[ThePog]

So I have been having what I thought was an issue but turned out to be my own stupidity...

A few days ago I did a big mission around town, I checked the coolant level the next day, sweet as. Then I did a wee jaunt later that day to show it off to my uncle who was visiting, when I checked it a bit later it needed a cup of coolant.

Filled it, did a mission all the way into town the next day and checked it before a 10 minute drive the next morning, all good. When I am back from the 10 mins drive the overflow is full and spilling on the ground.
I had been topping it up so naturally the overflow would get fuller, but it was weird.

I thought it might have something to do with the overflow position and tube length so I did a cheeky mod to check this which allowed me to monitor the coolant and give a bit of gravity assist;

Because I could see what was happening I soon realised that it takes quite a lot of time for the engine to cool enough to suck it all back. I had been waiting half an hour or so to check the levels after the short trips, but it has taken something like 4-5 hrs to suck most of it back after a 20 min drive. So actually it was me introducing the air when I cracked the cap. What a dumb bugger.

For some reason I had only ever checked it the day after when I had done a long drive, obviously giving it enough time to suck it back. Clearly this skewed the results and created a problem where there wasn't one. Doh!

Anyway with the earlier rad change there is enough room to put the tank just in front of the engine, and at a more reasonable distance and height. I reckon I'll do that today.

 

[ThePog]

I mounted that expansion tank somewhere convenient. Went for a drive and all seems to be behaving.

I also made some racks to carry long things, did the rear a few days ago and sorted the front out today. I'll get those zinc arc sprayed I imagine;

Might make the rear clamp on rather than ratcheted, you have to properly crank it up to prevent it from rocking a little....

 

[Knuckles]

Love the DIY gutter clamp for the roof rack. Great idea.
Edit: got any close up photos of how it works?

 

[ThePog]

Love the DIY gutter clamp for the roof rack. Great idea.
Edit: got any close up photos of how it works?

Here you go;

There will be a rubber edging to stop chafing but it's a pretty robust way of doing it.

 

[Knuckles]

Here you go;

There will be a rubber edging to stop chafing but it's a pretty robust way of doing it.

Looks great, pretty simple too. Nice.

 

[ThePog]

In my relentless quest to get the cooling to the point where I don't have to worry about it, and in the belief that increasing cooling capacity is always a win, I took a wee plunge and ordered a Davies Craig water pump and accessories. I fitted it up as an auxiliary pump by the rad outlet. This took a minor amount of modding to the pipework;

It maybe sits higher in the system than I would like, but it probably doesn't matter too much as long as there is coolant. It's well protected and it was pretty low impact to mount it.
I got a mechanical adjustable temp switch with the kit and put that at the thermostat outlet for max sensitivity, plus I drilled a couple of 3mm holes in the thermostat to allow some flow if the pump is on and the thermostat is closed, as recommended by Davies Craig.

I mounted the adjusty thing where I could access it from inside the cab, you might be able to make it out in the darkness;

I have set it make the small fan and the pump come on simultaneously when the thermostat outlet gets to 50 or 60ish deg. Previously the small fan went as soon as the key was on, so this is a nice improvement.

The pump means that the engine water pump is not having to work harder to push the coolant along those long pipes, I was kindof worried about that and this eases my mind.

I took it into town this morning and it definitely improves the response time of the cooling, this means the big fan cycles less and for less time. This is good.

I did another quick pie run at lunchtime and when I parked to up in the shed quite a lot of coolant was pissing out in the pump area, but this turned out to be just a loose hose clamp... Whew.

That's all probably.

 

[Foo]

In my relentless quest to get the cooling to the point where I don't have to worry about it, and in the belief that increasing cooling capacity is always a win, I took a wee plunge and ordered a Davies Craig water pump and accessories. I fitted it up as an auxiliary pump by the rad outlet. This took a minor amount of modding to the pipework;

It maybe sits higher in the system than I would like, but it probably doesn't matter too much as long as there is coolant. It's well protected and it was pretty low impact to mount it.
I got a mechanical adjustable temp switch with the kit and put that at the thermostat outlet for max sensitivity, plus I drilled a couple of 3mm holes in the thermostat to allow some flow if the pump is on and the thermostat is closed, as recommended by Davies Craig.

