Normal Water temp Reading??

[Aben Dean]

How many Degrees should the Aftermarket Water temp gauge read on a 33 deg day??
I use a Auto gauge..... should the Temperature make any difference Aircon off / Aircon on??

[Bigrig]

Should be close to (slightly above is ok) the temp rating of the thermostat mate - normal thermostat is about 85 degrees, and cold thermostat is 73 degrees. It may get hotter than this obviously just before it opens, but shouldn't be cracking 100 or anything like that unless under heaps of load (towing uphill, soft sand etc). And even then, if your system is good, it should stay well lower.

[Aben Dean]

with thermostat out Aircon off i get 80-90degs max on hard runs...... with Aircon on and doing some hard runs for like 20mins temp goes 100-110degs max (Factory gauge goes 3/4 and backs off to normal in abt 20secs). Cleaned radiator twice, coolant all new, hoses ok, Fans is locked and runs direct.......just cant figure out whats causing the heat. if i run normally all day its fine as soon as i drive hard / hills etc it starts going up.

[Bigrig]

Did you flush the block also mate? We just did Muddonk's on the weekend and completely flushed the whole system, and it appears heaps better ... drop the radiator out so you can clean out the fins (as they fill up with crud) and use a proper radiator flush also. How's the viscous hub on the fan?? Maybe on its way out and not drawing air as efficiently? The other usual aspects to look at also regarding what's blocking the radiator from the front (spotties etc).

[Drew]

Mine is around 85 normally on hot days maybe up to 87 then hot days towing have seen it get to 93.

[Drew]

Did you flush the block also mate? We just did Muddonk's on the weekend and completely flushed the whole system, and it appears heaps better ... drop the radiator out so you can clean out the fins (as they fill up with crud) and use a proper radiator flush also. How's the viscous hub on the fan?? Maybe on its way out and not drawing air as efficiently? The other usual aspects to look at also regarding what's blocking the radiator from the front (spotties etc).

How do you check the viscous fan is running ok ?

[Bigrig]

How do you check the viscous fan is running ok ?

Car running the fan should cut in and out (if you have it) and should increase its velocity as you power on and off ... if it looks to be spinning slow or not responsive to power inputs, then the viscous hub may be slipping/stuffed. Sometimes not overly noticeable, but more often than not you can tell straight away if it's playing up - check for movement/play in the hub (engine off) also.

[nissannewby]

Easiest way is to get the car to running temp and in view of the fan switch the car off and the fan should stop as soon as the engine does.

[Bigrig]

Easiest way is to get the car to running temp and in view of the fan switch the car off and the fan should stop as soon as the engine does.

Or you can do that ... but what would a mechanic know??!! lmao

Thanks Matty!!

[Aben Dean]

The mechanic said its no longer clutch system fan as the previous owner may have locked the fan to make it run direct....it looks like it works ok (can feel enough Air). Also the Radiator shop has within a week removed and cleaned the radiator twice and showed me all the cores are clear and tested the radiator ok. water doesn't get low.....there is no excess pressure in the system. but during Aircon off temp stays 80-90degs.....with aircon and running it bit hard for like 10mins gets the temp to 100-110deg max..... is it possible the locked fan can also be taking out less air out of the radiator?? or should i buy new viscous hub and see.......

[Bigrig]

Worth the question to make sure mechanic flushed the block also - and find out what coolant he runs and what mix he put in ...

[threedogs]

IMO most guages running normally show half guage as the norm, in other words straight up is normal,
no applicable with digital jobs

[Bigrig]

IMO most guages running normally show half guage as the norm, in other words straight up is normal,
no applicable with digital jobs

Not with you - "most gauges" being the original ones?? Aftermarket normally have temperature marks so 'normal' should be where the appropriate mark is ... or am I missing something??

The ones I've had in patrols (4 of them) usually hover somewhere between a quarter an a third as the 'normal' temperature ..

I'm prone to confusion ... so use small words!! lol

[Aben Dean]

the motor was rebuilt few months ago so block is ok. I personally filled the coolant....at first i was using Valvoline premixed ones then last week i filled the Toyota Genuine one it required 50/50 mix with water. so coolant shouldn't be a issue i guess...... The Mechanic said cant be the Fan coz its now locked and running direct...... can he be wrong?? should i fit a new viscous hub and see?? just dont wana waste money in trying out things?? Also the mechanic said we can try fitting new water pump n see....but it will be just trail..

[Bigrig]

the motor was rebuilt few months ago so block is ok. I personally filled the coolant....at first i was using Valvoline premixed ones then last week i filled the Toyota Genuine one it required 50/50 mix with water. so coolant shouldn't be a issue i guess...... The Mechanic said cant be the Fan coz its now locked and running direct...... can he be wrong?? should i fit a new viscous hub and see?? just dont wana waste money in trying out things?? Also the mechanic said we can try fitting new water pump n see....but it will be just trail..

Toyota genuine coolant?? What sort of truck are we discussing here boss??

