Thread: Over heating problems in a TD5

Feel if the radiator is hot, if it isn't hot then this will lead you to the water pump and thermostat. For me, the pump failed at just a fraction over 300,000km and I did the thermostat (and power steering pump) at the same time.

Also check the radiator is not clogged full of mud, they do this very easily. If thats the case, it may even come down to stripping it all and cleaning the mud out of the entire pack. DONT disturb the ATF cooler or its lines ever. Actually the ATF cooler blocks with mud pretty quickly too.

Good move doing it before going to Fraser Island, all of your cooling systems will get worked very hard there.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Feel if the radiator is hot, if it isn't hot then this will lead you to the water pump and thermostat. For me, the pump failed at just a fraction over 300,000km and I did the thermostat (and power steering pump) at the same time.

Also check the radiator is not clogged full of mud, they do this very easily. If thats the case, it may even come down to stripping it all and cleaning the mud out of the entire pack. DONT disturb the ATF cooler or its lines ever. Actually the ATF cooler blocks with mud pretty quickly too.

Good move doing it before going to Fraser Island, all of your cooling systems will get worked very hard there.

Yeah the car is on 276,000 Km’s roughly, when you say to feel if the radiator is hot, when would I feel for that? Right after driving, or leave it for a bit first? It is a manual, so when you say ATF cooler I assume that it’s still relevant for the r380 oil cooler? I’ll check if the radiator is clogged but I dis several coolant flushes when I did the head gasket on it.

As far as the power steering pump is concerned, I have been considering repairing that too anyways as I’m pretty sure it’s leaking. Are there any decent rebuild kits out there? As the cost difference between a decent OEM one and a rebuild kit seems significant.

When you say the temp gauge ... do you mean the dash gauge?(or do you have another temp gauge too?)

If you mean the dash gauge, then I'd start to worry. They are notorious for showing increases at very high temps! IIRC could be up to 115°C or more.

If you can, coolant pressure is a good indication of hot, or really really hot. Start car and get it to run at normal temps on the gauge, which is generally about half way on the dash gauge. I'd guess that you should have a normal coolant temp after about 5 mins driving. Keep engine running and under bonnet squeeze the coolant hoses to feel how much squish they have in them.

If the engine is actually getting hot(if the dash gauge shows this) first thing you will notice is that the coolant hoses are very very hard by comparison.

If you have a nanocom, good idea to run it in instruments mode and watch for engine temp.
If you don't have a nanocom ... should get a nanocom!

Originally Posted by AK83

When you say the temp gauge ... do you mean the dash gauge?(or do you have another temp gauge too?)

If you mean the dash gauge, then I'd start to worry. They are notorious for showing increases at very high temps! IIRC could be up to 115°C or more.

If you can, coolant pressure is a good indication of hot, or really really hot. Start car and get it to run at normal temps on the gauge, which is generally about half way on the dash gauge. I'd guess that you should have a normal coolant temp after about 5 mins driving. Keep engine running and under bonnet squeeze the coolant hoses to feel how much squish they have in them.

If the engine is actually getting hot(if the dash gauge shows this) first thing you will notice is that the coolant hoses are very very hard by comparison.

If you have a nanocom, good idea to run it in instruments mode and watch for engine temp.
If you don't have a nanocom ... should get a nanocom!

Yeah I do mean the dash gauge, I’ll run the nanocom today to see what’s happening. Which coolant hoses are you referring to to squish? The bottom ones where the thermostat is? The top radiator hose? The inlet or outlet pipes for the radiator?

I have an exhaust temp gauge, and they seem to be normal enough not getting any crazy spikes.

I had the same issue on a 36 degree day recently near Seymour, after driving 7 hours from Sydney. Temp gauge went up about 3mm (halfway between middle and red zone). Only noticed when acceleration became lumpy at 110kmh. Pulled over, viscous fan came on and temp dropped. Drove at 90kmh for 2 hours with no issue, then hauled a load of timber on a trailer back to Sydney watching the gauge like a crazed man. No issue but drove like a snail and changed down manually on the Hume Highway hills. EGT never got to even 600 on the return journey, but on the day it overheated it ran about 75 degrees hotter than it usually did, on the flat (in low 400s rather than 300s). Didn't have nanocom on me.

Vehicle has new water pump, radiator and hoses, new turbo hoses etc, no coolant leaks/loss, low coolant alarm (didn't go off) and 140,000km replacement motor recently installed. Same motor did the trip to Bendigo and back a month before with no issues, but not on a hot day. The car has an ecu tune and boost wound up a bit on the turbo, otherwise standard. D2a intercooler and 15p motor, plus beefed up torque converter internals from TCT in Melbourne (not V8 though) in a 1999 chassis. i'm mystified as to the cause. I wondered if the tune (done on an EU2 ecu originally, I think, for my old 1999 TD5 10p engine)) might be causing an issue when i should have an EU3 tune for a 15p motor?? (I have no understanding of the fundamentals of this issue, however).

The only other thing was that the three amigos came on on the return journey. Didn't have 3 amigos on trip down though when the overheat happened. Car now at mechanic for that issue.

Any thoughts welcome.

Checked this morning, and the coolant was really low, topped it up by almost a litre along with topping up the oil a little. Nanocom was reading anywhere from 84-89 degrees consistently once the car was up to temp. Going to keep an eye on the coolant level as I have a feeling there could be a coolant leak somewhere I’m yet to find. I did want to replace all the coolant lines with silicone ones, however the only place that sells this is Allisport for almost $900 before shipping.

Originally Posted by Overconfident Kid

Yeah the car is on 276,000 Km’s roughly, when you say to feel if the radiator is hot, when would I feel for that? Right after driving, or leave it for a bit first? It is a manual, so when you say ATF cooler I assume that it’s still relevant for the r380 oil cooler? I’ll check if the radiator is clogged but I dis several coolant flushes when I did the head gasket on it.

As far as the power steering pump is concerned, I have been considering repairing that too anyways as I’m pretty sure it’s leaking. Are there any decent rebuild kits out there? As the cost difference between a decent OEM one and a rebuild kit seems significant.

Feel the radiator just after you've been driving it for a while. If the engine is hot, but the radiator isn't then the coolant isn't flowing from the engine to the radiator for some reason - hopefully just a pump or thermostat. The engine will still read as hot even with the coolant not flowing because the temp sender is mounted on the side of the engine.

The manual and auto coolers are in the same location, which is under the intercooler - so the middle of the radiator pack.

The coolant flushes will hopefully clean out the radiators internally, but the problem is more likely to be mud accumulation on the outside. It gets stuck between the cooling fins and blocks any airflow through the radiator which prevents it from cooling.

This is what the coolers/radiators end up looking like if you go into mud.