LC 80 VX (1hdt) Diesel Runing Hotter

[scalci]

With my latest trip, I tow a off-road caravan, and my LC 80 VX (1hdt) Diesel at a mountain pass was running hotter and hotter. I also noticed the oil pressure is lower. This whole week, I monitor it, and it is running fine, but I do notice the water lever in the plastic bottle is more and in the radiator is less.

Why would it have run hotter? Rings? Oil pump?

I need help pls...

 

[adrianr]

If yours is an auto then you will have put a BIG thermal load on the cooling system, they share the same radiator area and the auto put out tons of heat on long climbs

Do you have an additional oil cooler for your auto? Worth fitting.

Also pull dipstick on auto and smell, if it is burned change the trans fluid ASAP.

Oil pressure does drop as engine gets hotter.

 

[Andrew Prince]

I seem to recall Scalci rebuilt his autobox a while back , maybe added the Wholesale Transmisison valve upgrade?

Scalci, have you adjusted (increased) the fuelling via the IP settings? Do you have an intercooler? It simply sounds to me like the truck was working too hard. If it starts running hot, its usually worth dropping out of overdrive and running in 3rd - the increased revs will spin the fan (and water-pump) faster and help cool the engine.

Another thing to check is the functioning of the fan itself - is the viscous coupling working correctly? When the silicone fluid starts to break down, it allows the fan to slip, thus making it run less efficiently.

Cheers,

 

[scalci]

Hi Guys.

Yes I rebuild the autobox a year back, since then the LC run perfect. I have an oil cooler on it, and the standard one at the bottom of the radiator. The LC did work hard, and the oil temp of the autobox also run high. The mountain pass I climbed was more than 20 km long and towing an off-road caravan.

I will have to do the head gasket now, as when I take the radiator cap off, and rev the LC, it blows the water out.

I never checked the FAN, let me also do that while I work on it.

 

[frank rabbets]

Did you try revving up the engine without the cap on before? I would have thought blowing out water was normal. If it does not use water I would have thought everything was OK. Does it run hotter on a normal journey than it did before? The radiator blind hasn't slipped down has it?

 

[Towpack]

High altitude will effectively richen the fuelling so it will tend to run hotter anyway. So long as it doesn't actually boil over I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[Bat21]

I will have to do the head gasket now, as when I take the radiator cap off, and rev the LC, it blows the water out.

Scalci, next time your engine is stone cold, start it up and let it run for 30 seconds only. Then turn it off, then remove the rad cap. There should be no pressure in there after running for just a few seconds.... if there isn't then I doubt you have head gasket problems.... let us know the result

 

[scalci]

Thx Guys will check all the options tonight

 

[scalci]

Well guys, the new head gasket is in, the LC runs good. What I did notice the oil pressure is back to normal.

One thought, when I bought the LC, it had an aftermarket intercooler on. I think the previous owner had the diesel pump overhauled and set, but this was done with the intercooler on. Now that it is off, the pump might give too much fuel and so overloading the motor?

Any thought on this?

 

[Andrew Prince]

If the pump was indeed adjusted to utilise the additional air in-flow from the intercooler, then you will definitely have overfuelling. But I would think you'd notice the black smoke that this would produce?

 

[scalci]

Andrew I think you correct. I will have to take it somewhere to set the pump again.

 

[scalci]

Well guys me again

I did the head overhaul a few months back. been driving the LC for a good 2 months and did not have an issue. No water usage, pulled well etc. I also took it in to set the diesel pump etc.

Did a trip the past weekend, and the LC started using water again, pushing it back into the reservoir. I don’t know anymore…. At one point the TEMP gauge went up with about the thickness of the gauge, well below 1/2 way.

Anyone have ideas?

 

[scalci]

Hi Everyone


Well, fit the new cap, (108 KPA) did some driving yesterday, and the news is......


The water still get pushed out to the resovoir.


Seems to me, when I get back home, the engine is comming out....


I dont know what else to look at...

 

[Bat21]

Hi Everyone


Well, fit the new cap, (108 KPA) did some driving yesterday, and the news is......


The water still get pushed out to the resovoir.


Seems to me, when I get back home, the engine is comming out....


I dont know what else to look at...

Scalca, I don't want to scare you but I was getting similar symptoms to those you are describing, my 80 was also using water (about 1 litre per 100 kilometers). This all happened in Southern Spain and Morocco, once back in France I drove 1,600k home and it didn't over heat or use water once

The cause was a cracked bore (see here). This is an extremely rare occurrence and I doubt you will be suffering from the same, but if you do happen to remove your head again, be sure to carefully check each bore once off.

 

[scalci]

Hi Paul

good hearing form you.

I must say, I did the head gasket a while back, (twice) to be 100% sure but did not had the block chekced... When I was driving in town after that, it was 100%. So I though, lets go on holiday. Well the LC brought us to our destination, but it started to use water, blow it out or something... I hope it will take us home in a weeks time. I will takemthe engine out and start looking for the problem .
l Paul how did you fix it?

 

[Bat21]

....Well the LC brought us to our destination, but it started to use water, blow it out or something....

When mine started happening in Spain the header tank looked like a volcano that was about to errupt, each time it started to over heat I opened up the bonnet and the header tank was bubbling away and physically 'jumping' on it's mounting

.... l Paul how did you fix it?

The fix meant a total engine rebuild (see link) as the cylinders are not liners, they are part of the block. It wasn't difficult, if you do end up having to do this just take your time

Please let us know what you find.

 

[scalci]

Ok, I drained the coolant, put only water in to make it easier to see if there is oil etc in. When I start the engine, it pushes slowly the water out. Every lets say minute there is a bubble....

What I think I will do, is take the head off next weekend, use some dye to see if there are any cracks in the cylinders.

Is there any other way to check this?

 

[joinerman]

Compression check !!!!!!!!!!!! if one pots down then that's the one to check for cracks.

 

[Bat21]

Ok, I drained the coolant, put only water in to make it easier to see if there is oil etc in. When I start the engine, it pushes slowly the water out. Every lets say minute there is a bubble....

What I think I will do, is take the head off next weekend, use some dye to see if there are any cracks in the cylinders.

Is there any other way to check this?

As JM says, a compression tester will tell you which cylinder has the problem.

As I don't have one of these, the way I checked mine was as follows:-

With a cold engine, remove the radiator cap to make sure there is no pressure 'stored' there, then put the cap back on again.

Next, start it up and allow it to run for 20-30 seconds (NO MORE), then turn it off.

Now remove the radiator cap again, if there is pressure there in that short time then you know something is very wrong and removing the head at least will be inevitable.

In mine I could visibly see the crack before using the dye, the dye just confirmed what I had hoped it wasn't

 

[scalci]

I got the new head gasket yesterday, I took the 5 notch one just for in case. It should not make a huge difference if I put he 5 notch gasket on. I will do the head in the week and report back what I found. I also got crack penetrating dye to use. I will check the head and each cylinder.