On the verge of overheating up steep hills

[pierce]

My Jx engined westy is getting a bit hot under the bonnet when either doing over 70 on the motorway (don't do this very often) or up long steep hills.
The temperature gauge normally on the motorway sits just above half way, but this can rise to 3/4 under heavy load. I normally stick cab heater on to stop it getting this bad though. Everything is fine around town.
I hope to get this sorted in the next couple of weeks before the weather heats up
I was thinking of doing the following;

Change the waterpump.
Flush out the radiator and replace the coolant.
Change the thermostat.
Check the aux waterpump but leave it if its working.

If all that doesn't work then maybe fit an oil cooler.

Is there anything else you would recommend doing whist the coolant is out?

Thanks in advance

[Titus A Duxass]

That sounds about normal for the JX motor.
When it starts overheating back off the throttle.

An oil cooler will keep the temps down.

[Ian Hulley]

It's what used to be called 'Being thrashed'

[horns]

Is there anything else you would recommend doing...?

Yes. Slow down.

[R0B]

Its a campervan mate.Not a race car.

[pierce]

Lol, well aware it's not a race car, I drive well within the limits of the van; But on a drive through snowdonia or the lakes no matter what speed you go, it is nearly impossible to get to the top of some hills, without having the cab heater on and even then, it feels like if the hill was a hundred meters higher, we would definitely break down

I just wanted to make sure that i am not missing any other cheap parts that can easily be replaced whist doing the coolant.

[camper]

Oil cooler will do the job.Mr Baxter does the best kit.

[weldore]

or a chicken switch to the radiator fan

[kevtherev]

fix the problem don't add a solution to hide it.
flush the radiator out and change the stat.

[pierce]

Cheers all
Will start off flushing the rad etc this weekend. If it doesn't sort the problem then an oil cooler might be way forward, the reviews for the brickworks kit sound good.

[billy739]

presumably you have standard tyres?

make sure you van has its original coded gearbox.

70 is a bit much in these vans
65 max with and standard setup!

as an original td it will be 5 speed and have a raised tunnel around the gearstick

also standard 2 speed fan on td , check this is all ok - you will definatly here 2nd (fast ) speed when it cuts in!

[pierce]

The wheels are a little bigger than standard, which seemed to help with gearing.

Pretty sure the gearbox is standard

Not 100% sure the fan is working correctly, I have only noticed it a couple of times, but the van is fine around town, so presume it must be

[billy739]

with diesel the fan wont work much on normal runs , if at all.

however when being worked it will.

vw had problems with overheating , im sure thats why they never fitted the 1.9 , hence larger tunnel , bigger cooling fan , thicker radiator , on 1.7 na & 1.6td engines which also had auxillary water pump!

also the engine tray that reduced noise also had a duct to allow cold air to the turbo- do you have one fitted?

[kevtherev]

bigger wheels mean you go down the box earlier on hills I have found

[pierce]

with diesel the fan wont work much on normal runs , if at all.

however when being worked it will.

vw had problems with overheating , im sure thats why they never fitted the 1.9 , hence larger tunnel , bigger cooling fan , thicker radiator , on 1.7 na & 1.6td engines which also had auxillary water pump!

also the engine tray that reduced noise also had a duct to allow cold air to the turbo- do you have one fitted?

Might be worth replacing the fan switch, guess it's pretty difficult to test the second fan speed.

No engine tray fitted.