2008 Triton T Diesel Engine Noise - Final

Hi James

Good to see the the noise has been found, But i would still be concerned as to why there was air in the system?, Hope not, but there could be another underlying problem there.


Cheers Axle.

Is the fan really noisy when you are driving? (When it kicks in?) I can never hear mine?

I was towing a caravan with mine from Port Stephens and around the west of Sydney to Goulburn a few weeks ago,the day it got to about 36-37 deg. Mine only kicked in occasionally during some uphill stuff. I was expecting it to run all day considering how hot the outside temp was, but was quiet once the heavy hauling was done . Mine's the MY T/D manual model new last January.This was the way it was for about 9000 ks from Hobart to Port Douglas and back. Most days in Q'land it was about 30+ Deg.........hardly a noise from the fan.

Interesting!

I will give it a good run when the temperature rises again and see what happens.

Mind you - they did try to tell me that the way it was going was normal. So I basically grabbed the mechanic by the ear and took him to one of their new floor models, a 2009 DiD 3.2. I started it and let it run for about 10 minutes with my foot on the accelerator, sitting on 3000 rpm the whole time. The fan came on for about 5 seconds when it first started and then stopped. The temp guage jumped up to mid range after 5-6 minutes and then it sat there. The fan NEVER came on at all. It was a HOT day and theambient temperature was close to 30 degree C. After turning the thing off some 10 mins later - no fan noise. It did NOT kick in at all. Which this is what you would expect!!!!

Now the mitsubishi mechanic tells me that the fan is designed to come on when you first COLD start the motor as it is designed to run until it reaches operating temps. I think this is a load of crap. I think it may have something more to do with when the engine and fan clutch is cold it locks in. After the car starts for a few seconds the clutch disengages and the fan free flows with any natural air flow or perhaps flows at a minimum speed. This scenario makes more sense to me. Why would the fan run to reach operating temps? The engine is cold.....Not sure where they get some of these guys from!!!!

Anyhow, after I give the car a good run I will post back up....

Yeah - I could imagine running in HOT weather, uphill, boat on the back etc that the fan probably should come on - but NOT driving down the freewy at 110ks in 25-30 degree temps!!!!

I would like to talk to someone from MM Australia, but they do all their dealing through dealerships.... I would like to talk to a MM designer/engineer who knows the design philosophy... Als - I wonder if other Diesels ie landcruiser, hilux, rodeo etc have the same issues???

Cheers

James

Hi James,

I've just replaced the viscous hub in my 4.2TD GU Patrol. It was locked on all the time after our recent Kimberley trip. According to the instructions on the box for the new one, the fan could run locked for up to 8 minutes before freewheeling. After driving it for a while, I thought it was faulty and was going to return it as it seemed to always be on. My neighbour who is a 4WD mechanic borrowed it for a day and said that it was perfect. I guess I just wasn't used to having one that worked properley as before the old one became locked, it would never lock in and I was having overheating problems as well towing up long hills.

It will be interesting to see how it goes over Christmas as we are heading up to sydney along the coast.

Cheers,

Glenn

OK - now I am getting really annoyed with this issue!

I went for a fish this morning and I got in the car afterwards at about lunch time and started it. The fan noise was there immediately. The temp guage was reading 25 degree c for outside ambient temp. I dorve for a while - to Maccas to get some lunch, about 2 ks away. The noise remained and never went away. Sitting in drive through it stayed and continued all the way home for another 3 or so km.

Now I certainly was not towing anything up a hill in hot weather!!!!! 25 degrees is not hot as far as I am concerned. The car was hardly working at all.... There must still be something wrong!

Oh well - back to MM

James

Somewhat a silly question....Doesn't air in the system translocate to the high point of the cooling system eventually? I would have thought that with the channels in the engine block large enough etc, there wouldn't be any air blockages in such a system.

Does that sound logical or am i missing something obvious?

Here i was thinking they just poor the stuff in and bob's ya uncle. LOL.

Andrew