Hey all!

Got my first D1 about a month ago. On the drive home from picking it up I noticed the temp gauge shoot up to the top on the highway. Luckily I only had to drive it 5 minutes before I could pull over to let it cool (no burning smells or smoke). I got a scanner and gave it a coolant flush. During normal driving around town it's sitting at 75 - 85c. Idling it will get up to 95c. I've been trying to stress test it to find any faults in the cooling system over the past couple weeks. Temps rise pretty rapidly when going up steep hills. I took it up a mountain logging road which took about 30 minutes entirely uphill. By the time I got to the peak I was reading 110c. Ambient temp was under 15c. I could see the temp drop right around 100c which I'm guessing is the Thermostat opening fully.
No coolant leaking, Fan clutch is good, and water pump is good. I know the electric fans work when the AC is on but haven't confirmed when they turn on by engine temp. Is it time to re-core the rad? Looking for next steps before dropping cash on a new rad.

Cheers

 

Id get the radiator rodded out..

 

Also verify the area between the AC Condenser and Radiator isn't full of bugs, debris, or a birds nest. You can remove the upper radiator supports to let the radiator tilt back some so you can take a look down between there.

 

I'll give that a check. Do you know what temp range I should be expecting when off-roading/ steep hill climbs?

 

I'd be concerned with prolonged periods over 102 (215 F).

Is the fan shroud in place?

 

Yah the fan and shroud look ok. Thanks for advice on temps. That's what I was aiming for was to keep it under 100C

 

Wrong thread

 

Temp gauge "shooting to the top" might indicate a short circuit or electrical problem. The gauge sensor (one wire) is different than the Engine Coolant Temperature sensor (two wires) that the ECU uses. The OBD scanner reads the ECT sensor vs the gauge sensor, so that is a way to check if there's an electrical problem in the sensor circuits.

 

check the expansion tank for cracks. That can only show up when it gets hot you can use a handheld infrared thermometer do double check the gauges. the gauge on the dash is not too reliable.