Hello everyone,
New to the forum and learning lots about my 1992 LJ70 (swb). It has the 2.4 turbo diesel engine (2L-T)
Pics are in the Introduction section.
Three days ago I recently went on a off road trip and everything was more or less great. The only issue I had was that on long, steep hill climbs I saw the temperature gauge shoot right up. Luckily, the first time it happened I noticed it in time and immediately let the engine idle which brought the temperature back down to it's normal operating temp... the needle held steady in the middle. Progress up those hills were slo-o-o-o-o-w to to say the least as I stopped several times when I saw the temp spike. However, driving without any significant load on the engine, i.e. highway, main roads, traffic, trails, was fine.
Investigation in the possible cause of the issue began. I thought it might be the usual suspects such as a failing thermostat, water pump, or even a cracked head. I was fairly confident (or hoped it wasn't) as the previous owner had given me a stack of bills showing work on those components had been done less than a year before he sold me the car. The oil and coolant levels were good as I had changed them myself.
Hoping that it could be something simple I started looking for something simple... at least this was how I started.
Checked to make sure the radiator wasn't blocked with dirt/mud and so on and it was fine and clean. Then I checked to see if the fan was spinning freely. It was, at the time the engine was hot. I know from experience with other types of cars, the fan usually has some type of clutch (either mechanical or viscous) that engages when the engine is hot to make it match the revs of the engine, and so spin faster. I found that with the engine hot, my fan was spinning slowly. With the engine idling, I could stop the fan from spinning by using a thick roll of newspaper.
Further investigation found the fan has a viscous clutch. Wanting to hit the trails on the weekend, I went to a recommended shop and inquired about getting a replacement. I was told that no replacement was needed as the oil can be replaced. (Despite searching, I didn't find any hits on this...) The shop took the fan out, removed the bolts that held the blades in place, and then removed the bolts that held the two halves of the body together. A special, viscous, not to mention expensive, oil was poured in both halves (about 250ml). Once done, everything was bolted back together. (sorry, I don't have any photos of the disassembled fan).
Fired up the engine, and immediately the volume of air being sucked through the radiator from the now spinning fan was greatly increased. Made a test run up a steep, long hill and the engine temp stayed steady. It was an easy fix that took all of 30mins. Haven't had the temperature spike when the engine is under load.
It seems that over time, either the oil leaks out or dries or both.
Hope this helps those of you troubleshooting any overheating issues as it may be one thing to check and possibly a simple solution.
Carib.
New to the forum and learning lots about my 1992 LJ70 (swb). It has the 2.4 turbo diesel engine (2L-T)
Pics are in the Introduction section.
Three days ago I recently went on a off road trip and everything was more or less great. The only issue I had was that on long, steep hill climbs I saw the temperature gauge shoot right up. Luckily, the first time it happened I noticed it in time and immediately let the engine idle which brought the temperature back down to it's normal operating temp... the needle held steady in the middle. Progress up those hills were slo-o-o-o-o-w to to say the least as I stopped several times when I saw the temp spike. However, driving without any significant load on the engine, i.e. highway, main roads, traffic, trails, was fine.
Investigation in the possible cause of the issue began. I thought it might be the usual suspects such as a failing thermostat, water pump, or even a cracked head. I was fairly confident (or hoped it wasn't) as the previous owner had given me a stack of bills showing work on those components had been done less than a year before he sold me the car. The oil and coolant levels were good as I had changed them myself.
Hoping that it could be something simple I started looking for something simple... at least this was how I started.
Checked to make sure the radiator wasn't blocked with dirt/mud and so on and it was fine and clean. Then I checked to see if the fan was spinning freely. It was, at the time the engine was hot. I know from experience with other types of cars, the fan usually has some type of clutch (either mechanical or viscous) that engages when the engine is hot to make it match the revs of the engine, and so spin faster. I found that with the engine hot, my fan was spinning slowly. With the engine idling, I could stop the fan from spinning by using a thick roll of newspaper.
Further investigation found the fan has a viscous clutch. Wanting to hit the trails on the weekend, I went to a recommended shop and inquired about getting a replacement. I was told that no replacement was needed as the oil can be replaced. (Despite searching, I didn't find any hits on this...) The shop took the fan out, removed the bolts that held the blades in place, and then removed the bolts that held the two halves of the body together. A special, viscous, not to mention expensive, oil was poured in both halves (about 250ml). Once done, everything was bolted back together. (sorry, I don't have any photos of the disassembled fan).
Fired up the engine, and immediately the volume of air being sucked through the radiator from the now spinning fan was greatly increased. Made a test run up a steep, long hill and the engine temp stayed steady. It was an easy fix that took all of 30mins. Haven't had the temperature spike when the engine is under load.
It seems that over time, either the oil leaks out or dries or both.
Hope this helps those of you troubleshooting any overheating issues as it may be one thing to check and possibly a simple solution.
Carib.
