Cool. I l that idea. There are heaps of finned aluminium fuel coolers around too. If you wanted extra cool fuel.
Happy Days.
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The reason, and only reason for the thermostat in the T junction at the back of the fuel cooler is to prevent the cooler from operating in cold climates. The fuel temp. sensor is located in the fuel pressure regulator housing , sealed to the housing with a bonded seal. The fuel temp. sensor is used by the Engine Control Module [ECM] for engine management.
The regulator maintains the fuel pp. delivery pressure at 4 bar, when the fuel pressure exceeds 4 bar, the regulator opens & allows fuel to return to the fuel tank via the fuel cooler. [ From RAVE] IMO, making changes to systems put in place by engineers is not good policy. Bob
Why wouldn't you want the cooler operating in cold climates?
Cool. Thanks for the location of the temp sensor.
I'm interested to know why the engineers put this in place. Then I might decdide I dont want it in place. While the engineers did a pretty good thing with most things, not all of them are suited to me. For example they fed the air box from the inner guard where a lot of dust is kicked up by the front wheel. I took upon myself to change this system put in place by the engineer and put a snorkel on. Oh and then there's that SLS compressor tha they put on the chassis rail, down low where it can get wet and it only has a 5% duty cycle. I'm sure the list is quite long of things the engineers got wrong with the Disco.
Happy Days.
Distant memories from my CAT training days. Diesel engines loose 1% output for every 10 deg increase in fuel temp over 100 deg. At 140 diesel fuel is reaching flash point and over 100 deg the higher volatility vapours evaporate off, further reducing output. The cooler/heater is used to assist in maintaining a constant fuel temperature. The TD5 injectors need a constant fuel temp so the ecu can deliver the correct volume of fuel at the correct time and for the correct duration.
Go ahead, remove the fuel cooler and in 50000 km you will be on here asking "why is my TD5 under powered, the piece of crap hasn't been performing well and my filter is blocking in cold weather and the fuel pump has failed again and I had to replace an injector that failed...blah, blah blah".
Dumb Land Rover Engineers.
Rick
The thermostat in the fuel cooler , in cold climates, such as snow, will not allow coolant flow before it has reached the optimum temp.of 82 degrees c , before opening to allow coolant flow thru the cooler. The thermostat regulates the coolant flow at optimum temp.& is not directly regulating the fuel temp. Coolant flow helps regulate the fuel temp. How do we get the coolant to 82 degrees C, ?
The main engine thermostat , is closed below 82 degrees C. when the coolant temp reaches 82 degrees C, the thermostat starts to open, & is fully open at approx. 96 degrees C , in this condition the radiator has full flow. The main thermostat is used to maintain the coolant at the optimum temp. for efficient combustion & to aid engine warm up. So, the opening of the fuel cooler thermostat is related to the operation of the main thermostat. I hope you see the complexity of the system, & why I think you should not fiddle with it.
However, you have a valid point about the SLS compressor, & the air inlet. Add to that the front non greasable drive shaft, & factory shocks & springs for Aussie conditions. All 4WD'S have areas where the aftermarket can make the vehicle better off road, but 2nd guessing the engineers who designed the TD5 , mate, don't do it. If you insist on doing it, study how the engine works first. cheers, Bob
The Td5 has one main weakness really, and that's its sensitivity to heat.
I wouldn't want to be doing anything that fiddles with the cooling system without some serious consideration beforehand.
Consider they spent nearly 10 years designing the Td5, and the only problems it has are due to poor execution (i.e no loctite on oil pump bolt).
How many have the EGR delete? Not everything is necessary suited for all situations.
Here's how I see it now. Not that I'd worried about it before. It's there, it's not currently leaking or anything so I'm leaving it alone.
But if it should leak. I live in Darwin so I don't need to worry about diesel freezing temperatures and I'm not too concerned that the diesel will be so cold that the viscosity will be an issue for my fuel pump. I do however think the fuel temp leaving the injectors needs to be cooled. So if my fuel cooler (which is also a heater) leaks, I will replace it with a air/fuel cooler similar to an oil cooler.
Unless I get convinced otherwise by someone with a reasonable explanation not just someone who is scared to be the first person to try something new.
I have recently been searching Bio-Diesel in the TD5 with not much success. I haven't come across it like this before but maybe it's the general attitude of Land Rover owners not to try and improve things. I don't see Land Rovers modified like other makes. There a few guys out there that have a go and succeed very well at it (TD5 Inside) but not the numbers that will have ago at other makes. One of my previous cars was a Suzuki swift. I'm sure the engineers knew what they were doing but the thing made 53hp at the wheels, I made a few changes, threw out some environmental stuff and made 105hp ATW. Some might say I possible made it less reliable, well I know of plenty that are plenty reliable, turbo charged and make over 150hp ATW so I dont think it was too bad at only 2/3rds of that.
Happy Days.
Folly?
And your thoughts behind coming to this conclusion other than you not thinking it's a good idea with no explanation?
Happy Days.
I can understand this. Hot fuel is no good (makes sense). Too cold of weather is no good (blocked filter) makes sense. However I don't think we have any places in Australia that get that cold to be a problem.
So why cant I do away with the heating part of the cooler and use a cooler that will only cool?
Happy Days.