Surfer Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 I bought my Warrior yesterday and had a 1000 mile drive home... I have seen similar posts to my issue for years ago, but looking for a fresh perspective. FROM THE START: I noticed the A/C blowing warm at a traffic light... Blowing cold while moving (still R12, not R134) Drove the first 20 miles highway and stopped for gas - off the highway I began to overheat. From past knowledge, I immediately turned the heat on full blast to draw it from the engine and got it to cool down to tolerable. Previous owner said he never had an issue with the A/C or overheating and recently had the radiator flushed. (I WILL COME BACK TO THIS) I stopped at a shop nearby who says it's my fan clutch (the go to)... I have no tools and was in New Orleans area, so it was already starting to flood. I have them swap the clutch, the thermostat (180), and all belts - the awesome previous owner split it with me. Get on the road at dusk and drive the night watching closely. AC blows cold, engine temp straight up in perfect range. Got off the highway in the middle of the night and immediately overheat range - blast the heat to cool it and shut her down for a bit. All this time to think - MAYBE THEY DIDN'T BURP IT AND IT HAS AIR IN THE SYSTEM??? Today I also noticed they mixed coolants at the Last place... I stop at a Toyota dealer for histories most expensive flush burp. Thermostat working, all fresh fluid, fan clutch, and it just keeps creeping up... photo is now where its sitting at 60mph on the highway. It's hot here in Florida, but this isn't normal???? Someone suggested I need a transmission cooler??? Ideas?? Clearly many have seen this before... Day 2 of owning my Yota home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 So after you stop the engine the temp climbs or when it's still running. Linda S Oh I see it's running and hot. Don't think there's anything left but head gasket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 When the A/C is on and I am stopped. I can slowly cool her down by running the heat. Whenever I turn off the A/C she cools down a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 On 7/10/2019 at 12:16 PM, WME said: Welcome to the world of Toy Houses. 3 kids and a wife are going to be a bit crowed. Fresh water and waste water are going to your limits so a little water conservation training will be needed. Your questions. 1. The 12v side of the house will run everything you want, with adapters, but the AC and Refer. The refer will run off propane while traveling and boondocking. In an RV park it will run off the 110v ac shore power. The AC will require a generator. The factory install was an Onan 2800 Micro Lite. So a 3000 w generator would work great, get an inverter style genset.. Where do you plan on mounting it? Portable generators don't work well when stuffed in the factory gen box. You may need a booster to start the AC. Good, Better, Best would be a Hot Shot starter cap, then a RV AC starter kit from Appliance and Air, best is the Easy Start from Micro Air. 2. Awnings are pretty much standard prices. $800+. DIY install or do you want a shop to do it, shop labor is $80 an hour and up. 3. Most of us just go to a big box home store and buy a roll of Reflectix. It looks like chromed bubble wrap. Use Velcro and cut your own window shades. In very hot or very cold situations we will hang a blanket from the bunk to block off the cab area, it helps to reduce energy needs, heat or cool. Have fun and remember to travel the blue line roads 16 minutes ago, linda s said: So after you stop the engine the temp climbs or when it's still running. Linda S Oh I see it's running and hot. Don't think there's anything left but head gasket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 The gaskets have been done... it was a few years back, but I am surprised if that's it... but maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 11, 2019 Author Share Posted July 11, 2019 No A/C on and it's running cool and fast. Is this just the load on the engine making it so hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey 4x4 Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 (edited) AC temp doesn’t have anything to do with engine temp. Warmer ac is just usually low on refrigerant or normal lack of performance from high mileage parts (compressor, dirty evap coil in cab, etc). Obviously if the engine is overheating running the ac will put more of a load on the engine and cause it to get hotter. I had similar overheating issues in the past with other vehicles and putting in a new radiator did the truck. A previous owner put stop leak in the coolant to try to fix a leak in the heater core and ended up plugging up about 40% of the radiator from the crappy stop leak stuff. It got enough air across it while moving to not overheat but once stopped it just couldn’t keep up. Don't bother having the radiator cleaned, a new one isn’t much more expensive. Edited July 11, 2019 by Odyssey 4x4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted July 11, 2019 Share Posted July 11, 2019 Random string of thoughts A 91 should have a transmission cooler from the factory, looks like a small radiator about 6x9". Go to a DIY car wash and blast the radiator clean. Dead bugs is bad for cooling The factory air flow set up is the trannie cooler is in front, then