Cooling System Upgrade

[TheTree]

Hi

I have finally finished my cooling system upgrade and have written up a webpage for it

P38 Range Rover Cooling System Upgrade (http://p38.hts.com.au/cooling_upgrade.html)

Seems to work very well, but the true test will come on those 40c plus days :eek:

Steve

[benji]

Wow that's some work - bravo!

With the old fan you could feel the extra drag on the motor ' which surely has to effect economy. Do you notice the same with the electric fan?

I've been on their site and there's no p38 rad listed... Was it a one off custom they did for you?
I imagine it's a four core triple flow?

Sorry for the questions, but that's the route I'd like to take.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using AULRO mobile app

[TheTree]

Wow that's some work - bravo!

With the old fan you could feel the extra drag on the motor ' which surely has to effect economy. Do you notice the same with the electric fan?

I've been on their site and there's no p38 rad listed... Was it a one off custom they did for you?
I imagine it's a four core triple flow?

Sorry for the questions, but that's the route I'd like to take.

Sent from my GT-I9305T using AULRO mobile app

Mate

Give them a call and speak to Norm.

The Rad itself was around $750.00 so it's not cheap and yes it's a 4 core triple flow job which is very well made.

Make sure you tell them if you are GEMS or BOSCH, they even know the chassis number for the changeover now ;)

Yes I definitely notice a difference in power which should be reflected in better fuel consumption figures.

Though I am still not seeing good figures but I have been doing a lot of idling while i calibrated the on/off temperatures

Steve

[davidsonsm]

Awesome. Mighty impressed. Just the thickness of the new rad vs the oem is reassuring. The viscous fan sucks about 8% yeah. What did you do with the original fan - simply remove it and leave the pulley?

[TheTree]

Awesome. Mighty impressed. Just the thickness of the new rad vs the oem is reassuring. The viscous fan sucks about 8% yeah. What did you do with the original fan - simply remove it and leave the pulley?

Yes mate I just removed the fan and left the pulley in place, there is about 15mm clearance.

I still have the original fan and shroud in case of emergency!

Steve

[bruce p38]

Fantastic Steve When the time comes ie existing fails this is the road I'll
Definately go. Good job Steve and Aussie Desert Coolers

Bruce p38

[Keithy P38]

A job well done mate. Will be good to hear feedback after a good shakedown run and a few hot runs in summer!

Cheers
Keithy

[Gippslander]

Very impressed Steve i will definitely go that route when mine springs a leak it looks so much stronger than the OEM and not that much dearer. Did you say they will supply it with the temperature sensor adapter you designed.:)

[TheTree]

Very impressed Steve i will definitely go that route when mine springs a leak it looks so much stronger than the OEM and not that much dearer. Did you say they will supply it with the temperature sensor adapter you designed.:)

Mate

I am sure they will happily supply the adapter as well, it needs to be a slightly bigger main pipe. I specified 30mm OD since that was the best measurement I could take at the time and it could be a bit larger, I don't want to restrict the flow at that point!

I am going to get another made with a slightly bigger pipe and a VDO Gauge sensor so I can replace the useless :censored: factory gauge. Mine never moves above halfway even when the nanocom says my temp is 101!

VDO 52mm Digital Water Temp Gauge Sender Brand NEW | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VDO-52mm-DIGITAL-WATER-TEMP-GAUGE-SENDER-BRAND-NEW-/321060899779)

I saw a post on RR.net where someone had replaced the factory gauge with a standard 52mm gauge, a perfect fit.

The VDO Gauge seems to be available in red only, so an LED lighting mod to my dash may be in order as well:)

Steve

[TheTree]

Hi

Just a quick update, doing an extended run today with a mix of freeway and urban driving, the nanocom temperature did not rise above 94.5.

It seems the factory sensor takes longer to react and is partly an engine temperature sensor because it takes a little while for the hotter water to warm the manifold and sensor.

The new one in the top hose however has no "thermal inertia" to speak of and responds much more quickly to the actual coolant temperature.