[Aben Dean]

hahaha....they are quite infact "Coolant only"

[the evil twin]

Rule number 1... don't mix coolant types unless you are absolutely sure they are compatible. If you want to change make sure you thoroughly flush the old stuff completely.
Rule number 2... anyone who locks the hubs on viscous fans does so because they are having overheating problems and it wasn't necessarily the fan hub at fault. So you could be chasing a problem that has been there bedore you bought it.

Seeing as the temp seems perfect without A/C perhaps it isn't directly an engine cooling issue.

Is the electric fan on the A/C working correctly

[Aben Dean]

Aircon fan is ok. The motor was recently rebuilt and after that rebuilt was not heating.......i run a aftermarket turbo on it (T3/t4 on a safari kit) but it wasnt heating even after the turbo kit was installed. the problem started after i changed the radiator (my old radiator had few damaged cores but was not heating) i replaced with a good looking second hand radiator but the radiator shop have cleaned it twice n tested it so maybe its not the radiator. unfortunately i sold my old radiator so i cant test by fitting old one back.

[gf0012-aust]

with my shorty (dual fuel, TB42)

Ave driving on a hot dry day is 72-75 deg
at idle it rises to 80
towing or up a long gradient hits 85-90

never goes over 90


with my LWB Maverick (straight petrol, TB42)

Ave driving on a hot dry day is 68-75 deg
at idle it rises to 75
towing or up a long gradient hits 80-85
thermo (push fan mounted in front of radiator) kicks in at 85
never goes beyond 90

[bazz61]

make sure you have the correct fan fitted, my 4.2 na temp rose quickly when fitted with wrong replacement fan.... which was smaller in radius but had a xtra blade... cheers Barry

[lhurley]

Aircon fan is ok. The motor was recently rebuilt and after that rebuilt was not heating.......i run a aftermarket turbo on it (T3/t4 on a safari kit) but it wasnt heating even after the turbo kit was installed. the problem started after i changed the radiator (my old radiator had few damaged cores but was not heating) i replaced with a good looking second hand radiator but the radiator shop have cleaned it twice n tested it so maybe its not the radiator. unfortunately i sold my old radiator so i cant test by fitting old one back.

Being that the heat issue started when you changed the radiator wouldn't mean that the new rad isnt as good as your old radiator?? Yes the shop may have given you the ok on the new radiator but that doenst mean that it meets your requirements. I can be wrong or missed something. Not having a go mate, just how i see it.

[Aben Dean]

yeah that was the only reason i thought it was heating now...so i twice gave it to the radiator shop and they removed the top tank and cleaned the cores and said the flow is ok! can it still be not as good??? what else can be issue in it? after that now i find that my reserve water tank starts to get filled up with some water from radiator....and radiator gets short on abt 1L of water afte say 20km runs coz it fill the reserve water tank.

[the evil twin]

If your losing water at a rate of 1 litre for 20 K's then you have either a major leak or a block, head or head gasket issue

[Aben Dean]

i have to measure that again as i think today i could see water still in radiator top after running for like 20mins around block. will change the radiator cap and see tmrw. its 0.9 cap i guess

[lhurley]

yeah that was the only reason i thought it was heating now...so i twice gave it to the radiator shop and they removed the top tank and cleaned the cores and said the flow is ok! can it still be not as good??? what else can be issue in it?

There are a few different types of radiators, number or cores, size of fins, metals used in core, and the quality of the entire thing. Alloy rad can't handle the heat as well and if it's a cheap knock off, the welds can break putting holes in the rad. Alloy also doesn't transfer the heat as well as a copper/brass rad. Ideally you want more cores, more cores means more cooling. I'm looking at getting a 3 core copper/brass myself. Do you know what kind of rad is in it now?

[Dales300exc]

My tb42e runs at about 85 on a cool day and 90-95 on a hot day I'm not concerned. 3 core brass/copper and a mangled fan shroud.

If its filling you overflow then you more than like have combustion gases pushing into the cooling system (head gasket).

[Dales300exc]

I lied. 78 on a cool day, 90 on a hot day.

[Aben Dean]

radiator was off another GU NA Patrol......

[Aben Dean]

The issue was the Radiator. i changed it n doesn't over heat now....factory gauge stays less then half all day but aftermarket gauge (autogauge) goes 80-92degs at times. can the aftermarket be wrong here?? as the factory one stays below half.

[Clunk]

The issue was the Radiator. i changed it n doesn't over heat now....factory gauge stays less then half all day but aftermarket gauge (autogauge) goes 80-92degs at times. can the aftermarket be wrong here?? as the factory one stays below half.

It could possibly be wrong but its probably a damn site more accurate than the factory guage

To tap, or not to tap: Well it's obviously tap because this is the signature hey!!!!!! Duh

[Aben Dean]

thermostat is 76.2 something like that. Genuine Nissan unit

[Brisat]

Standard gauges are made to just sit in the middle of the scale right up to almost overheat so the people remain convinced that all is well.

[Aben Dean]

at what temp does the factory gauge goes past Half?? when mine was over heating in only moved towards 3/4 and above when my aftermarket gauge showed 105-110degs.

[nissannewby]

I have had my GQ get warm and when it got to the mark before the end of gauge on the hot end it was about 110-115. On most days it sits at 80