| Author | Message | ||
     Todd Phenneger (Toddp) Member Username: Toddp Post Number: 119 Registered: 10-2002 |
Heya everyone, I just got through putting my 94' DIsco to the Towing Test. The vehicle must have been close to max GVWR with 5 people (2 were kids) plus gear and Rocket Box loaded on top. I also had a 3,800lb boat/trailer combo being pulled behind me. Travelled over 600 miles round trip over a couple mountains and accross a hilly desert in 110 degree f. Temps. WOW. IT was HOT. My question is I'd like some input from others that have had similar experieces and how the vehicle reacted. I fount the D1 to handle the weight quite well except for in the power dept. I was REALLY wishing for a 4.6l. ON the mountain passes I woudl average about 50-55mph in 3rd gear. Slowing to 40mph in 2nd on the steepest parts which I only encountered twice. I could have gone faster "NOT MUCH" but was worried about torturing the rig. My •••••• Temp sender failed a few weeks ago so the light was on "faulty" the entire trip. NEedless to say I was worried about overheating the ••••••. Even at night in the "cooler" 85 degree temps The •••••• was HOT. IF I felt the metal at the base of the Auto shifter it was very hot and even the window switches got quite warm. Is that normal??? I have all new Synthetic fluids throughout the vehicle so that helped ease my mind a little bit but still. :-) Engine Coolant, The car never overheated although every time I'd reach a hill the temp gauge would climb to the top white bar on the gauge and then the Visco Fan would kick into high gear and the gauge would drop back down. Every time I'd wonder quietly to myself, HMMMM...if I had put in that metal flex fan would I be overheating by loosing that extra airflow when the Visco kicks in or would the Flex Fan have more airflow to begin with and keep the temps from rising in the first place? Hmmmmm. Questions and things to Ponder 1) VIsco vs Flex fan in this situation. 2) I need to flush my coolant. 3) how sensitive are our ••••••'s, do they overheat or are the stock •••••• Coolers adequate for such activity? 4) Comign down the pass 2nd gear engien braking was phenomenal, but when I was in 3rd gear at higher speeds I was glad to have the RRC Vented Rotors on my D1, esp the DBA versions that I have that are slotted and drilled. The performed phonomenally, even when going downhill at 55mph a deep jumped out in front of me and I had to stop all 9,000lbs quickly. (Yes, I have surge brakes and am glad I do as I have braked with them not workign and it can get a little scary). I'll quit babbling and go change by •••••• Temp Sender. :-) Thanks Todd | ||
| Graeme Day (Graemeday) New Member Username: Graemeday Post Number: 6 Registered: 02-2003 |
Todd The base of the automatic shifter is always hot because the two illumination globes sit close to the base and surprisingly I suppose, given their size generate a lot of heat. My only other comment is that the radiators on Rovers have very large capacities. With their military background, they are designed to cope with extreme conditions, and my only suggestion (if you haven't already done this) would be to have your radiator fully serviced; meaning removed from the vehicle and the tubes being properly cleaned out. I did this with my '95 and removed a lot of rubbish from a well maintained radiator. I also believe that it is possible to have the tubes replaced with some of larger diameter. Good luck | ||
| Chris Whybrew (Dcwhybrew) Member Username: Dcwhybrew Post Number: 59 Registered: 05-2003 |
Todd, my 96 D1 gets hot when I'm pulling my boat up and down the hills in 120 degree temps. The temp really climbs almost to the top white line when I am stopped (after climbing hills) in the waiting line at the boat ramp. I have noticed on mine that if I shut the truck off and turn it back on the temp guage will drop back to normal. So now that I have typed all of this I have realized that I probably didn't answer your question very well. One thing I want to ask is, does your trailer have brakes too? If not, it's my understanding from the owners manual that you are really exceeding the towing capacity. With the CDL unlocked and in High, the owners manual states the towing capacity is something like 1900 lbs. In locked high, the towing capacity is 2200 lbs, and goes up to 7700lbs with CDL locked in low range. I think that's accurate, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. | ||
| zane pukajlo (Zane) New Member Username: Zane Post Number: 22 Registered: 03-2003 |
On an unbraked trailer the weight is 1650 pounds. With brakes the weight is moved up to 5500 pounds. | ||
| Chris Whybrew (Dcwhybrew) Member Username: Dcwhybrew Post Number: 61 Registered: 05-2003 |
Zane, thanks for the clarification. I didn't have my owners manual handy. | ||
| Shaun Power (Shaunp) Member Username: Shaunp Post Number: 98 Registered: 05-2003 |
If every thing is ok they don't over heat. It doesn't hurt to put an extra cooler on the trans if you are doing heavy work and consider running the box on synthetic oil. I tow an 1100kg camper with mine on road and off (mostly sand / beach) it has never looked like over heating. I'm in Brisbane Australia and it gets pretty hot here Some where between 30-40 deg c. It is important not to cook these engines or else they might drop a cylinder liner. If you have a car with a distributor make sure the vac advance works as this makes a big differance to engine temp. | ||
| Shaun Power (Shaunp) Member Username: Shaunp Post Number: 99 Registered: 05-2003 |
If every thing is ok they don't over heat. It doesn't hurt to put an extra cooler on the trans if you are doing heavy work and consider running the box on synthetic oil. I tow an 1100kg camper with mine on road and off (mostly sand / beach) it has never looked like over heating. I'm in Brisbane Australia and it gets pretty hot here Some where between 30-40 deg c. It is important not to cook these engines or else they might drop a cylinder liner. If you have a car with a distributor make sure the vac advance works as this makes a big differance to engine temp. | ||
