Is my car overheating?

[dpetersen]

Hi all! Really hoping the answer to my question is a no and just me being paranoid due to all the money i have put into the car - but I would love your expert opinions.
So I got my ecu talk during the week, which is great as my tempuritre gauge doesn't work at all.
Went for a drive this afternoon to see what the car was doing temp wise. Outside temp was around 22 degrees and the drive was 25ks. Half bitumen half dirt, sitting around 100-110kph, gave the car abit of a hard time to see what it would do.
By the time I got to the 25k mark ecu talk was saying coolant temp at 110*. I pulled over turned the car off and waited 10 mins, while the car was off the temp went up to 112.
Turned the car back on and at idle then temp went back down to 84 within two minutes.
Drove back home not as hard and it roughly sat around 100*. Pulled back over and it dropped again quickly to around 90. Thermal fan hardly ran at all, only turned on a few times according to ecu talk.
Does it sound like it's running too hot to you guys?
On a side note the ecu talk is great! Does anyone know how accurate the speed gauge is? It was saying 92kph while the car was saying 100.
Car is a 2002 gu3, 3ltr. Pretty stock, bullbar, blocked egr, Dawes and needle and catch can. Diesel smart intercooler, tradie rack and a few other bits and pieces. 320000ks and was rebuilt at 280000 due to a cracked head.
Thanks guys

[JME_GU]

Not patrol related, but I spent a year chasing an overheating problem with a classic mini. I changed the temp sender, wiring and thermostat. The funny thing is that it never overflowed any coolant and it never smelt 'hot'. In the end I bought a laser thermometer and it turned out it wasn't overheating at all. If you know someone who has one, that would be a good start.

If it is overheating, don't muck around. It is cheaper to fix the whole cooling system several times over than it is to fix a blown motor.

[the evil twin]

FWIW - my CRD would sit on 88 to 90 for most driving conditions (bitumen, hi speed gravel, etc).
It would get up to mid 90's with A/C on in the WA summer (mid 30's to low 40's)
It would only get over 100 towing my camper in air temps over about 35 degrees or flogging it in soft sand.
110 (if accurate) on a coolish day is miles too hot IMHO

The VSS supplied ECU speed is quite accurate to the factory tyre size and diff ratio.
Unlike the speedo which at 92KPH actual must read between 92 and 105 KPH approx.
Change the tyre size and/or diffs and you introduce errors
Sooo if you have 31's the speedo is within limits, if you have 33's the ECU talk at 92ish is low as the vehicle is doing about 98 ish and the speedo is closer but still over.

[dom14]

Installing an accurate aftermarket temperature gauge with an overheat alarm/buzzer is the way to go.
It's too cheap to do that if you do it the way I did it(Buy an aftermarket temperature controller with a suitable type sensor).
I installed two separate sensors in two different locations.(one in coolant system at the back of the cylinder head & and one on cylinder head). Buy a simple 12V buzzer for the temperature controller and set the temperature settings so the alarm goes off if it overheats.

[dpetersen]

So I got the viscous fan serviced, thermostat and coolant are genuine Nissan and only about 12 months old.
Car is still sitting at 105* at 100k/h according to ecutalk. Only other thing I can think of is changing the radiator?

[jay see]

Start with the easiest and cheapest first. Radiator cap...

I had a slight overheating problem and my radiator has a small leak on the top tank. I thought that was the problem, wrong put in a new radiator and kept the new cap as a spare. After a drive same thing, put on the new cap a problem fixed.

Not every problem will be the same.
In same situations its a process of elimination, that's why start with easiest and cheapest or drive it to a shop and let them fit it.

[dpetersen]

For anyone following this post...
I changed both the radiator and coolant tank caps and changed the radiator to a cheap OEX branded one. Temps now sit at 86-88 on highway and only went up to 93* on a dirt road when pushing it hard.
Ideally I wanted a genuine Nissan radiator but would have had to wait two weeks before they got one into Alice Springs so the cheap will have to do for now.
All in all everything seems to be working good now so can't complain! Only issue I had fitting the radiator was that the new one came with an overflow barb coming out next to the radiator cap so I have just hosed clamped a piece of pipe with a bolt in it to cap it.

[jay see]

I've got the same barb on my cheapie radiator, it came with it blocked off with a clamp. Hasn't been a problem.

Cheers for the update.