the AC condenser, last is the radiator. Air flows through the trannie cooler and gets hotter---but the cooler isn't that big so the AC condenser gets some hot air and a lot of cool air. But the condenser is almost as big as the radiator, so the poor ol radiator gets air that is 50 degrees hotter the air temp. If anything is questionable with the engine cooling system this extra heat becomes "the straw that broke the camels back". Shutting off the cab AC lets cooler air get to the radiator. Eyeball check, the engine fan should be 1/2 way in/out of the fan shroud. Earball check when you start off cold can you hear the cooling fan kick on when the engine gets HOT? The fan is noisy when it runs. Toyota red coolant and Toyota thermostat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseybernard Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Easy to replace the 28 year old radiator, which should help. Does the needle actually get into the red zone, or just approach it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 On 7/11/2019 at 3:27 PM, WME said: Random string of thoughts A 91 should have a transmission cooler from the factory, looks like a small radiator about 6x9". Go to a DIY car wash and blast the radiator clean. Dead bugs is bad for cooling The factory air flow set up is the trannie cooler is in front, then the AC condenser, last is the radiator. Air flows through the trannie cooler and gets hotter---but the cooler isn't that big so the AC condenser gets some hot air and a lot of cool air. But the condenser is almost as big as the radiator, so the poor ol radiator gets air that is 50 degrees hotter the air temp. If anything is questionable with the engine cooling system this extra heat becomes "the straw that broke the camels back". Shutting off the cab AC lets cooler air get to the radiator. Eyeball check, the engine fan should be 1/2 way in/out of the fan shroud. Earball check when you start off cold can you hear the cooling fan kick on when the engine gets HOT? The fan is noisy when it runs. Toyota red coolant and Toyota thermostat. I haven't let the temp get into the red. Radiator is clean... whole engine is clean. Fan runs right, checked the radiator and it is flowing well with Red... the Thermostat is after market, but 180. It pretty much only happens when the A/C is on AND I am sitting still... in my head that means it's an airflow issue, BUT maybe I am low on R12 and it's running harder and creating more heat? Does that make sense? I drove it from New Orleans to South Florida this week, so I have only driven it in serious heat. Tomorrow I am changing the timing belt and water pump while I am in there... I am driving to Maine next week with my kids, so I hope I can figure this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseybernard Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 Would throw a Toyota oem thermostat or at least an aisin t-stat in there for sure and see if that helps any. Have heard bad stories about non oem tstats in Toyotas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surfer Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 1 minute ago, odysseybernard said: Would throw a Toyota oem thermostat or at least an aisin t-stat in there for sure and see if that helps any. Have heard bad stories about non oem tstats in Toyotas. It's an Aisin in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odysseybernard Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 I have an aisin in my 91 V6 also. It's made in Japan but when I replaced the old Toyota oem I compared them and they were not identical. Have had no problems but I've never driven it when it's super hot up here. I would definitely put in an oem tstat since you have to drain the coolant anyway and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey 4x4 Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 There's always the option of the CSF all aluminum 3 row radiators for ultimate performance. They're expensive and people have different opinions on their performance. When I built my first Toy home (22re) I had the cylinders bored the next size up and also installed RV cams and it brought my engine temp up a considerable amount when exiting the highway. It was definitely on the verge of overheating. I installed a CSF 3 row and it never got hot again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeve Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 https://www.radiatorexpress.com/Product/radiator/toyota/1991/pickup/dlx/30l-v6/222468/1277894 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted July 16, 2019 Share Posted July 16, 2019 I have read several times that replacing aftermarket thermostat with OE solved over heating issues. It appears that some aftermarket stats can be distorted when installed and not work properly. My 93 Toyota radiator was oe and in bad shape, so I replaced it with a single row aluminum 4 years ago and my engine runs very cool. Had the OE radiator not been in bad shape I would have taken it to a radiator shop and had it redone as they are a high quality piece of equipment. This would also answer the question of is a clogged radiator the problem. If someone used a sealer of some type you could have a bad problem as they can clog up cooling passages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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