running hot when towing caravan

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

hi
when towing my caravan up hill temp goes up into red,on every day use temp fine when not towing,was thinking of removing air con radiator as it doesnt work anyway,read on here someware as it makes car run cooler,but do i leave the fans on and if so what do they fasten too.im running a 2000 diesel.just changed radiator for a new one also changed water pump,no different still gets hot.

Thor1950 · Jul 28, 2013

check thermostat, how was coolant level? and is radiator clean? and when was last time cooling system was flushed and changed?

madtrucker · Jul 28, 2013

try your viscos fan get you car up to temp then push a rolled-up newspaper into fan if it stops it's duff PM Datatek for a aircon fan mod and remove old fan parts cost about £16 I think hope this helps Andy

mark1971 · Jul 28, 2013

Ill keep an eye on this post as I'm having same trouble with my 98 dse.
New rad and water pump 11 months ago and just replaced viscous fan with gen LR and thermostat and still temp went up to just before the red when towing up hill I was also thinking of removing condenser as nothing in it and its a big restriction.if that don't fix it ill drop another engine now as its just turned to 170k and got to be tired now but still pulls well..

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

hi new radiator water pump and thermostat fitted 2 months ago,used to top up coolant the odd pint over a month or so.what is the air con fan mod does this remove the air con rad

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

bromer said:
hi new radiator water pump and thermostat fitted 2 months ago,used to top up coolant the odd pint over a month or so.what is the air con fan mod does this remove the air con rad

If it's losing water, there is a leak. A leak means loss of pressure which can lead to overheating. Is the carpet wet in the drivers footwell?
Otherwise suspect HGF or cracked head unless your new stat is one of the many duff ones on the market.

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

hi carpet is wet in drivers footwell,tryed thermstat before fitting by droping in boiling water opend ok,what with wet footwell,ran car for 10 mile or so with cap off water bottle didnt blow any water out thought this would have shown up head gasket failier.

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

bromer said:
hi carpet is wet in drivers footwell,tryed thermstat before fitting by droping in boiling water opend ok,what with wet footwell,ran car for 10 mile or so with cap off water bottle didnt blow any water out thought this would have shown up head gasket failier.

So your first job is to fix the "O" rings on the heater matrix before the water gets to the BECM and fries it.

Thor1950 · Jul 28, 2013

Datatek said:
So your first job is to fix the "O" rings on the heater matrix.

what would happen if he put a buy pass in. As putting the heater hoses together inline

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

what sort of job to replace o rings

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

Thor1950 said:
what would happen if he put a buy pass in. As putting the heater hoses together inline

You lose some cooling as the matrix is constant flow.

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

bromer said:
what sort of job to replace o rings

Do a site search on "O" ring replacement, it's been covered many times. Can be a bugger of a job if the screw is corroded.

gfromleeds · Jul 28, 2013

Thor1950 said:
what would happen if he put a buy pass in. As putting the heater hoses together inline

That would stop the leak but would loose the in cab heaters
Best change the o rings!its a pig of a job be youll be glad you did that insted when winter comes

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

been looking at some other threads on overheating datatek do you have an electric fan mod i would be very interested

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

bromer said:
been looking at some other threads on overheating datatek do you have an electric fan mod i would be very interested

I do, but it's not for masking overheating problems.

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

i understand as i have read other threads, as i have replaced rad thermostat and water pump in last few months these where all replaced together,only gets hot when towing up hill with caravan on otherwise it is ok,need to do the viscus fan check yet wich i will do today,thought the mod can only help,

gfromleeds · Jul 28, 2013

The ac fan convertion is only any good to you if youve confermed your overheat is soley down to a feckd viscouse fan! As to do the mod properly you remove the viscouse fan and cowl anyway
And by the sounds of your problem your o rings have gone wich is leting pressure out alowing the water to boil,triggering a overheat
Water wont boil if its pressurised (ie no leaks)

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

datatek you mention the heater matrix is constant flow i find if i forsee a hill coming and turn my heater controls to hot and fan on full this helps with keeping engine cooler

bromer · Jul 28, 2013

i understand the leak issue but i can complete my journey with caravan on and water in header tank will still register full,can this still cause the over heat problem as still plenty water in rad

Datatek · Jul 28, 2013

bromer said:
i understand the leak issue but i can complete my journey with caravan on and water in header tank will still register full,can this still cause the over heat problem as still plenty water in rad

The cooling system runs at 85 to 95C, locally in the head it will be hotter. At atmospheric pressure the water boils at 100C, under pressure the boiling point is raised, so loss of pressure = potential overheat.
Lack of anti freeze will also make matters worse.
The P38 is rated to tow 3.5 tonnes so a caravan weighing half that should not cause a problem.

running hot when towing caravan

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