Over Heating

[karhwl]

Hi,

Can anyone help me please?

I have a hilux surf and have had a few problems with her over heating. It all started on Tuesday when we were towing our caravan to the New Forest. Every time we went up a hill she started to over heat, so we did the usual put on the blowers (it was a baking hot day and was like driving in a sauna!) checked the water levels ect. Eventually got there.

When not towing she was fine no problems, until we started to come home. It was worse!

So we removed the thermostate hoping that she would then run cold, how wrong we were, it was worse. Steam everywhere, she had dumped all her water. We filled her back up with 6 litres of water (not cold so as not to cause any more damage) and we were on our way again. within 40 miles she started to over heat again, so we pulled over and put yet another 2 lites in her. She still carried on over heating, eventually we got her home.

I have been drining her since not towing and she is running cold and everything seems fine.

Could it be that the fan is not man enough to keep it cool? or could we have a serious problem?

We are going to change the radiator and put in a new thermostate but I loosing all faith in her and can honestly say that I do not trust her one bit!!

[RICSTER]

Hi mate, join the club,

My 2.4 Td LN130 over heated and split the radiator.Cracked head,got one of the new upgraded heads,gasket, seals,radiator the whole 9 yards.Its been done since last September and running well UNTILL 3 WEEKS AGO!! Just coming home to the east coast from Dewsbury (an hours journey) when just past Ferry Bridge Services the temp needle shot off the scale.I pulled over took the cap off with a rag and it was like a traction engine.Completely empty,reservoir tank too.The A.A carried us back to Ferry Bridge,topped it up started up and the water started pumping out of the main tube in the reservoir cap.So the A.A ended up taking us home at an upgrade cost of £100+.More fool me for thinking I'd got a reliable vehicle.Anyway back home I fitted a new thermostat,topped it up with water and took it for a run up the motorway doing between 60-70.10 miles on and the needle went off the guage again Topped up and nursed it home at 40mph.Bought new rad cap and even added K-Seal just to cover all options.Started it up and a hell of a noise came from the bell housing,yeah,at that exact moment the flywheel had decided to disintegrate,you couldn't script it could you? Anyway fitted a solid flywheel set off again yesterday to Dewsbury and 10 miles out....yeah you guessed it,the needle went off the guage.We were just next to an off ramp and to add insult to injury a decent chap in a Landrover Defender dragged us about half a mile to a lorry park.After about 15-20 minutes of sitting I took the cap off expecting something like a geyser,no not a bit of steam,the reservoir was still full and the rad only needed 1.5 ltrs of water,again we went home at 40-50.I might add that we can drive round town all day with no probs,PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZ SOMEONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE PROBLEM.My mate said try running without the thermostat,if thats no good its either a blockage or the water pumps dead :(

[karhwl]

Hi mate, join the club,

My 2.4 Td LN130 over heated and split the radiator.Cracked head,got one of the new upgraded heads,gasket, seals,radiator the whole 9 yards.Its been done since last September and running well UNTILL 3 WEEKS AGO!! Just coming home to the east coast from Dewsbury (an hours journey) when just past Ferry Bridge Services the temp needle shot off the scale.I pulled over took the cap off with a rag and it was like a traction engine.Completely empty,reservoir tank too.The A.A carried us back to Ferry Bridge,topped it up started up and the water started pumping out of the main tube in the reservoir cap.So the A.A ended up taking us home at an upgrade cost of £100+.More fool me for thinking I'd got a reliable vehicle.Anyway back home I fitted a new thermostat,topped it up with water and too it for a run up the motorway doing between 60-70.10 miles on and the needle wet off the guage again Topped up and nursed it home at 40mph.Bought new rad cap and even added K-Seal just to cover all options.Started it up and a hell of a noise came from the bell housing,yeah,at thet exact moment the flywheel had decided to disintegrate,you couldn't script it could you? Anyway fitted a solid flywheel set off again yesterday to Dewsbury and 10 miles out....yeah you guessed it,the needle went off the guage.We were just next to an off ramp and to add insult to injury a decent chap in a Landrover Defender dragged us about half a mile to a lorry park.After about 15-20 minutes of sitting I took the cap off expecting someting like a geyser,no.not a bit of steam,the reservoir was still full and the rad only needed 1.5 ltrs of water,again we went home at 40-50.I might add that we can drive round town all day with no probs,PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZZZ SOMEONE SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE PROBLEM.My mate sez try running without the thermostat,if thats no good its either a blockage or the water pumps dead :(

[karhwl]

Well I am glad to hear that I am not the only one with a problem. My husband has spoken to his business partner and he seems to think that our problem is due to the oil cooler!! Am not confident to say the least. Am seriously considering outing her.