I mounted the adjusty thing where I could access it from inside the cab, you might be able to make it out in the darkness;

I have set it make the small fan and the pump come on simultaneously when the thermostat outlet gets to 50 or 60ish deg. Previously the small fan went as soon as the key was on, so this is a nice improvement.

The pump means that the engine water pump is not having to work harder to push the coolant along those long pipes, I was kindof worried about that and this eases my mind.

I took it into town this morning and it definitely improves the response time of the cooling, this means the big fan cycles less and for less time. This is good.

I did another quick pie run at lunchtime and when I parked to up in the shed quite a lot of coolant was pissing out in the pump area, but this turned out to be just a loose hose clamp... Whew.

That's all probably.

Why couldn't you install another cooler in between the radiator and the block? Cooling is always going to be dependent on the cooling area and no amount of fans can compensate for finned area for air to flow through. This is why, some trucks that have smaller radiator sizes for the same engine compacity suffer in hot weather.

Foo

 

[ThePog]

Why couldn't you install another cooler in between the radiator and the block? Cooling is always going to be dependent on the cooling area and no amount of fans can compensate for finned area for air to flow through. This is why, some trucks that have smaller radiator sizes for the same engine compacity suffer in hot weather.

Foo

Well I was basically happy with the cooling, after all it is essentially a td42t with a td42t radiator which should be enough for the job. However it was taking a wee bit of time for the thermofan to drop the temp after cutting in, probably due to the longer flow path. This potentially/probably wasn't an actual issue but that combined with the extra load on the water pump decided me. Coolant flow is also a factor in the cooling system, the more flow means more capacity to transfer heat, more delta T. As you say, it's no substitute for fin area, but it definitely helps.

I had thought about a secondary radiator, but that was always going to be if I couldn't make the current setup work for me. I will run things for a while and see how it goes before I get too carried away.

 

[ThePog]

Righto, a quick update.
I have been dailying the **** out of this, basically all is well. Coolant levels are rock solid, it doesn't drip random fluids, it handles well, it goes and sounds like a truck. It is a genuine pleasure to drive it, I hopped back into the townace on Friday and it was a disappointment. The big truck is really good in comparison.

A few things have come up though.
I discovered that my modified porta power crane pump was really not up to the job, mostly cos when you lifted heavy things it would piss hydraulic fluid out of its sealed orifices. So I bought this for a fiddy from matey down the road, looks way more legit, moves it way faster too.

The other crane issue is that the truck leans over hard lifting heavy loads, so I bought a high lift jack that will be a useful support during lifting operations and add legitimacy to the 4x4 legend that is ThePog.
Here it is tucked away under the back seat;

Now we come to the main issue, that there is a bit of a clatter from the engine at 2000rpm. This is unfortunate as this is exactly the engine revs at 100km/h and it is quite noticable with no sound deadening in the cab. This could be many things but I have a strong suspicion it is injector knock/fuel ratio issues. This is also where the egt's start rising more than expected and the big fan starts cycling.
The pump in there has no boost compensation so I reckon that is the root of the problem. I got a price to rebuild my spare pump with the compensator attached, this was the thick end of $1500 smackers, and it's a bit hard to hide those sort of numbers from my wife.

So I managed to source a new pump, it still has the seal over the fuel screw so probably hasn't been dicked with. Theoretically this should be pretty bang on to match my setup. It also turns out it is an 11mm pump so even better. I'll get it checked first but even if it needs work it is a better base to start from.

And this is the label;

Id number is VE6/11F2000RNP159

I found this incredibly useful bit of info;

'Example:
V E 4 / 9 F 2400 L 12
V: Distributor injection pump
E: Axial piston high pressure pump or R: radial piston high pressure pump
2-6: Number of high pressure outlets
8-12: Pump plunger diameter in mm.
F: Mechanical governor or E: Electric actuator mechanism or M: high pressure solenoid valve.
2400: Upper pump nominal speed (half of engine rpm)
L: Counter clockwise or R: Clockwise (view toward pump drive)
12: Type code.'

I'll sort that soon.
That is all.

 

[dan ahern]

Awesome build! 👌