Thread: Holden Power

My SIII has a 60's falcon 6 in it, so not the same thing, but it normally sits just on the cooler side of halfway. Unless the electric fans stop (as they have been known to do) then it rarely changes.

yeah i think mine is running a tad hot still i mite have to tweek the timming a bit run it a bit out..TDC on mine is where the 12 degree mark is on the timming cover cause of the non standard cam & crank..i am so close to selling it now, ive had enuff its been registerd since the 24th of april & spent half that time in the shed trying to sort this out.. ANT TAKERS..
PS i have a thermo fan but hooked up manualy on/off switch & it goes down a little bit when on but i dont want to have to run it all the time just to drive it..STILL ANY TAKERS

Hi Banjo
Get a decent brand water temp gauge and find out what temp its actually running before you go any further.
The sender may not be a match for the Landrover temp gauge so its likely what the gauge is reading is inacurate.
Once you know what temp it runs st we can look at what you need to do to improve the issue.
GOODLUCK
Andrew

ok andy the wife seen a set of 3 gauges at autobarn the other day water,oil,volts. they are the machanical type do you think they would be ok if so i will get some & fit them & run the car & let use know ..this is doing my head in i just want it going properly or it will have to go.Plus i will check the timming again & let you know what & where its all set at & see what use think..

Oh yeah in the last 3 months cant remember when but i put all new rod & main bearings in so it is probly a little tight still ,some1 said that could cause a slight rise in temp till they wear in

Banjo

Holden straight sixes have a tendency to run hot at highway speeds and when doing heavy off road work. This is true even after the engine is correctly tuned.

There are two main factors at the basis of this. The radiator type and capacity is important, however the main culprit is the lack of oil volume with the engine running at higher than design revs.

Use of electric fans is assisting the radiator problem, however once the oil gets hot it takes a lot of cooling to bring the temp back down.

I advise all Holden powered Landy owners, that a good addition to the engine is an engine oil cooler, these are available from Repco and fit behind the standard spin-on filter fittings. You can use a regular transmission cooler element or a dedicated oil cooler type. Once fitted, not only does it cool the oil it adds additional oil volume which is a double benefit.

If you do a lot of off-highway work, particularly steep climbs and descents, you may want to consider exchanging the sump for one off an HT model. Most other model sumps have the bulge at one end and get oil starvation when traversing a hill where the bulge is up-hill. The HT sump is unique in that the bulge is in the centre and this allows constant oil flow irrespective of steep climbing or descending.

Diana

Thanx Diana i have a brandnew landrover radiator fitted & its tuned as best i can get it ..i have only been driving around localy (newcastle) no offroad yet..but what you say about the oil cooler makes sence & i never even thought of that..i mite call in at repco today & get a price on the cooler..

G'day Banjo,

I've got a SWB series 2 with a holden 173 and i've got the same concern, I've been told that the holden engines tend to run a little hot anyway?
I went out and got a new water pump, replaced the thermostat and had my radiator re cored.. also got an electric temp guage thinking it would be quicker and more accurate,
but can't get the bloody thing to work so am not sure what temp its running at now.