100 series turbo diesel getting hot!

G'day Wayne,

This sort of reminds me of the issues I had with my 4.2TD Patrol....the subject of numerous posts and follow-ups on this forum....In fact it was the search via Google for an answer to my "overwarming" issues that led me here in the 1st place; now I'm an addict!!!! hahahaha

Crawf, the thing I learned long ago (may not apply to cruisers in the same way as it applies to Patrols, but I reckon it will) is that seeing the temp gauge head _towards_ the hot zone is not necessarily a "bad" thing. That's why the manufacturers have a gauge with a small section on the far right-hand side; what I call the "RED ZONE".

Mate, you could fill a book with the imagined problems I had which led to many sleepless nights. In the end analysis, the motor NEVER actually overheated.....it never resulted in me being stranded on the side of the road etc etc.

One thing I did was to fit an accurate VDO gauge with it's sender unit in the top radiator hose. This showed the "actual" temperature of the coolant (as opposed to the standard gauge which just shows "normal" most of the time. While the standard gauge registered "normal", the "real" temperature fluctuated anywhere from 45oC to 107oC. Once the real temp started to go above 107oC (only on very hot days, when trying to maintain highway speeds with roof rack on and camper trailer dragging along), the standard gauge would go from it's "normal" mark to almost into the "red zone" in the space of about 11oC ......IE: the VDO gauge got as high as 118oC at which time the Nissan's standard gauge was nearing the "red zone".

So, it always amuses me when blokes sprook-off about how their wonderful Nis-ota Land-trol can drive all day and the temp never varies. All vehicles have cooling systems that allow the coolant's actual temp to vary as required; it's just that in most cases the standard gauge does not move.

Running along at 118oC is not going to hurt your engine if it's cooling system is in good condition etc. To me, it;s a "warning" that the ol' girl is getting a bit warm and it might be a good idea to back off a bit. I equate it to riding a horse flat out (not that I can even ride a horse in the 1st place!!!!! hahaha). You can tell if the nag is suffering cos you've had the whip out; so you back off before the bloody thing dies. Same thing with a machine (of any sort) in my opinion.

So, don't drive it off a cliff, just accept that you need to slow down. It may be worthwhile fitting a proper gauge (and I'm not saying that VDO is necessarily the bees knees either.....there maybe better gauges around like Autometer). I prefer to know what's going on under the bonnet.

Even in my "new" 6.5 Chev Nissan, the only auxilliary gauge I have is a water temp gauge.

Also
Wayne, its an auto so have tried overdrive on/off gets hotter with O/D off, and will drop when lower speeds are chosen but dont want to sit on highway doing 80kms in a 30k car. Yes I do have a tranny cooler but no electric fan, have thought bout it thou.

Roachie,
Am interested in converting the oiler to a 6.5 chev or maybe even the turbo, are you happy with yours and price etc... is it scary?

Fishy,

Don't put a 6.5 Chev in it. They're crap. Roachie's always telling porkies about the engine of his,,,,,,,,,,,,,it puts people into orbit & then returns to earth, it brews its own beer and bottles it as you drive along, it found a cure for cancer, it once met Mahatma Ghandi and had dinner with Bill Clinton, it's a TARDIS 'n it can kill a Dalek,,,,,,,I'm sick of listening to the garbage that gets talked about with that bloody engine,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

;)

Bilbo

Gday Crawf

Another option is the thermostat - one of the times I've overheated the GU, the thermostat warped a bit, and wouldn't open fully. Radiator bloke I spoke to said it was common for them not to work properly if they get a bit hot. Worth a try and cheapish in comparison to other things....

Cheers Andrew

cheers for the response, we cleaned the air con condenser and the auto trans cooler ( which are both infront of the radiator ) when we put the new radiator in. It has a brand new finer air filter in it now. When you say overfuelling do you mean the timing with the fuel pump, not sure about the turbo hoses, and the air has been comletely bled out. I went away for the weekend, while travelling it still got warm, after stopping checked coolant level which was full.
BUT STILL VERY OPEN TO ANY OTHER NEW IDEAS!

So you have obviously heard or had probs with other aftermarket turbo cruisers, can I overcome this with a bigger radiator or changing the timing or SOMETHING?