Extreme Moab heat + uphill climb + sloshing causing temp issue? (1 Viewer)

[tbisaacs]

In Moab this week and I saw my engine temp gauge move beyond half for the first time ever - to the point I stopped, pulled over and monitored the temperature. It happen twice, one on hells revenge and once on BLM back country — both times:

• Air temp was above 105°
• Was in low range
• I climbed a steep obstacle (one of the big backs on hells and a waterfall)
• Truck sloshed around due to roughness of trail, or A-Trac bucking the truck

Any ideas? Both times I popped the hood, saw coolant in the expansion tank, no hissing, no visible fluid. After cooling down truck ran perfectly. Is this just a perfect combination of awful conditions, or something else?

 

[kreiten]

In Moab this week and I saw my engine temp gauge move beyond half for the first time ever - to the point I stopped, pulled over and monitored the temperature. It happen twice, one on hells revenge and once on BLM back country — both times:

• Air temp was above 105°
• Was in low range
• I climbed a steep obstacle (one of the big backs on hells and a waterfall)
• Truck sloshed around due to roughness of trail, or A-Trac bucking the truck

Any ideas? Both times I popped the hood, saw coolant in the expansion tank, no hissing, no visible fluid. After cooling down truck ran perfectly. Is this just a perfect combination of awful conditions, or something else?

low range manual second gear? If you were in D it's gonna always overheat in my experience. I'm guessing you were in second but figured I would mention it on the off chance you were in D. Hope you are having a blast over there other than running a little hot. Cheers

 

[tbisaacs]

low range manual second gear? If you were in D it's gonna always overheat in my experience. I'm guessing you were in second but figured I would mention it on the off chance you were in D. Hope you are having a blast over there other than running a little hot. Cheers

Thanks Ken! I mostly manually shifted. Definitely felt under-geared. 4.88s are next for me.

 

[kreiten]

Thanks Ken! I mostly manually shifted. Definitely felt under-geared. 4.88s are next for me.

Just slap it in 2nd manual and low and pretty much leave it there on those kinda trails, IMO. I'd be shocked if it overheated while in 2nd even with steep climbs and temps over 100, you should be good to go! 4.88's are def the way to go, getting them put in my 100 as we speak, super excited to drive it after they are in, also got the 25% Low Range TCase reduction gears, gonna be a Crawler!

 

[tbisaacs]

Just slap it in 2nd manual and low and pretty much leave it there on those kinda trails, IMO. I'd be shocked if it overheated while in 2nd even with steep climbs and temps over 100, you should be good to go! 4.88's are def the way to go, getting them put in my 100 as we speak, super excited to drive it after they are in, also got the 25% Low Range TCase reduction gears, gonna be a Crawler!

View attachment 2729678

View attachment 2729679

Damn, you ain't playin!

 

[TeCKis300]

I would be surprised if that taxed the cooling system. Even given the hot conditions.

Low range is all about multiplying torque and doesn't really call on the engine to produce much HP (heat). The guys in the middle east deal with hotter temps and sand, which does use tons of HP and the associated heat, and we know cruisers deal with that fine. Lower speeds doesn't create as much airflow, but then again, the large accessory driven fan moves tons of air.

Leads me to ask about mods. I know you have a bumper, large winch, under armor... These do potentially have some impact to the designed airflow through the radiator. Anything else?

More curiously, do you still have your engine covers in place? The portions that cover the front over the radiator specifically are pretty important to guide air at lower speeds and avoid recirculating hot air through the radiator.

 

[tbisaacs]

I would be surprised if that taxed the cooling system. Even given the hot conditions.

Low range is all about multiplying torque and doesn't really call on the engine to produce much HP (heat). The guys in the middle east deal with hotter temps and sand, which does use tons of HP and the associated heat, and we know cruisers deal with that fine. Lower speeds doesn't create as much airflow, but then again, the large accessory driven fan moves tons of air.

Leads me to ask about mods. I know you have a bumper, large winch, under armor... These do potentially have some impact to the designed airflow through the radiator. Anything else?

More curiously, do you still have your engine covers in place? The portions that cover the front over the radiator specifically are pretty important to guide air at lower speeds and avoid recirculating hot air through the radiator.

Great questions—

• The original grill is place
• The bumper part of the bull bar isn't solid - there is an 1.5" in gap just above the fairlead that runs the width of the bumper
• The bash plates are louvered
• Most of the corners - underneath are completely exposed
• No engine covers

Anecdotally I can see more exposed radiator than stock grill. In both situations - it just may be there was no air to move. I'm literally crawling along and it's 108°.

I plan on getting the cooling system looked at when I get home. No issues otherwise but want to make sure there isn't something mechanical wrong - or it's just a factor of somee of your points above.

 

[kreiten]

My rig was basically brand new in Moab doing Top of The World and I had left it in D and 4low (Temps were around 100 ish) as I started to crawl up the steps, sucker overheated fast(no bumpers, 2 inch lift and 33's. I took it out of drive and put it in 2nd gear and the temp dropped right away and all was well. I've been back to Moab almost a dozen times, temps over 100, climbing and thrashing all day never overheated again. Slap that B in second and your problems will be over!

 

[stonepa]

Overheated? Because the temp guage was higher than normal? Your LC was operating as expected in a hot climate. It was made for that. Sounds totally normal for the conditions and within normal operating spec. Any reason to think it was actually overheating?

i’ve driven all of my LCs in Death Valley at 120 degrees. They laughed that off.

 

[Markuson]

I’m not sure I follow the use of the term “overheated.” Do you mean simply running hotter than usual? Or do you mean reaching a point of performance loss? Tell a little more about that if you can.

You mentioned that after turning it off and waiting…it ran fine. Was it running other-than-fine at any point?

