bschotty
9th September 2012, 11:08 PM
Hi everyone,
So I managed to get away up Teewah beach in QLD this weekend to try out my '89 GQ in the soft stuff.
All in all it performed great, had the tire pressure down low and floated on top of even the really soft stuff no problem.
I run on LPG and I'm always keeping a close eye on the temp gauge. For most of the trip it was fine, sits at about half way. Twice, however, it suddently spiked up to the upper limit of the guage. I pulled off to the side of the beach and cranked the heat (leaving it running) to try and cool things down but it still continued to climb... I then turned the car off and sat around for about 15 minutes to let things cool off with the bonnet open. 15 minutes later I was on my way again and things sat fine at about half way on the temperature gauge for about another 20 minutes then it all started again.
The big thing i did notice was that it overheated only when we were going slow, which is normal I guess as we're in the soft stuff working hard and there isn't the wind present to cool things down.
My big concern is that it continued to get hotter even when idling and then engine not under any load at all...
I'm just wondering if this is a normal? If not, what I might need to do to correct it... maybe a second electric fan? (the wiring is already in place so i'm thinking maybe a previous owner had one...)
A few details about the truck:
- It's a 1989 GQ. 4.2L Petrol (although I mostly run it on LPG). 5 Speed Manual. 2" lift running on 33" MT Baja ATZ's. Tires were at 16psi today.
- I've owned it for four months.
- I've never had the temp gauge go over half way when operating at speed (even climbing a big hill to maleny each day), it only seemed to do it when we were travelling at less than 30km/h today.
- The radiator is less than 2 years old and all the hoses look to be in good condition.
- There is a very small winch on the front bullbar (4000lb) which may interfere slightly with airflow (shouldn't be much), I will be taking that off this week, it came with the truck and is pretty useless. Otherwise no driving lights or other interferences.
- Under the hood I can see the big clutch fan which was working fine when idling and also a small electric fan in front of the radiator (I assume a second fan would be mounted beside this one with a switch to operate inside the truck?)
The beach was in pretty rough shape today with soft torn up sand for a couple of long stretches. Plenty of bogged vehicles around (had to lend out my MaxTrax more than a couple of times but luckily didn't have to use them myself).
It was 26 degrees at the beach (not sweltering heat).
Just looking for ideas. We're planning a big trip to Fraser early next year so this was a great test run.
All in all it was a great day and can't wait to get back up there!
All input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- Ben
So I managed to get away up Teewah beach in QLD this weekend to try out my '89 GQ in the soft stuff.
All in all it performed great, had the tire pressure down low and floated on top of even the really soft stuff no problem.
I run on LPG and I'm always keeping a close eye on the temp gauge. For most of the trip it was fine, sits at about half way. Twice, however, it suddently spiked up to the upper limit of the guage. I pulled off to the side of the beach and cranked the heat (leaving it running) to try and cool things down but it still continued to climb... I then turned the car off and sat around for about 15 minutes to let things cool off with the bonnet open. 15 minutes later I was on my way again and things sat fine at about half way on the temperature gauge for about another 20 minutes then it all started again.
The big thing i did notice was that it overheated only when we were going slow, which is normal I guess as we're in the soft stuff working hard and there isn't the wind present to cool things down.
My big concern is that it continued to get hotter even when idling and then engine not under any load at all...
I'm just wondering if this is a normal? If not, what I might need to do to correct it... maybe a second electric fan? (the wiring is already in place so i'm thinking maybe a previous owner had one...)
A few details about the truck:
- It's a 1989 GQ. 4.2L Petrol (although I mostly run it on LPG). 5 Speed Manual. 2" lift running on 33" MT Baja ATZ's. Tires were at 16psi today.
- I've owned it for four months.
- I've never had the temp gauge go over half way when operating at speed (even climbing a big hill to maleny each day), it only seemed to do it when we were travelling at less than 30km/h today.
- The radiator is less than 2 years old and all the hoses look to be in good condition.
- There is a very small winch on the front bullbar (4000lb) which may interfere slightly with airflow (shouldn't be much), I will be taking that off this week, it came with the truck and is pretty useless. Otherwise no driving lights or other interferences.
- Under the hood I can see the big clutch fan which was working fine when idling and also a small electric fan in front of the radiator (I assume a second fan would be mounted beside this one with a switch to operate inside the truck?)
The beach was in pretty rough shape today with soft torn up sand for a couple of long stretches. Plenty of bogged vehicles around (had to lend out my MaxTrax more than a couple of times but luckily didn't have to use them myself).
It was 26 degrees at the beach (not sweltering heat).
Just looking for ideas. We're planning a big trip to Fraser early next year so this was a great test run.
All in all it was a great day and can't wait to get back up there!
All input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
- Ben