Cooling issue..

[Steppo_GT]

Hi people long story short,

I bought a 4wd, drove it around for a month working fine, then took it up to Lancelin for the fourth time and the car was sitting way above where the needle normally sits. So I thought the thermostat was fubar so I took it out gave the car a hiding in the dunes all day not a problem, needle didn'e move.

Came back and bought a brand new thermostat and the problem is back. But the car only starts to overheat on a long drive like freeway etc. There is no oil in the water or water under the oil cap so I don't think its the heads...

Anyway changed the fan belts just in case it was that but no the problem is still there.

So I have narrowed it down to the radiator being blocked because i did reverse flush it last night and quite a bit of white flakey shit did come out.

I'm not sure on the condition of the water pump but there is no rattle or visible leaks coming from that area and it obviously was working when the thermostat was out so I don't think it'll be that.

Can anyone think if the issue is anything else? Or should I just get the radiator professionally flushed out and see what happens?

[Alt_F4]

Blocked rad would be the culprit, you may have removed the blockage, but it may be still there partially.
If you can pull the rad out and drop it off, most places are pretty reasonable price-wise with a proper flush.

[Steppo_GT]

Yeah I've already pulled it out gonna send it off tomorrow just wanted to make sure I'm not wating my money if there was another avenue to explore

[Milhouse]

speak to Matty12 on here, has repaired a few of my radiators in the past - knows his stuff !

[joshg123]

Also do you have a viscous hub fan? Make sure it couples and releases as requierd as they can cause a simmilar issue, but rule radiator out first.

[DISTRBD]

My patrol did same when i got it , New rad fixed it ..

[Steppo_GT]

cheers for the replies guys. The fan works fine josh the temp is fine when stationary only rises when moving.

I asked my dad to take it somewhere for me tomorrow near his work in Balcatta.

Next questions who is better Balcatta radiators or Odin radiators, and what should I be asking for? Just a full clean and test with a report on percentage blockage or something like that?

How much should they be charging for this work?

[Lump]

you want tanks ripped off & the core rodded out, but if your keeping the car for a while might be an idea just to price up a newy/get a recore & install yourself

[Marti]

Nat rad is generally good.just Ask them to take the tanks of and give it a good clean out and if it's too far gone just get them to replace the core

[matty12]

What sort of 4WD is it.

You want a top tank service done.

A blocked rad can also have a knock on effect and interupt how you clutch fan works if theres partial or full blockage infront of the viscous hub.

[Steppo_GT]

its a triton. Dads taken it in i'll let you's know how it went

[Steppo_GT]

Radiator was 60% blocked and top tank was stuffed. Will put it in tonight and give it a go

[matty12]

Plastic tanked one i take it?

[mys1]

could also be water pump impeller, but 60% blockage will do it as well!

[Steppo_GT]

Yes it's plastic tank. All good now, gonna go for a lap to ledge point later for a long test run and give it a good go but it did fine on a test run today