I love the vehicle but I do not trust her one bit.

I work about 3 miles away from our home and she is running like a dream, not even reaching running temp, not having a thermostate seems to be doing the trick at the moment, when we attempt to tow again will answer my question as to whether i need to out her or not.

All i ask is PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE can someone help us I am at my wits end!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dawesy]

the heads are a weak point on these. could well be a head issue but would be worth changing the thermostat and waterpump first.

these trucks are a pain in the rear to swap heads on as well

[RICSTER]

Well regarding my last post,I ran the Surf without its thermostat.Ran it round town for a few days,all was well.It took over twice as long to get the needle to halfway.We took it on the M.Way today for a test run at 60-65mph.All went well,we passed the 8-10 mile mark where it usualy over heats and the needle was still just nudging half way however about 10 mile further on the needle started to climb rapidly so I pulled over and switched off.The plastic reservoir tank was bubbling and emptying from the overflow,although it was far from empty.The radiator took about 4.5 litres,then I ran it at about 40-50mph for the last 3 miles.I flushed the heater inlets out with a hose, incase of a blockage,until it ran clear.Refilled the rad and squeezed out the air from the pipes,then set off back home.Doing just 50-60mph,it did the full 20 odd miles before it went up the guage again As I've said on a previous post I had a new beefed up head,gasket,plugs,seals and radiator,fitted last Sept/Oct.In the last few weeks a new thermostat and radiator cap too,surely the head can't have cracked again or the gasket blown in so short a time? :censor:

[lindalou]

Hi, from previous experience at an import garage i know that towing with Toyotas you must have an oil cooler fitted. BUT, my LN130 2.4 has a very odd problem i just cant seem to sort. The head went, suprise suprise!! After it was done, new rad, stat, waterpump etc, it's been fine, that is until now! every now and again temp gauge flies straight up and stays there, the cap is almost bursting off with pressure, and is pressurised for 2 hrs after that. Next day it will be fine no probs. IT's realy getting on my nerves now and feel like doing a Jeremy Clarkson with it!! ANY ideas will be gratefully received as im at my wits end!! :(

[Vince W]

Hi, from previous experience at an import garage i know that towing with Toyotas you must have an oil cooler fitted. BUT, my LN130 2.4 has a very odd problem i just cant seem to sort. The head went, suprise suprise!! After it was done, new rad, stat, waterpump etc, it's been fine, that is until now! every now and again temp gauge flies straight up and stays there, the cap is almost bursting off with pressure, and is pressurised for 2 hrs after that. Next day it will be fine no probs. IT's realy getting on my nerves now and feel like doing a Jeremy Clarkson with it!! ANY ideas will be gratefully received as im at my wits end!! :(

There is most likely an air-lock still working it's way around the cooling system. Park truck on level ground, then top up coolant to the brim, then leave the rad cap off overnight. By morning all of the air in the system should have worked it's way out.

p.s. Place rad cap on drivers seat so you don't forget it's off.

Make sure both heaters are set to hot before topping up coolant.

An auxillary transmission cooler is needed for frequent towing.

See here for fitting guide...http://toyotasurf.asn.au/techsite/trannycooler.htm

[Sam87]

Hello,

I have been looking for a surf around christchuch and have found out some interesting things about them overheating. Apparently it is very prone to overheating in the automatic models. This is because they use torque converters which (without getting into to many details) work by using fluid as a form of a clutch. When towing large loads it increases the pressure on the fluid and as the volume is pretty constant the fluid must increase in temperature (from basic thermodynamics). The automatic transmission has a cooling system which just happens to run through the radiator that is used to cool the engine. To make things worse they are badly designed as it is situated at the bottom of the radiator which is where the water leaves the radiator into the engine hence the increase in temperature of the engine and the overheating. So to fix this problem is pretty easy. Buy an oil radiator (you can get them on tradme.co.nz here in nz but if you are in oz i dunno what online trading website you use) and run the automatic transmission oil lines through it. The modified models i have seen have them mounted in front of the main radiator and you should have no more problems with it.

Sam

ps. just found this online for anyone who wants to do it

http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/workshop/oilcooler.htm