 

[TeCKis300]

Great questions—

• The original grill is place
• The bumper part of the bull bar isn't solid - there is an 1.5" in gap just above the fairlead that runs the width of the bumper
• The bash plates are louvered
• Most of the corners - underneath are completely exposed
• No engine covers

Anecdotally I can see more exposed radiator than stock grill. In both situations - it just may be there was no air to move. I'm literally crawling along and it's 108°.

I plan on getting the cooling system looked at when I get home. No issues otherwise but want to make sure there isn't something mechanical wrong - or it's just a factor of somee of your points above.

Of these, I'd say the lack of engine covers to be the largest impact to low speed radiator performance.

 

[kreiten]

I’m not sure I follow the use of the term “overheated.” Do you mean simply running hotter than usual? Or do you mean reaching a point of performance loss? Tell a little more about that if you can.

You mentioned that after turning it off and waiting…it ran fine. Was it running other-than-fine at any point?

I'll let him chime in on his definition of overheating and what happened, but for my example when I say overheating it was pegged in the red, AC was blowing hot etc... So yeah overheating It's not just the heat, it's the constant climbing at slow speeds IMO. I've been all through Death Valley and never had a single issue 120 ish etc... But if it's over 100 degrees, and you are doing 3 mph is 4low climbing hills and rocks for long periods(in D) that sucker is gonna start to run hot. Slap it in 2nd and all is well in the world!

 

[mcgaskins]

I wouldn't worry at all. I've wheeled the 200 multiple back to back days in similar heat, fully loaded, all day AC blasting, idling for long periods of time with people hanging out inside charging devices, and the truck was never close to overheating. The engine was clearly made to handle extreme use like this with no issue, and it's something I don't even think about when wheeling any more. It's one of the many reasons I love the Land Cruiser!

 

[Markuson]

I'll let him chime in on his definition of overheating and what happened, but for my example when I say overheating it was pegged in the red, AC was blowing hot etc... So yeah overheating It's not just the heat, it's the constant climbing at slow speeds IMO. I've been all through Death Valley and never had a single issue 120 ish etc... But if it's over 100 degrees, and you are doing 3 mph is 4low climbing hills and rocks for long periods that sucker is gonna start to run hot. Slap it in 2nd and all is well in the world!

I think we’re of similar mind. Our cooling systems can handle massive temp swings incredibly well, so just trying to hear whether there were other symptoms like that.

Unless there is a cooling issue with thermostat or flow, your system should handle that scenario just fine.

 

[tbisaacs]

Thanks for the replies. Truck never got to red but darn close. No change in performance other than AC was like a fart in the wind when it’s 108+ and no air moving.

Im trying to determine if it’s to be expected and still within operating envelope or should be concerned.

Also y’all are the dang best.

 

[96bruizer]

I run a digital temp gauge now. From my experience when my temp gauge ( analog one on dash) starts to climb over the normal range) my temp is now around 220. It hit 225 last weekend on a steep pull up to 8500 feet at 55mph pulling a 1,800 lb trailer with my 8,200+lb fully loaded rig. At 225 degrees my analog gauge was still not even close to the red. A/C was blowing cold. At that moment I turned the heat on and opened windows. IMO once we get up to 227-230+ is when damage can start. If you overheat and are truly in the red, you e probably beat up your head gasket pretty good in that instance.

 

[montegofd3s]

Nice to use the Torque app to keep an eye on temperature because if you are creeping past 225 you better be making a call to Kenny Loggins.

 

[borfoo3]

Thanks for the replies. Truck never got to red but darn close. No change in performance other than AC was like a fart in the wind when it’s 108+ and no air moving.

Im trying to determine if it’s to be expected and still within operating envelope or should be concerned.

Also y’all are the dang best.

A few tips from the Middle East side (typing this on a typical 120F summer day ):

- Best thing to help keep your A/C cool when the vehicle is not moving is adding an electric fan up front with a relay that clicks on when the A/C compressor runs. This also helps in overall cooling, but not really necessary or useful besides keeping the A/C a bit cooler
- Always keep the engine cooling system and hoses in top shape. Older/ higher mileage radiators that have clogs, gunk, or leaks CAN result in overheating when the engine is pushed hard
- The ONLY scenario where I've slight the temp gauge 1 'tick' higher than normal is when REALLY pushing hard in deep sand or dunes. I'm talking engine screaming over 4000 RPM all day, on 4HI, @~130F ambient temps (ground temp is even higher than this!) where the whole underside of the vehicle is essentially 'cooking' in sand..

Otherwise, these vehicles are known to take a lot of punishment without sweat.

 

[tbisaacs]

Alright, I’m not worried now.

Sounds like a combination of user error and hellish conditions. And y’all are way less paranoid than I am

Teck’s point about the radiator shroud is a good one, might go dig it out if my shed.

 

[04UZJ100]

A few tips from the Middle East side (typing this on a typical 120F summer day ):

- Best thing to help keep your A/C cool when the vehicle is not moving is adding an electric fan up front with a relay that clicks on when the A/C compressor runs. This also helps in overall cooling, but not really necessary or useful besides keeping the A/C a bit cooler
- Always keep the engine cooling system and hoses in top shape. Older/ higher mileage radiators that have clogs, gunk, or leaks CAN result in overheating when the engine is pushed hard
- The ONLY scenario where I've slight the temp gauge 1 'tick' higher than normal is when REALLY pushing hard in deep sand or dunes. I'm talking engine screaming over 4000 RPM all day, on 4HI, @~130F ambient temps (ground temp is even higher than this!) where the whole underside of the vehicle is essentially 'cooking' in sand..

Otherwise, these vehicles are known to take a lot of punishment without sweat.

Doesn’t the 200 come stock with an aux fan mounted up front specifically for AC?