All I am all pretty happy except I specified 30mm OD tube for the adaptor and I should have specified 35mm OD, so I intend to get another adaptor made before summer , with a VDO sender and digital gauge.

Steve

[FANTOM P38]

Hi Steve,
Good job with addition of elec fans. I posted up some time ago the same install from Aussie Desert Coolers they did a great job on mine very happy with performance. At install time I also replaced water pump & thermostat & serpentine belt.
I also got them to add a bleed screw to top tank to make bleeding system much easier.
I like the idea of tee piece for gauge, however i'm sure if they were asked they could also add this to top tank as well saving the need to cut top hose & create another potential leak point. I may even consider taking mine back in for this mod.
Would be keen to hear how things go in hot weather with elec fan! & difference if any to consumption. Have had mine in for a while now and needle sits just below half no matter outside temps! gotta be happy with that. I retained original shroud & fan.

[TheTree]

Hi Steve,
Good job with addition of elec fans. I posted up some time ago the same install from Aussie Desert Coolers they did a great job on mine very happy with performance. At install time I also replaced water pump & thermostat & serpentine belt.
I also got them to add a bleed screw to top tank to make bleeding system much easier.
I like the idea of tee piece for gauge, however i'm sure if they were asked they could also add this to top tank as well saving the need to cut top hose & create another potential leak point. I may even consider taking mine back in for this mod.
Would be keen to hear how things go in hot weather with elec fan! & difference if any to consumption. Have had mine in for a while now and needle sits just below half no matter outside temps! gotta be happy with that. I retained original shroud & fan.

Hi Mate

I replaced the water pump a while ago and the belt before that, I replaced the thermostat when I did the radiator.

On the bosh system you don'yt have to cut the hose, yuou are just replceing the factory plastic bit, so no more potential for leaks than standard.

If you look at the first pic of the rad in situ, you will see the factory YT piece still in place. I agree the top tank would be another great spot to put a sensor.

As far as the factory temperature gauge goes, i have concluded that it is as useless as tits on a bull, I saw 111 on the nanocom when I had an airlock, and the gauge was still on half :eek:

It's seems the gauge is "centre weighted" whatever that means, however everyone seems to agree however that by the time the warning light comes on and/or the air con fans, it's pretty much all over red rover.

I have a plan, yet another, which I will document in another thread
:p

Steve

[Hammer H]

Hi Steve,

I'm Thinking to fit a Desert Cooler radiator like yours with thermo fan and was interested to see if you had a chance to test in hot weather.

from your posts I'm thinking this may have been fitted to the Pheonix :(

[TheTree]

Hi Steve,

I'm Thinking to fit a Desert Cooler radiator like yours with thermo fan and was interested to see if you had a chance to test in hot weather.

from your posts I'm thinking this may have been fitted to the Pheonix :(

Hi Mate

It was fitted to "Voldemort" (he whose name must not be mentioned") !

It seemed to work very well, there are a couple of other people on here with them fitted.

I would make sure they add a drain plug and possibly a bleed nipple

Regards
Steve

[Scouse]

I assume the radiators Matar Motors are selling are the Desert Cooler ones:
Range Rover P38 High Performance Desert Aluminium Radiator | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RANGE-ROVER-P38-HIGH-PERFORMANCE-DESERT-ALUMINIUM-RADIATOR-/261660566568?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cec2f6428)


Both companies are located in Thomastown.

[TheTree]

I assume the radiators Matar Motors are selling are the Desert Cooler ones:
Range Rover P38 High Performance Desert Aluminium Radiator | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/RANGE-ROVER-P38-HIGH-PERFORMANCE-DESERT-ALUMINIUM-RADIATOR-/261660566568?pt=AU_Car_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3cec2f6428)


Both companies are located in Thomastown.

They certainly look identical

Steve

[Hammer H]

Thank you Steve

Most of my offroad driving is sand and on tracks between dunes at low speed so not a lot of air flow and the temp is a constant concern.

Paul