Overheating

[silva_nav]

Hi all

Last week i went on a trip from Perth to monkey mia stopping off exploring the beaches etc. Whilst on wagoe beach i noticed my temp gauge sitting at about 3/4 so i stopped and chucked on the heater and got out. Popped my head back in and the temp gauge had hit full. Opened the bonnet and the coolant in the overflow bottle was literally boiling... Let it cool down, got it back to camp and dropped the oil and coolant. A couple of times whilst driving during the trip after the overheating the temp gauge did rise a little above normal running temp (just under half) but nothing to cause concern again.

Now back in perth car seems to be running fine with normally operating temp. Could it just have been a factor of the car under load in soft sand and a 38º day? Or could something been playing up?

Also i dont know if this has anything to do with the over heating but the air-con was working on & off, like it would stay cool for 5 min then just go hot as hell! Turn it off for 30 seconds then chuck it back on and it would work again... I think it may have been playing up when it over heated but hard to recall.. But now back in perth air-con works fine aswell...?

Any help or ideas as to what caused it would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[KraftyPg]

Weather and driving factors will have something to do with it but I think the temps and issues your are talking about go beyond simple weather and driving. I'd be taking it to someone to get it looked at, even if you don't get them to do the work and just get the problem diagnosed before deciding if you can fix it yourself.

 

[WoodyD40]

When i did a radiator shroud back in January, it was a warmish day on a steep track and was in low range trying to get up this sometimes loose track.

Because the shroud got shredded, and we removed it totally whilst on the track - the temp gauge went high a couple of times and also the a/c started cutting out too.

I wonder if the navara's have a cut out sensor in the a/c system if the radiators start getting too hot?

i know you've posted in the D22 section, but mine's a D40

 

[Clugo]

Hey my old man' Triton did the same over heat on hot days under load and the A/C thing, work for 5 min then go hot, it was some furry crap stuck between the radiator and the A/C condenser. the A/C cuts out because the refrigerant cant cool down enough and the system trips on high head pressure or compressor over temp

 

[Old.Tony]

In the Navara, when the coolant temperature reaches a certain level, the air conditioning compressor is disabled (the fan is left running). This stops the "preheating" of the incoming air so that the radiator can get the coolest air possible. That's why your aircon stopped.

Why did it overheat in the first place? Probably the workout. You need to keep a certain amount of air flowing over the front of the car for it to cool the engine properly, and soft sand is going to need a lot of power to get through - so that's a lot of energy expended. The turbo is going to heat up, the oil is going to heat up and so will that radiator.

Below 40km/h the ECU will run the thermal fans as hard as it can, but that may not be enough if you're working the thing hard.

 

[WoodyD40]

Great Explanation Tony ....

 

[silva_nav]

In the Navara, when the coolant temperature reaches a certain level, the air conditioning compressor is disabled (the fan is left running). This stops the "preheating" of the incoming air so that the radiator can get the coolest air possible. That's why your aircon stopped.

Why did it overheat in the first place? Probably the workout. You need to keep a certain amount of air flowing over the front of the car for it to cool the engine properly, and soft sand is going to need a lot of power to get through - so that's a lot of energy expended. The turbo is going to heat up, the oil is going to heat up and so will that radiator.

Below 40km/h the ECU will run the thermal fans as hard as it can, but that may not be enough if you're working the thing hard.

Thanks for that Tony really helped out.

Still doesn't explain the slight heating up on the highway & the aircon cutting in and out... I thought 130km/h would be more than enough air flow to keep it cool

Going to take it in to just get checked over better to be safe than sorry.
Thanx for the help boys

 

[Dave]

Had the radiator pulled down ?

I had mine rebuilt recently as I accidently snapped the overflow bottle barb off.

 

[Old.Tony]

You're right that it doesn't explain what happened on the highway at those speeds, although to be fair, those speeds require a fair amount of power to keep the vehicle going!

I would check things like the flow rate of the radiator, the thermostat and the water pump ... a degradation in these will cause issues.

