Ok fellas, here is the deal,
First a little background: I went to work as a technician at a Utah Mitsubishi dealer in 92. Way back then I bought a little used 89 two-door Montero just to drive to the trail head, and maybe take skiing. I suppose because I enjoy life off the beaten path, and because I live only a few hours from the red rock country, I eventually found my self out on the trails pushing this little rig to its limit. And so that's how I just kinda stumbled into this crazy sport.
Fast forward 15+ years, a marriage, and 4 kids later (lotta kids I know, but I live in Utah... when in rome!.. only 1 wife though
). The 91 4-door Montero we had moved up to was getting pretty old and beat. And though I think the Montero is a formidable vehicle, It definatley has its limitations: gearing, IFS, lack of power, limited aftrmrkt support, etc... So I started looking around and noted the 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser, did some research, and realized these things came from the factory with a solid axle, and even front and rear lockers! And it had enough room for my wife and kids, our dog, and all our gear to keep us alive in the backcountry for days!?! How cool is that.
For months I searched for a decent cruiser and spent a lot of time test driving overpriced junk, and never found one with less than 120k miles. Then a miracle; In the spring of 2009 I found a 95 with only 42k original miles! I had to fly 5 states away to Pick it up, and no e-locks, but it was like a new car (even though it was 15 years old). I picked it up for under $10k!
A few months later on a weekend trip out in the Utah west desert we ended up on a gnarly trail in the middle of nowhere where I mangled the factory running boards and blew out one of the street tires this thing was sporting. That was all it took. Six months and a good chunk of my retirement fund later, we now have a cruiser that can handle the way we like to vacation.
Now here is the problem: this spring we did the Hole-in-the-Rock trail in southern Utah and I noted that at times I was loosing my a/c. Half the time I was towing my buddies broken down Defender 90 so I didn't worry too much about it. Then two days ago we were down in the same area (Hotel Rock) and again I lost my a/c, then my air compressor stopped working, and my fuel tank began boiling.
After tapping into the infinite wisdom that is available on mud, I am certain I have an air flow/heat dissipation problem. Under the hood I am running a TRD supercharger, Dual batteries W/factory trays, the marine switch, and all the cable to power front and rear winches; a sun performance air compressor with stainless lines for arb lockers. Then there is the arb front winch bumper to block even more air flow. And I have added a million pounds of other **** like custom rock sliders, an arb roof rack, Slee rear bumper, rear winch & plate, oem aux fuel tank, 5 gal air tank and stainless lines, all rolling on 315s, a 4" slee lilft, and 4.88s. Then put my family and all our gear in it... It's really no wonder the thing gets hot under the hood.
So I'm thinking a pusher fan is in order? I also question the fan clutch. I know how a Mitsubishi clutch is supposed to behave, but I'm not sure if this one is working properly, seems to move a little slow and not as much resistance as I would think it should have even at operating temp, but it only has 65k miles on it, but maybe its beginning to fail? Cutting holes in the hood is not something I enjoy thinking about but would consider if I found a scoop that was a good fit. Is it necessary? I'm kinda anal retentive and tried to keep everything true to the factory as possible. I'm not looking for the cheapest fix, but I am looking for the most effective and reliable solution. Any advice from somebody who has been in the same boat would be greatly appreciated.
Shawn
First a little background: I went to work as a technician at a Utah Mitsubishi dealer in 92. Way back then I bought a little used 89 two-door Montero just to drive to the trail head, and maybe take skiing. I suppose because I enjoy life off the beaten path, and because I live only a few hours from the red rock country, I eventually found my self out on the trails pushing this little rig to its limit. And so that's how I just kinda stumbled into this crazy sport.
Fast forward 15+ years, a marriage, and 4 kids later (lotta kids I know, but I live in Utah... when in rome!.. only 1 wife though
). The 91 4-door Montero we had moved up to was getting pretty old and beat. And though I think the Montero is a formidable vehicle, It definatley has its limitations: gearing, IFS, lack of power, limited aftrmrkt support, etc... So I started looking around and noted the 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser, did some research, and realized these things came from the factory with a solid axle, and even front and rear lockers! And it had enough room for my wife and kids, our dog, and all our gear to keep us alive in the backcountry for days!?! How cool is that.For months I searched for a decent cruiser and spent a lot of time test driving overpriced junk, and never found one with less than 120k miles. Then a miracle; In the spring of 2009 I found a 95 with only 42k original miles! I had to fly 5 states away to Pick it up, and no e-locks, but it was like a new car (even though it was 15 years old). I picked it up for under $10k!
A few months later on a weekend trip out in the Utah west desert we ended up on a gnarly trail in the middle of nowhere where I mangled the factory running boards and blew out one of the street tires this thing was sporting. That was all it took. Six months and a good chunk of my retirement fund later, we now have a cruiser that can handle the way we like to vacation.
Now here is the problem: this spring we did the Hole-in-the-Rock trail in southern Utah and I noted that at times I was loosing my a/c. Half the time I was towing my buddies broken down Defender 90 so I didn't worry too much about it. Then two days ago we were down in the same area (Hotel Rock) and again I lost my a/c, then my air compressor stopped working, and my fuel tank began boiling.
After tapping into the infinite wisdom that is available on mud, I am certain I have an air flow/heat dissipation problem. Under the hood I am running a TRD supercharger, Dual batteries W/factory trays, the marine switch, and all the cable to power front and rear winches; a sun performance air compressor with stainless lines for arb lockers. Then there is the arb front winch bumper to block even more air flow. And I have added a million pounds of other **** like custom rock sliders, an arb roof rack, Slee rear bumper, rear winch & plate, oem aux fuel tank, 5 gal air tank and stainless lines, all rolling on 315s, a 4" slee lilft, and 4.88s. Then put my family and all our gear in it... It's really no wonder the thing gets hot under the hood.
So I'm thinking a pusher fan is in order? I also question the fan clutch. I know how a Mitsubishi clutch is supposed to behave, but I'm not sure if this one is working properly, seems to move a little slow and not as much resistance as I would think it should have even at operating temp, but it only has 65k miles on it, but maybe its beginning to fail? Cutting holes in the hood is not something I enjoy thinking about but would consider if I found a scoop that was a good fit. Is it necessary? I'm kinda anal retentive and tried to keep everything true to the factory as possible. I'm not looking for the cheapest fix, but I am looking for the most effective and reliable solution. Any advice from somebody who has been in the same boat would be greatly appreciated.
Shawn
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