Cooling when off roading....

=jon= · Aug 2, 2011

Hi,

Quick question to those of you that green lane/pay and play.... Do you have any problems with cooling using the standard rad with a petrol series?

I've got a 14" electric fan in front of the rad, and even when it's running all the time I struggle to keep the temps down when trundling round a pay and play site at 5mph - the water temps slowly rise until they are in the 100's (via a VDO water temp gauge) when I have to pull over and let it cool down for a while...

I can understand the rad being a bit ropey as it's likely to be 30 years old and was fairly gunged up when I got the landy. I've flushed it and backflushed several times, and tried to clean the crap out between the fins already... It seems to get hot across the whole of the rad, so there's no major blockages as far as I can tell without an IR pyrometer to accurately measure the spot temps across it..

So do series normally suffer like this - if so would a new / heavy duty rad help, or is it more likely I need a beefier fan? Driving on the road causes it no temp problems at all - it'll sit at about 85C but obviously there's way more airflow...

Cheers

Jon

GingerPuss · Aug 2, 2011

I was just about to post a thread about buying a Kenlowe fan - is it worth it?

The problem with my Landy is the time it takes to warm up in very cold conditions (like the last few winters we have had). It always cools just fine in the summer - even when off roading in low range (with the stock fan and pulley system). I wondered if getting a Kenlowe fan would help it warm up quicker in the winter....but if you are saying it affects cooling in the summer then I may hold off !

=jon= · Aug 2, 2011

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the radiator is well past it's best on mine though - the gunge that came out of it when we first drained it was pretty horrific...

The fan I've got is the same as :

Electric Radiator Cooling Fan 14" Push/Pull Universal S | eBay

With a relay kit and an x-eng fan controller...

oxides · Aug 2, 2011

Three questions:-
is the radiator clogged up externally with mud? No airflow through the fins equals no cooling.
Are the internal galleries clogged up? try flushing the cooling system. can you still get radflush (sorry, that's gonna be four questions)
Does the fan rotate in the right direction? it should suck air into the engine bay, not blow it out. If it's wrong and you've still got the fan on the water pump it'll be doubly ineffective.
I once ran my S3 for fifteen miles with a bloody great hole in the rad on a hot summers day to fetch a new rad and had no overheating problems at all so I'm a bit confused as to why you need electric fans anyway.

=jon= · Aug 2, 2011

I've tried to get as much mud out from between the fins as possible - it has been clogged up in the past, and is as clean as I can get it now...

I've flushed it forwards and backwards with a hose, and run rad flushing stuff through it...

Fan is on the front of the rad due to lack of space behind, pushing air through the rad into the engine bay... Engine powered fan has been removed..

It's fine on the road, it's just when it's working hard at very low speed it doesn't seem to like it... I've ordered a bigger fan off ebay (AC fan from an Omega as these appear to fit very well into the series nose) so will give that a try, failing that it looks like a new rad is in order...

oxides · Aug 2, 2011

If someone has been a bit careless cleaning the outside of the rad they might have bent the fins over - if you can't see light through the rad it probably is time to replace it.

Spyderman · Aug 2, 2011

Series Landys tend to be over-cooled, I'd say time for a new rad.

=jon= · Aug 2, 2011

Cheers for the feedback

rustyrhinos · Aug 3, 2011

Yeah I can leave mine trundling about and unless its seriously hot, the fan rarely comes on.

I was just about to post a thread about buying a Kenlowe fan - is it worth it?

You could fork out money on a Kenlowe...or you could just pick one up from a scrap yard.

Tobi · Aug 3, 2011

OP, sounds like a cooling problem, be sure to check the rest of the system as well, there might be lots of crap in the block and the water pump.

Ginger
got kenlow on mine, removed engine fan.

Definitely better in winter, the needle never got out of the low zone before. The electric doesn't come on in winter anyway, i ran for 4 or 5 months without any fan.

I generally still have to put a muff over the rad grill to keep the heat in over the colder months.

Recalcitrant Mule · Aug 4, 2011

Stupid question but the fan is running the right way isnt it? if it is a suck fan make sure the flat part is facing your front bumper did have a simler problem once and i was using a suck fan (Designed for the back of the rad) on the front it wouldnt work till i turned it round Dont sound like a radproblem bacause when a rad gets blocked it dont normally stay cool driving or anything else

=jon= · Aug 4, 2011

Fan's blowing the right way... I've bought a beefier one on the cheap to see if that helps any, it's a load cheaper than a new rad anyway

bennybenny · Aug 4, 2011

my standard two and a quarter ...normally runs fine on lanes and off roading ......but when it is hot and air flow is reduced she can get hot but never boils up ......now my v8 can not go anywhere with out the cooling fan on ...lol......only winter time is when she runs cool....

=jon= · Aug 4, 2011

bennybenny said:
my standard two and a quarter ...normally runs fine on lanes and off roading ......but when it is hot and air flow is reduced she can get hot but never boils up ......now my v8 can not go anywhere with out the cooling fan on ...lol......only winter time is when she runs cool....

I'd chicken out when it got over 100C as I didn't want to push it that hard... Oil was getting too hot too as it'd start to puff blue smoke on high vacuum - I'm guessing oil vapour was getting sucked out of the rocker box through the breathers. It stopped doing it as soon as it cooled down, so it's not serious...

V8jon · Aug 10, 2011

I fitted a four core rad to mine instead of the normal three core and it made a big difference to cooling when offroad,plus it's the same size so no need to modify anything.

blue beasty · Aug 14, 2011

All series are seriously over cooled and if your rad looks ok and is warming up evenly it sounds like you have restricted flow. I wouldn't spend any money without flushing the whole system 1st and check your thermostat is opening properly

ieuandavies · Aug 21, 2011

=jon= said:
Hi,

Quick question to those of you that green lane/pay and play.... Do you have any problems with cooling using the standard rad with a petrol series?

I've got a 14" electric fan in front of the rad, and even when it's running all the time I struggle to keep the temps down when trundling round a pay and play site at 5mph - the water temps slowly rise until they are in the 100's (via a VDO water temp gauge) when I have to pull over and let it cool down for a while...

I can understand the rad being a bit ropey as it's likely to be 30 years old and was fairly gunged up when I got the landy. I've flushed it and backflushed several times, and tried to clean the crap out between the fins already... It seems to get hot across the whole of the rad, so there's no major blockages as far as I can tell without an IR pyrometer to accurately measure the spot temps across it..

So do series normally suffer like this - if so would a new / heavy duty rad help, or is it more likely I need a beefier fan? Driving on the road causes it no temp problems at all - it'll sit at about 85C but obviously there's way more airflow...

Cheers

Jon

i had a rad like that in my series 3 i flushed it several times and after having two engines in it and it still had the same problem i eventually bit the bullet and went for a new one, been perfect ever since!!

ben waine · Aug 23, 2011

it could also be a broken thermostat, or water pump
ben

Bump · Aug 24, 2011

Before putting the 200tdi in mine i had the petrol and off-roaded it loads... it was fine on green lanes, though i blew the head twice off-roading - i don't think that was cooling related though (second time might have just been the fact that the engine was full of water and drinking a litre of oil every 30 minutes... it was seriously f**ked!)

On the 200tdi i don't have any fans at all and never had cooling problems to date!

tottot · Aug 25, 2011

Fit new rad.

Cooling when off roading....

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Leaks an prone to bits dropping off

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