Isuzu Trooper Owners Club UK™

[stanners]

I have just bought a 93 3.1TD Lotus Bighorn which I am very happy with - fantastic truck - but I have noticed that it really does not get very warm at all even on a hard run down the motorway at up to 85...

Have looked under the bonnet (bout as far as it gets with me...) and it has an engine driven fan which is permanently rotating - so is always drawing cool air through the rad.

What can I do - short of fitting a Kenlowe Electric rig?

Any thoughts would be welcome cos I am also looking at trying to get more economy - a d trip to the diesel doctor may be in the offing have read other posts.......

[Google]

[jjcymru]

3.1s should run fairly warm.

I presume the thermostat is jammed open.

easy to check, remove the cover with 3 12mm bolts on the top of the engine (has 2 sensors in the housing) lift out the stat, and put in a new one of higher rating... youll see a number such as 82 stamped somewhere on the stat itself..might need a wipe tho!

[stanners]

Cheers for that - will have a gander

Is it worth fitting an electric fan instead of the engine-driven one? Might improve engine performance without the drag of those big fan blades...

[jjcymru]

the drag is huge and youd gain mpg and performance...

try kenlowe for a kit, was thinking about it myself on the 2.8 frontera.

'cept on boost uphill the guage rises very quickly so id be a bit weary of getting the settings wrong or the fan not working.

at least the belt one keeps moving regardless.

[Philp]

The fan should (I think) have a viscous coupling. This is meant to disengage the fan when the engine is cool and then as the temperature rises effectively locks the fan to the drive unit. The fan still turns when the engine is cold but it is just windmilling in the drag from the coupling. If the coupling has failed it can permanently engage the fan meaning slow warm up times BUT it should still get up to temperature eventually. I'd go with a new Thermostat first (oh and remember to replace the gasket on the housing unless it's one with a rubber O ring seal)
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Phil

96 or is it a 98 Isuzu Bighorn Lotus

[Hard1]

A couple of degrees change in ambient temperature can make all the difference although yours does sound like it's running rwally cold. On a day when ambient is less than 10 degrees C, it hardly gets above the 'C'. A thrash along the motorway though, does increase it to almost normal. They all seem to be like this and it's possibly because of the typical temperatures where they come from in Japan.

Stiil running to cool for my liking though. Kenlowe type fan is always a good idea. It will "release" up to 10% more hp.
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1999 Cougar with a NICE motor..

Click HERE to see under my bonnet!

[stanners]

Cheers for all the help - can confirm that the fan is working as it should, so we are going to try the thermostat - although given the front is as exposed as a Landie, may well try the 'blanking half the rad grill off during winter' trick

Dunno what its like in warm weather - not been in any yet

Many thanks for all your good advice!!

Stanners

[LuckyTrucker]

Hi there, yes I was concerned with the cold running of my 2.8td so I changed the thermostat. It didn't make any difference. I must admit though when I pulling a 3 ton trailer mile after mile at full throttle and the temp stayed no more than 1/4 way I was happy.Yes it is pain when the heater takes a long time to warm up, you will glad to know that my new Disco is no better
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Cheers
Paul.K/LuckyTrucker

[stanners]

I'm going to sound like an ignoramous now - but doesn't running an engine cold damage the lifetime of the unit by engendering increased wear?

[Hard1]