The amateur budget expedition build thread

[Gibraltar Sean]

ah… erm, yes…. upon a quick re-read of the first-ish posts I see you did change the rad and water pump! so apologies for the run down memory lane…. and on a positive note, someone did once tell me that 'reading for the brain, is the same as gym for the muscles…' so you can all claim a bit of gym time for the head if reading my last post! lol…

 

[Jason2]

First time I went to Morocco was in the height of summer in a bog standerd Defender 200 tdi, there & back 6000 miles never missed & beat & the temp gauge never moved above normal.

Went back a year later in the same vehicle but with a F-off winch bumper & front under-neath protection that some what obstructed the radiator and she already started to over heat on the way down at Madrid.

The silly thing with a Visco fan is that it works on the principle of hot air from the radiator making the silicon glook stuff in it go solid and lock the fan to cool the engine. So if you obstruct air to cool your radiator your fans not going to work either.

I bodged my fan with a few self taper screws so it turned all the time which did the trick nicely !

 

[lr110]

i have a retro fitted 300tdi and r380 box and no fan at all! i need one but don't know if i should get a viscous or electric fan

 

[payydg]

Thanks for the feed back chaps. Sorry for the radio silence, I posted the thread the day before I left for India.

Firstly a trip update, the customs clearing process in India couldn't have been smoother. The clearing agent we used is a carnet pro and like most things in India, if you know the system (which he does) and you know where to drop the odd 500 rupee note things get done with amazing efficiency. We had some fantastic driving around India and we're now in Nepal.

With regards to the radiator, the electric fan that was previously fitted started to fail. We took it to pieces but couldn't find anything obviously wrong and after it almost severed my thumb we decided to sack it off. Interestingly, every over lander we met in person all told us to put the vicious fan back on. I just can't see how an electric fan with smaller blades and no cowling can produce the same kind of air flow as the viscous. Also, as already mentioned you can fix it so that it turns all the time if things go wrong. It's a lot harder to bodge a fix for an electric.

Regarding why we chose a 90 over a 110, well we wanted an over landing vehicle that can also be used as a run around back in England. The 90 is a bit more 'car park friendly' than the 110. Also, we look at he amount of kit we needed to take and it all fits in the 90 with room to spare. We are both experienced travelers and mountaineers so we're used to travelling fast and light but even so there's loads of room in the back of a 90! Obviously you guys are alot more experienced at overlanding that we are, what do you take that fills a 110?

Everything has gone well so far.

Will post photos when I can.

 

[tacr2man]

Viscous for hot climate , as designed and tested by landrover, I used 300tdi 130 DC HCPU in australia working at gross train weight of 7450KG , in 35C+ totally standard , not a problem . 3.9i V8 110 csw at max load , in sand dunes 45C , not a problem , only extra was 13 row engine oil cooler. Both still used the standard viscous fan .
maybe electric for cold climate might help warm up ?

 

[lr110]

thanks for that, anyone want to buy a kenlow?

 

[L90 BCM]

thanks for that, anyone want to buy a kenlow?

£10

 

[lr110]

Hehe

 

[lr110]

Unless you have the cowl and viscous fan, straight swap....

 

[cartoonhead]

Well I am going to go against the grain two electric fans, gives you staged cooling (1 on at temp x and 2nd one on at temp y) and when you need it can push through a much greater volume of air than a viscous and you have a backup and when you are home you get the benefits of the engine running at a warmer temperature