| Todd Phenneger (Toddp) Member Username: Toddp Post Number: 120 Registered: 10-2002 |
Chris, I do have surge brakes on the trailer but not electric brakes. They work quite well when stopping quickly but dont do anything untill I get to about 50% braking force. I definately plan to flush my coolant before the next trip and I may rod out the Radiator. We'll see. I'm glad to hear I've had similar experiences to others and that its normal. Also glad to hear the Transmission is adequately cooled for heavy work. Overall I'm very happy with my rig for towing. But a 4.6l would be nice. How do I check the vacuum advance on my dist? I have a vacuum brake bleeder "mity vac". Can I hook it up to the vacuum port at the dist and pull a little vacuum and watch for something? Or do I do it while the engine is running and listen for a change in idle or something? Thanks Todd | ||
| Kai Dussling (Kai) Member Username: Kai Post Number: 73 Registered: 06-2002 |
tranee, traney, trah-knee, traney, tranie, trani Just testing a few options of the ever popular. Glad to here it pulled OK. I have a disco 2 and am in the process of purchasing a 3500# trailer. | ||
| Chris Browne (Chris_browne) Member Username: Chris_browne Post Number: 235 Registered: 02-2003 |
LR did good by installing tyranny oil and engine oil coolants...but if I was towing sizable rigs (ie 60-70% of the GVW) on a regular basis, I'd probably want to change the final drive ratios. 3.8 would be far better match for the vehicle on stock tires and 4.1 for oversized tires | ||
| Christian Kuhtz (Ckuhtz) New Member Username: Ckuhtz Post Number: 17 Registered: 06-2003 |
Guys, all of you with trailers in the multiple thousand pound range ought to be spanked senseless for not having trucks and trailers with electric brake controllers (like the Draw-Tite Activator II etc). That's just a really common sense sort of thing. Yeah, and that includes surge brakes. | ||
| Todd Phenneger (Toddp) Member Username: Toddp Post Number: 121 Registered: 10-2002 |
I have my D1 setup for the controller. But what is needed to put such a system on a trailer. Do I need an entirely new tonge for the traier to ditch the surge part and add the electric option? Any pics or suggestiong for larger Transmission coolers? thanks for the discussion guys Todd | ||
| jerry d quintana (Exjeeper) New Member Username: Exjeeper Post Number: 34 Registered: 02-2003 |
Just drove to porto penasco mexico south of pheonix from colorado springs. The vehicle ran greate except for the mountain passes I could have used more power. I did alot of maintaince before we left and two hours before we were at the resort the water pump went south. never know when a water pump is going out. I called scootsdale rovers about 2.5 hours away and one of there mechanice meet me about an hour away and brought his tools to help me out. I was back on the road about 5 hours later. other than that it ran great thinking if rear ac for the next reip for the people in back. My vehicle always feels hot to me I think that the aluminium radiates alot more heat than a steel motor temp gage is always good . | ||
| Todd Phenneger (Toddp) Member Username: Toddp Post Number: 123 Registered: 10-2002 |
I agree about the radiating of heat. The engine compartment of the rovers gets HOT HOT HOT! I'm contemplating Hood Vents to vent the hot air out better. Hmmmm. I definately plan a full cooling system service soon. All hoses, new Water Pump and a full Flush. L8r Todd | ||
| R. B. Bailey (Rover50987) Senior Member Username: Rover50987 Post Number: 619 Registered: 07-2002 |
OK, I tow a 2300 lbs camper over the Cascades 3-4 times a summer. I wish I had a 4.6... Very slow on hills, just about what you described Todd. But speaking of getting HOT, my problems came up when I decided to get a cheap exhaust fix instead of the $1200 stainless steel fix. And the fact that I wasn't using my brain when I installed it might have something to do with it too. Anyway, I bought a standard cats-back system from a Brit company that makes them for RR and Discos. It was all bolt on. When I pulled the old tail pipe off there were three points where it was broken, two points where it was being held up by wire that I had put on after various off-road trips, and two other holes that were about to cause more breaks. The muffler was rusting out. The cats seem to be in good condition from the outside. Anyway, no problem putting the new muffler and stuff on, but I did wonder about the heat shield - there wasn't one on the old muffler, so maybe the little tabs are for heat shields on RR's or something. ...Skip forward 24 hours, we are now on the road, it is 85 degrees and we are driving into the high desert of Eastern Oregon towing the trailer. I had noticed a hot plastic smell, and thought it was the postage stickers on the muffler that were burning off as we drove. (actually, at first that is what I smelled.) But 2 hours into our trip after stopping at a rest stop I noticed that I did not smell the burning outside of the car, just inside. I immediately began looking around and found that the rubber mats in the back seats were MELTING!! They were too hot to touch in the middle. The carpet had a smoking patch of burned-melted fibers about 5" in diameter!! And this was after sitting with the engine off for 15 minutes. We had to drive another 40 miles to the next town to find a muffler shop to weld a makeshift heat shield onto the top of the muffler. The guy said he thought the band of heat discoloration on the muffler looked suspicious and that I should have enough space between the muffler and the car to allow for cooling... After long drives the floor still gets hot, but not too hot. I don't really have any solution, since I don't have a job and can't spend the money... Towing is also harder with the larger tires, fine on the flats, but murder on the hills. I have the Tekonsha Prodogy brake controller - works like magic. |
