3.6 TDV8 bad overheating on hills towing caravan
My brother's MY08 3.6 has badly overheated when towing his 2-2.5T Jayco uphill for the 4-5 years he has owned the car. The temperature gauge needle cannot be made to move off normal without the van attached but any decent hill even on cool days causes overheating, to the point of boiling it on a 23 deg day a week ago. It does not overheat on level ground. It does not use any of coolant.
Temperature probes have been fitted to the top and bottom radiator hose connections. An IIDtool is used to monitor coolant temp, fan speed and duty cycle for some time now, with the fan seeming to behave as it should. Just prior to the first stage power restriction where max revs is 3000, the top radiator temp was 113 and the bottom 103 and the IIDTool showed ECT 113. 2nd stage restriction limits revs to 2000 rpm. It boiled close to 120 as there was nowhere to stop part-way up the hill. Overheating very quickly escalates from mildly warm to excessively hot in a very short time.
The thermostat was removed after the boiling but while the engine ran too cold, it still overheated uphill with the van. The thermostat bypass valve was found to be split and otherwise damaged preventing it from closing so a new thermostat housing was fitted 2 days ago but overheating persists.
There appears to not be any mud or debris between the i/c and coolant radiators, as water squirted backwards emerges clean from the i/c and from below the radiator pack.
The water pump is next to be removed to be checked and a new one fitted regardless of apparent condition. next will be the radiator pack which requires the a/c system to be drained.
Are these vehicles prone to overheating when towing? I can't find any reference to overheating where coolant is not being lost.
Any suggestions?
MY12 RRV 4.4 TDV8 AB, +LLAMS, +e-diff, +ACC stop/go. Produce LLAMS for LR/RR, Jeep GC/Dodge Ram
VK2HFG and APRS W1 digi
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