HJ75 Troopy - Overheating underload

Submitted: Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00
ThreadID: 2102 Views:8367 Replies:11 FollowUps:9
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My 2H decided to overheat on my way into Gurig National Park last week. It behaved itsel while there but it did the same thing on the way back to Darwin. It has always run on the hot side (last 10 years) but this is the 1st time it has used water (and pumped it out when I stopped for fuel at Jabiru. My fuel consumption was also up. I was towing a 16ft boat (as usual) and had the normal 10 tons of camping gear. There is no visible signs of a head gasket problem, the radiator is less than 9 months old and the hoses are new. Could it be the fan problem I have read about?
Can anyone throw some light on the problem.

Cheers
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Reply By: dave - Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00
firstly, have you come across the Troopyoz group at Yahoo?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/troopyoz

Secondly, I had very similar problems in my troopy, new radiator and hoses BUT, they only tested and did not replace the thermostat, a $20 part caused me so much grief. Could be a simple solution.
Dave
AnswerID: 7197

Follow Up By: Rossco - Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00
Dave
Thanks for the advice on the Yahoo forum.
If it is only a thermstat I will be happy. I will check it out tomorrow. If it is something out of the ordinary I will post the info.

Ross
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Reply By: Brian - Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 06, 2002 at 00:00
Check the fluid in the clutch fan , it should be the right grade and the right amount so that it kicks in at the right time. Had a similar problem with my Cruser work ute, ended up being the rong grade fluid(I think it is a silicone base oil???)
AnswerID: 7207

Follow Up By: Rossco - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Hi Brian

thanks for the info. I will go in to Darwin in the morning and get the radiator specialist to check this out. I have read that the clutch can cause problems. I guess when you spin the thing it is impossible to really know that it is working properly. I understand that the oil is a special breed so hopefully the local guy is aware of similar problems. It was a bit scary after all these years to have something go wrong with something you have grown to trust. Even Tojo's are not perfect after 400,000k's of service (and most of them hard at that). Cheers Rossco
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Follow Up By: Brian - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Russco Having lived in the Tanami and Katherine for 8 years I know how hard it is on the cooling system up there . My work ute clutch fan was so bad you could stop it with your finger!(found this out by accident)
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Reply By: Matt - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
I've got a similar problem with my fj73. It runs hot after a few km's of lo range.

But mine can run hot in sticky traffic.

So far I've replaced the themostat, and removed and flushed the radiator. The fan clutch is fine which is leading me to think the water pump might be faulty. Another suggestion is that it may need a second cooling fan (suggested on another forum).

AnswerID: 7215

Follow Up By: Rossco - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
I have had the fan looked at today and it appears to be doing all the right things. I think I will get it serviced if the problem persists. I am about to rip the top off the thermostat housing to see what lives in there. I honestly cannot remember if I have ever been inside the housing before. I am going away again for a few days so I will be able to see if the new thermostat fixes the problem. Mind you, the outside temp up here at the moment is in the mid to high 30's. I will also look at the air con radiator for bugs and things. Cheers
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Reply By: Darryn - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco after 400,000km I would put new oil in the fan hub. You should be able to buy it from any Toyota dealer for approx $20.00. This has been an ongoing problem for years with the 2H and 1HZ engines that I know of and most dealers know about it and have the oil on hand.
Regd's Darryn
AnswerID: 7223

Reply By: ken d - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco
Of course a good operating fan is important however keep in mind that the fan is only of use for cooling your vehicle while it's stationary or pushing along at low speed.-If the vehicle is overheating on highway runs it wont be down to the fan.-
Once the vehicle is cruising the airflow through the radiator will be the same with or without a fan.-As a suggestion you could get the system pressure tested, it's cheep and easy, and as suggested by Dave change the thermostat.-You haven't mentioned when the water pump was last changed, could be the impella corroded away- With the engine up to temp and top radiator hose off check that its pumping out water.- If you do want to check the fan, with the engine off, it should spin free when the engine is cold. Once up to temperature it will have a lot more drag-Good Luck-Ken
AnswerID: 7230

Follow Up By: Rossco - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Ken,
good advice. The fan checked out okay, however I will have it serviced anyway. I changed the thermostat this arvo. I think the old one had run its' course. I have a few more days off so I will do a 400 k round trip this week (barra fishing). If the problem persists I will go to the water pump. I have driven the car without trouble for so long I guess wear and tear is inevitable. I truly believed that troopies were invincible (slight joke here). The thermo was the original from '89 and let me say, the water pump is the same vintage! The old bus still has the original exhaust as well - 'if it aint broke.......'

I really do appreciate all the advice and I hope I may be able to help out others through this forum in some way. Cheers, Rossco
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Follow Up By: Janset - Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00
Hi all. My 2 cents worth. I had a slant Valiant that always overheated when on a country run and I did every thing that was suggested to me until one of them fixed it, it turned out to be a 2 thingy event. The water pump had 2 impellers broken off due to corrosion and the thermostat was clagged, but here was the clincher. After the water pump and the new thermostat, it still over heated, out came the thermostat, no over heating. I then tested it only to find that it was a dud. Took it back, tested the replacement only to find that that was a dud also. The third one was good.Moral of the story, just because it is new does not mean that it is good. Rip the thermostat out first and test run the vehicle to see if it overheats, if it doesn't then the problem is still the the thermostat no matter if it is a new one or not.
Regards
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Reply By: Matt - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco,

I read a while back that Toyota thermostats can be quite unreliable, especially in the earlier models.

