Hi Folks, my GU ute has always given me grief with overheating issues when towing in hilly terrain. I have been through all the easy fixes including several new radiators, new water pump and tigging up minor cavitation corrosion in pump housing, new a/c condenser, replaced foam gasketing between a/c condenser and radiator, installed UFI fan hub/viscous clutch and fan, new genuine thermostat and probably other stuff as well. The vehicle is basically standard except for a 50mm lift in suspension height and a slight increase in boost pressure to just under 15psi as I recall. The engine has factory turbo but no intercooler. Wheels and tyres are standard specification, - 16" rims and BFG 265-75 R16 KO2 all terrain tyres.
Last year coming across the Nullabor on an admittedly warm day of around 37ºC, towing our Track Trailer Topaz van (really a glorified camper trailer, - it just has an internal kitchen and is similar to a Quantum at around 6.0 metres overall length), we were reduced to travelling at about 65Km/hr as the coolant temperature was hovering between 115 and 120º as measured at the thermostat housing. This is on pretty well dead flat country on a sealed bitumen road. We ended up stopping at a small roadside unofficial campsite, until dusk and then set off for Eucla, about 2 hours further on. Once it had cooled down I was able to continue on at around 80 Km/hr, without much trouble, only slowing once or twice briefly if the temp crept up a bit.
I have a brother living on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane and it is a nightmare getting to his place from Western Queensland, or getting out again for that matter, due to overheating when travelling the mountainous terrain!
I have been lead to believe that later model GU's had fewer overheating issues than the earlier versions, but there is also the need to change or modify the front crossmember in order to change from wide to narrow but taller radiator. Has anyone else done this mod and if so what improvement if any did you see? Any tips or tricks or any other suggestions to make future outback trips less stressful in the engine cooling area. If I have left out relevant info please advise me and I will try to fill in any blanks, and thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.