80 Series Cooling Issues (1 Viewer)

[Dave 2000]

Before and after the S/C install the temp gauge needle has never left dead center after warm-up, but maybe the factory gauge isnt reliable.

You are soooo right! Check out this excellent thread https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/64252-93-97-coolant-temperature-gauge-modification.html

I did the mod and IIRC yours like mine is a 94 (mines diesel) it works brilliant, have a look at https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/365673-my-lc-80-thread.html where you can see that the OE guage tells fibs!

regards

Dave

 

[atomicshawn]

A little update here: over five years and around 70k miles later and no real heating problems. Lots of trips through the desert and things stay cool it seems.

A few years ago I was frequenting a long steep mountain pass at freeway speed. A couple of times in the summer, outside temps above 90, I briefly lost my a/c. Maybe just coincidence, but after installing a snorkel even that doesn't happen anymore.

Recently doing some maintenance I thought of this thread. Pulling the radiator to replace the front crank seal, w-pump, belts, etc..., even though it felt pretty good still, I cracked the fan clutch open just to take a look.

Looked like all the fluid was still there, and it looked pretty clean too. Five years ago when I drained the original fluid I remember it being pretty dark.

While I had it apart I went ahead and drained it in the oven and Gave it a fresh treatment of 20k CST.

Something else of note is the cooling system on this thing is immaculate. Nothing but shiny metal looking down into the radiator. No sign of deposits or "grey sludge" in the overflow, lower rad hose, t stat housing, w pump housing, heater hoses, etc... Back in the day I had second thoughts after I swapped out the factory red for Napa green. Again, maybe just coincidence, but switching to green worked out well for me it seems.

Anyway, I appreciate the help I got on this years ago. It's been a great fix. About the only issue has been I think the 20 CST is a little hard on the belts. They just seem to age a little faster. They start looking a little more glazed and cracked a little sooner than any vehicle with a similar v belt setup I've had in the past. But I'll trade replacing the belts a little sooner than normal for overheating issues