My engine went nuts today. It went from cold to red line hot in less than 10 mins of suburban driving. Having spoken to some powers that be, they say to take the thermostat out and go for a short drive. As long as I'm not tearing down the highway, this won't cause any probs. If the overheating doesn't occur, its pretty clear that its the thermostat thats faulty. If it remains the same, I'll need to get the radiator re-checked or replaced.

How quickly is yours overheating?? How high is it going??
AnswerID: 7233

Follow Up By: Ken D - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Guys-I don't know if the Toyota thermostats are dodgey, just like exhausts etc, the first one lasts for ever and the replacements never half as long.- one of the mysteries of the world.- If you've gone to the effort of pulling out the thermostat and it looks intact, give it a litttle push and see if you can free it up-At a pinch you can boil it in water.- Some engines will run forever without a thermostat, don't know about the 2h, some use it to direct water flow into other areas of the engine- Diesels don't make much power when they're cold and won't heat up unless you put them under load so no thermostat can be a pain when you crawl around slow.-Sometimes an airlock can develop in your cooling system - the simple action of breaking the seal on the thermost housing with the engine running can sometimes fix this.- Cheers Ken
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Reply By: Rossco - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Matt

My troopy has always been hot - the after-market guage (good one) shows a reading close to the redline on any long highway drive. It is generally around 90* around town during the hotter months and down into the 80*'s in the cooler weather up here. I often have to turn off the air con when towing in warmer weather (a real pain). I replaced the thermo today and by the look of the old one it may have let the wax go through what appeared to be a busted 'o' ring. For $28 bucks from Toyota it is a cheap experiment. The advice I got from a mate in the radiator game was to buy genuine as it is cheaper than alternatives. The hot running has never bothered the car really. I have had some form of tojo for the past 26 years up here in the NT and have not experienced any major drama's with overheating before. I used to do a lot of heavy beach work and although the temp got high the car always ran the same. I am going to do my injectors,replace the original exhaust and put on extractors to breath some new life in the troopy - who knows, I may squeeze another 100,000 out of it (and do a hill in top gear) Cheers
AnswerID: 7235

Reply By: Matt - Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 07, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco,

Have heard the same about buying genuine Toyota parts. Worth the higher outlay.

How is she running now??

Keep trooping!
AnswerID: 7237

Follow Up By: Matt - Tuesday, Oct 08, 2002 at 00:00

Tuesday, Oct 08, 2002 at 00:00
Have just taken the thermostat out and behold, no more problems. As long as the car is left to warm up for a minute or two in the morning, there'll be no problems.

No thermostat, no expense, no overheating, no worries!!
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Reply By: Member - Mal - Monday, Oct 14, 2002 at 00:00

Monday, Oct 14, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco, (and any other 2H owners interested), I had a LC wagon with a 2H engine and was looking at getting it turboed. One of the modifications was to to have the top radiator outlet moved to the passenger's side so it was diagonally opposite the bottom inlet. This supposedly makes more efficient use of the radiator. Didn't get it turboed so I didn't get it done. However it sounds as though it may improve cooling. What was the road to Gurig NP like? When I was last there the graders finished the road as we drove out. It was fantastic. Not what it is usually like apparently. Mal T.
AnswerID: 7386

Reply By: Nige - Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00
Rossco, I had a 2H 60 series (just parted with it this year) and I always used to drive according to the temp gauge; I replaced the radiator with an Australian core after about the 3rd fix which I was told finally by the radiator repairers was caused by a faulty thermostat. What they reckon was happening was it would open late and water would hit the tank in a rush causing fine fractures, eventually then leaking. I have heard that the standard radiator top tank design is not the best for using the whole core for cooling your water, as someone else pointed out. The radiator guys also said the good news is that thermostats can give up at almost any time. We did the silicon oil in the fan hub fix (twice) and ran without aircon on hot days whilst towing. I put in a new water pump, changed the coolant and made sure the fan belt was right. I tried a drive without the thermostat and it didn't come close to getting hot. Everyone says the 2H is a great motor, but it has a reputation for running hot and cooking heads. However, it will almost last forever if you do regular oil changes, filters etc.. It never let us down, but I drove the family nuts nursing it. It was one of the few vehicles I have owned where you could watch the temp gauge move according to how you drove it; I almost considered taking the spotties off to let more air through. This might sound like a bit of a wank but I notice that the ARB catalogue recommends that you don't fit a bug screen across the front of the grille of a 1hzt, which is what we drive now and I was told not to fit the electronic type dual battery management gizmos because they can die in the heat under the bonnet. I decided against fitting new spotties, just in case, and hope I don't have to do too much night driving! Probably haven't added ant great intelligence to the discussion but I can relate to the overheating situation!
Bye
AnswerID: 7649

Reply By: Rossco - Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00
I have a bug screen that I will remove as per your advice. I also have spotties ('cause the headlights must be off a T model ford). I also have a warn winch on the front and this may also restrict some airflow. I replaced the thermo and the temp behaved itself without the air con on. on the return trip it got hotter once the air was on. I'll keep chipping away until it gets better. Thanks to you and everyone else out their for the good advice. Rossco
AnswerID: 7650

Follow Up By: Ken D - Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00

Sunday, Oct 20, 2002 at 00:00
Rosco. Just a thought. Where is your number plate, sounds a bit obvious but some of our work vehicles had the plate mounted in the middle which on a winch bar means they are in the air flow. We moved them to the side and it made a big difference. Also if you're still trying to get some extra cooling it may pay to also look at where the air flows after it passes thru the radiator. Restriction can also take place in the engine bay. Some of the big V8 conversions have this problem.- Things like the placement of a second battery etc may effect cooling. In particlar look at anything down low where the air exits the engine bay. Just a suggestion anyway. Good luck. Ken
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