I recently changed my tug to a 1998 3.0 V6 Peugeot 406 Estate Auto. Driving solo the temp guage rarely goes above 85-90. When towing, it normally "settles" at 90-95, climbing to 100-105 degrees up long hills. As my van's MTPLM is only 1300kg, it's well within the car's ability. Question - will these higher temps damage the engine and or gearbox, should I fit an additional cooler? The car has now done 102000 miles and has a fully stamped Peugeot service history. Thanks for any advice
Overheating?
- Thread starter Mike_5041089
- Start date
Hi Mike.
As your Pug is the top range series, I guess it has air con. By turning the air con on (mythbuster's have proven it uses no more fuel) and you don't have to freeze just set a comfortable temperature. This will activate the electric cooling fans right away, before the temperature of the engine gets up to the trigger point.
As for an oil cooler, it is not realy necessary as your engine temperature doesn't seem to be way up. Modern auto boxes are quite capable of taking a bit of stick. There are no mods for cars exported to africa etc and it's a darned sight hotter over there, so save a few quid.
All the info is current practice and gleened from my Bro-in-law who is a certified Peugeot master technician.
Steve.
As your Pug is the top range series, I guess it has air con. By turning the air con on (mythbuster's have proven it uses no more fuel) and you don't have to freeze just set a comfortable temperature. This will activate the electric cooling fans right away, before the temperature of the engine gets up to the trigger point.
As for an oil cooler, it is not realy necessary as your engine temperature doesn't seem to be way up. Modern auto boxes are quite capable of taking a bit of stick. There are no mods for cars exported to africa etc and it's a darned sight hotter over there, so save a few quid.
All the info is current practice and gleened from my Bro-in-law who is a certified Peugeot master technician.
Steve.
If you really do have a cooling problem, turning the air conditioning OFF will actually help, not, as Steve says, with it on. The air conditioning draws a not inconsiderable amount of power from the engine, making it work that much harder (that's why the additional cooling fan comes on).
Hi Mike,
If you are not very technical and you TRUST your garage tell them about the problem - I would be a little worried about sustained 105 degrees c in the climb.
As an engineer owner - in a motor 8 years old that was getting as hot as yours I would work through checking the head gasket for leaks, a drain and flush of the coolant, check/replace of the the temp sender and thermostat, check on fan cut in, drive belt condition & tension and a pressure check of the entire coolant system. If the water pump is exposed during Cam belt change or easy to replace then I would change that as a final effort.
If all of this is a foriegn language to you then you are at the mercy of your mechanic! - the good news is that the above is a rough order of doing things and it might be something simple and cheap like a thermostat.
Get you home tip - if the temp guage climbs on a hill open the windows and put the heater on hot - that way you have two radiators working for you - don't arf fry the feet though!
If you are not very technical and you TRUST your garage tell them about the problem - I would be a little worried about sustained 105 degrees c in the climb.
As an engineer owner - in a motor 8 years old that was getting as hot as yours I would work through checking the head gasket for leaks, a drain and flush of the coolant, check/replace of the the temp sender and thermostat, check on fan cut in, drive belt condition & tension and a pressure check of the entire coolant system. If the water pump is exposed during Cam belt change or easy to replace then I would change that as a final effort.
If all of this is a foriegn language to you then you are at the mercy of your mechanic! - the good news is that the above is a rough order of doing things and it might be something simple and cheap like a thermostat.
Get you home tip - if the temp guage climbs on a hill open the windows and put the heater on hot - that way you have two radiators working for you - don't arf fry the feet though!
A few years ago we also had a Pegueot 406 - 2000 - on our return journey from Spain - we had to endure the road works around Milau etc, it was late at night and our pegueot got very hot - in fact we had the 'Stop' light flash up - we duly stopped and let it cool down, we were then able to continue on our homeward journey with no problems. When we got home we spoke to our mechanic, who informed us that there is two cooling fans - and obviously the second one was not working - so before you pay loads of money checking the head gaskets etc, check this first.
Hope this helps.
Lorraine
Hope this helps.
Lorraine
Lorraine,
I absolutly aggree with you - check all the easy things first and checking for fan cut in is very easy - simply leave the engine at tick over and wait for the fan/s to switch on and compare the temp guage with the spec. data. In this weather it will happen quite quickly even from start up and after a run very quickly.
In my experience though, with things mechanical, it is best to go through a logical sequence of possible faults and with a 100k 8 year old car it's probably a combination of several things rather than one individual prob.