Might also be an idea to make sure the radiator fan is behaving. Turn off the engine after a hill climb. When the engine's nice and hot, you should find it very difficult to spin the fan over. If it doesn't clamp properly, it might have a problem. It means that it won't draw air through the radiator when it needs to.

 

[joshman]

my mates pootroll had over heating issues. he pulled the radiator and gave the fins a really good clean - he had some much mud and dirt and crap collected on them that it wasn't cooling at all.

so some simple cleaning might be a place to start.

 

[silva_nav]

Had the radiator pulled down ?

I had mine rebuilt recently as I accidently snapped the overflow bottle barb off.

Dave

What do you mean by pulled down?

 

[silva_nav]

You're right that it doesn't explain what happened on the highway at those speeds, although to be fair, those speeds require a fair amount of power to keep the vehicle going!

I would check things like the flow rate of the radiator, the thermostat and the water pump ... a degradation in these will cause issues.

Might also be an idea to make sure the radiator fan is behaving. Turn off the engine after a hill climb. When the engine's nice and hot, you should find it very difficult to spin the fan over. If it doesn't clamp properly, it might have a problem. It means that it won't draw air through the radiator when it needs to.

Yes true she would have been under a bit of strain at those speeds

The flow didn't look to be too much after it had overheated but gradually got better and eventually having full flow by the end of the day. Will get the blokes at the mechanics to check the thermo & pump as i woul dhave no clue what im doing.

Will check the fan tonight when i knock off work.

Thanx mate.

 

[silva_nav]

my mates pootroll had over heating issues. he pulled the radiator and gave the fins a really good clean - he had some much mud and dirt and crap collected on them that it wasn't cooling at all.

so some simple cleaning might be a place to start.

Had a look and it was fairly clean as we weren't really going thru mud but gave it a clean anyway.

Cheers

 

[maddogrc]

if the radiator is old and worn (eg. my 12 yo landcruiser radiator) then its worth getting a new one.

before mine always sat on half way within minutes of using the car and sometimes went a bit above when going hard.

now with a new radiator it stays at above 1/4 to 1/2 and if just idling at the lights for long enough or in a car park, the gauge slowly drops to 1/4 haha. cools so much better

 

[Dave]

Dave

What do you mean by pulled down?

Get the radiator pulled apart and get the tanks and core cleaned out.

Its the only way to make sure there not blocked.

 

[silva_nav]

Get the radiator pulled apart and get the tanks and core cleaned out.

Its the only way to make sure there not blocked.

Ok thanx Dave. It's booked in at some radiator place for Thursday so I'll get em to do that.

Cheers

 

[silva_nav]

Ok have I got a story for you boys!!! Took the nav into a radiator place today to get the tanks and core cleaned out plus a few other little things and 5 hours & $350 later it's all ready to go. Go pick it up driving home sitting at the lights I notice a tiny bit of steam coming out from the bonnet so I pull over. Open up the bonnet and I get f$&@ing boiling hot coolant spat in my face and it's spewing out everywhere. One of the hoses has come off after they charged me to put new hose clamps put on! Rang the bloke up and abused the absolute shit out of him! I am now sitting on the side of the road waiting for the idiot to come and give me some more coolant! Anyone got any suggestions as to what I should do/ how I should abuse him when he gets here?! could it have done any damage?

 

[Old.Tony]

I'd certainly let him know that you're not happy, but really if you create too much angst he's not going to be very cooperative - and if it gets too heated, he may have some legal right to not do any further work on the vehicle, removing your chance of getting it properly fixed.

 

[Dave]

Mate Id be pissed to.

Give him a chance to fix it.

Hit him up for a guarentee that he will pay for any damage done to it by overheating it.

 

[oygar]

d22 frontier 2004
hii guys same problem, overhead heating (engine water boiling) ı change everything fan clutch, water pomp, clean the radiator, and same problem...city drive everythins is okay, over 2500 rpm 3-4 minutes (highway hill climb) engine heating up... whyyy???