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The engine temp at about 55mph stays at 80 degC when on the flat but when going up hill the viscous coupled fan cuts in. I notice it more frequently when the ambient temperature is higher.
We weigh about 5500kg and tow a further 1300kg.
The fan cutting in seems to maintain a temperature below 100 degC.
I am sure that this is normal - especially considering the load - I just wandered if others notice it.
______________________________________________________________ Everyone is entitled to my opinion!
Hello, we noticed the same effect on our hymer/merc, we had it tested by merc dealer who confirmed it does run a little hot especially in hot weather under load. Nothing to worry about but he suggested we may increase the size of the front vent. (He would not do it as it's hymer) Having done this ourselves we noticed barely any difference, but have had no problems in 18k miles in temps up to 40C on occasion.
Chipping it made a difference though dont know why, and it goes quicker.
Just a quick reply, this is the heat being dumped by the auto gearbox as it slips on long ascents. It is cooled by a loop running through the main radiator (so make sure you change your coolant at specified intervals to maintain it's anti-corrosive properties - you don't want the two to mix!).
Whenever the engine is chugging nicely up a long incline the auto oil is warming up as viscous slippage occurs. This heat is then dumped to the main radiator as well as the heat from the engine resulting in the temperature rising rapidly and the building crescendo of the fan trying to do something about it.
There is a method to avoid or at least reduce this, I only just found out about it recently and last week had a chance to to put it to the test in the alpes.
Pick a gear, speed, throttle combination which you would be in if you had a manual box. i.e. instead of slugging up an incline in "D" (5) at 1400 revs with the auto box slipping and heating up, try "4" at 2000 revs or slow down and use "3" at 2200. Mercedes use a sophisticated auto box which "locks up" into gear when no further slippage is required and so produces no more heat.
I tried both this and the old chugging method back to back on some long climbs and even though it was cold the temp gauge ran to 90 - 95 degrees (accompanied by the howl of the cooling fan.) on the old method whilst locking up the box resulted in 80 - 85 degrees - this on a climb of 30 Km rising from 900 feet to 6020 feet.
Well thanks for that - though ours has manual transmission.
My fix, that I have been using on our recent 3500 mile trip to Spain was to turn the heater up for a couple of minutes as soon as we started a long climb - the temp needle stays the same.
Why not just let the systems that the base vehicle maker have put in place do their work ??? (Viscous coupled, or electrically operated fans etc)
As long as you do not boil the coolant in your cooling system there is no problem surely???
All engines will produce more heat when working hard (more fuel being burnt = more heat = more power = getting up the hill) Exactly the same as when you climb a hill, more exertion more heat generated !
Also dont forget that your colling system is pressurised in order to increase the temperature at which the coolant will (eventually) boil at.
Just sit back, chill out (sic) and enjoy the ride, rather than worrying about your coolant temp.
Well put, sit back, chill and relax whilst marvelling at the wonderful goings on beneath the bonnet.
Sometimes the howling from the different cooling fans is quite frightening and goes on for several minutes after cresting the climb but so far everything returns to normal eventually.
I suppose this poor sprinter van is being hauled all around the mountains with what would equate to nearly a full load all the time.
Ok guys - this is not about being chilled...........in fact it's about being warmed!!
I was just curious if others noticed their fans coming on under similar conditions. For all I know the cooling system on the 5 cylinder might be fantastic and it is never known to have an engine temperature fluctuation regardless of load.
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Italy
??? (Viscous coupled, or electrically operated fans etc)