Although head gaskets are the worst case scenario they are easy for a competent mechanic to check and once rulled out the remainder of the checks can be worked through - actually checking for fan cut in and the cursory head gasket checks can be done at the same time.
I absolutly aggree with you - check all the easy things first and checking for fan cut in is very easy - simply leave the engine at tick over and wait for the fan/s to switch on and compare the temp guage with the spec. data. In this weather it will happen quite quickly even from start up and after a run very quickly.
In my experience though, with things mechanical, it is best to go through a logical sequence of possible faults and with a 100k 8 year old car it's probably a combination of several things rather than one individual prob.
Although head gaskets are the worst case scenario they are easy for a competent mechanic to check and once rulled out the remainder of the checks can be worked through - actually checking for fan cut in and the cursory head gasket checks can be done at the same time.
I haven't got the haynes manual in front of me but Im pretty sure the K-Series engine as fitted to some Freelanders, rovers and the lotus elise has a first fan cut in temperature of 112'C and a second fan (for aircon models) cut in temperature of 120'C - i know because I race a car with one of these engines in! A pressurised system like is used in all modern cars raises the effective boiling point of the coolant.
A good antifreeze/coolant at the correct mix is important as it normally amongst other things contains a wetting agent that helps the transfer of heat from the warer to the radiator. Don't forget that antifreze doesn't last forever either - check your cars service schedule but I seem to remember 36K miles or 3 years.
As has been previously stated you need to be aware of the typical characteristics of YOUR car and if something abnormal happens take a look at the possibilities.
Giles
A good antifreeze/coolant at the correct mix is important as it normally amongst other things contains a wetting agent that helps the transfer of heat from the warer to the radiator. Don't forget that antifreze doesn't last forever either - check your cars service schedule but I seem to remember 36K miles or 3 years.
As has been previously stated you need to be aware of the typical characteristics of YOUR car and if something abnormal happens take a look at the possibilities.
Giles
One thing i forgot to mentionm is that i believe modern engines run hotter anyway to reduce emissions and improve economy. For peak power it shoud me more like 80'C
Giles
With reference to the Mythbusters comments from Steve and Craig. I have not seen the programme but I have researched the Mythbusters web site.
I conclude the item was attempting to explore the relative fuel consumptions of using AC or opening windows.
It is my understanding from contact with a car manufacture that it depends on the car model and speed. If the AC is used with the widows closed, the additional power needed to run the compressor and fans uses between 5 and 8kW of engine power. The smaller the engines power the greater the proportion of the engine power needed to run the AC. Additional power demands uses more fuel!
If the AC is turned off, and the windows are opened the compressor dose not use any power, but because of the increased drag caused by the discontinuous surfaces where the windows are open the engine needs to use more power to over come the drag as speed increases. At some point the increased drag may exceed the power demands of the AC system.
As Mikes overheating problem is related to hills when the car is moving slower and working harder, my conclusion is that it would be beneficial to turn the AC off. This will reduce the load on the engine, and make more power available for tractive effort should it be needed.
He should also contact his car manufacture to establish if the increased working temperatures are still within the cars normal operating envelope. If they exceed the envelope, then some corrective measures may be called for.
I conclude the item was attempting to explore the relative fuel consumptions of using AC or opening windows.
It is my understanding from contact with a car manufacture that it depends on the car model and speed. If the AC is used with the widows closed, the additional power needed to run the compressor and fans uses between 5 and 8kW of engine power. The smaller the engines power the greater the proportion of the engine power needed to run the AC. Additional power demands uses more fuel!
If the AC is turned off, and the windows are opened the compressor dose not use any power, but because of the increased drag caused by the discontinuous surfaces where the windows are open the engine needs to use more power to over come the drag as speed increases. At some point the increased drag may exceed the power demands of the AC system.
As Mikes overheating problem is related to hills when the car is moving slower and working harder, my conclusion is that it would be beneficial to turn the AC off. This will reduce the load on the engine, and make more power available for tractive effort should it be needed.
He should also contact his car manufacture to establish if the increased working temperatures are still within the cars normal operating envelope. If they exceed the envelope, then some corrective measures may be called for.
I run a Peugeot 407 HDI and the owners manual tells you to turn off the a/c to release more power when towing, particularly up hills !
JSD
JSD
Agree that using AC will make the engine work harder and would suggest turning the heater on full is the best way to take heat from the engine.
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