts

Regards
Steve