92 Hiace Reimo pop top

Hi folks

As I've started a couple of threads about my van I thought I should put a few pics up! The van's in great nick body wise, if I can sort it's cooling issues I'll be chuffed.

Cheers,
Pete

Awesome, welcome to the Reimo club

That looks like a lovely clean bus being put to good use, super clean under the arches. Do you have any more interior pics?

Here's one of ours from a recent IOW excursion, I think they like the seaside.

Was that Brean Beach?

What is up with the cooling?

Stepawayfromthemachine,thanks for the kind words, I'll try & take a few shots of the interior this week, it needs a bit of work inside but is not too bad.

Clive, yes it is Brean, had a lovely day there this summer (how far out does that tide go!).

It's a long story with the cooling. The head gasket went, had the head tested & skimmed, rebuilt with new gasket bolts etc, new thermostat & cambelt, radiator supposedly flushed (not removed to do so). 200 miles later showing signs of overheating again. You can drive for about 20 miles & then when you stop the expansion bottle sounds like a boiling kettle whilst pushing water out the overflow. I've since had the radiator re-cored & fitted a new viscous fan coupling, all to no effect. I noticed on another thread that you suggested changing the rad cap? My gut reaction is that the head is still at fault, but my fear is that this is the result of another problem & not the cause. If I could find a decent 3L motor for sale I'd contemplate an engine swap. It's a shame the 1KZ isn't a straight swap as they seem easier to find. We love the van but at the moment we're at our wits end with it!

Right for the sake of £20 or so I'd try a new rad cap.

If the head was tested and skimmed I'd put that on the back burner for now.

What coulour is the bubbling coolant?

Left this for a while with it being Christmas (and with all the lovely weather we're having!) but need to pull my finger out & sort the van. I've seen the cap listed with different pressure ratings, 0.9 & 1.1 . It's currently got a 0.9 cap but wondered if the 1.1 would be better? What do the 2.8 (3L) owners out there use?
Clive, not sure of the colour of the bubbling coolant, does it make a difference?

Yes, clean and clear likely to be a rad problem, brown would indicate rust and black a head problem.

If it has little flecks of brown/gold stuff it has had a "treatment".

Now get out there before the snow comes.

Cubipete
Not sure if you've fixed this yet...

I can sympathise! Ours overheated (looking back probably from a blown gasket) but it cracked the head so we replaced that and pretty much the list of parts you mentioned but including a new rad. I commented to the garage over the following days that she didn't feel right. OK its a SC not formula 1 but she lacked power and fuel consumption up. Within a couple of months she overheated again. Eventually it turned out they had used the wrong head gasket. There are three different thicknesses for the 3L (which I found out for myself and mentioned to them). Garage blamed the head supplier, head supplier told the garage they should have checked etc etc. With the right one fitted she's been back to great.

Not sure if this is your problem but it sounds very similar.

Thanks for the reply, I didn't know that about the gasket thickness, do you have a link or part number for the correct one?

I've got a new radiator cap sat next to me on the desk (arrived today). Went for a genuine Toyota part, I'm hoping it will work but not holding my breath!

It was a couple of years ago and I didn't keep the web links. That said I recall the original Toyota gaskets have 1, 2 or 3 cut-outs on the outer edge around the nr 4 piston end with I think 1 being thinnest and 3 being thickest. The right one depends on the best match between your cylinder head and your block, the better the two have been machined the thinner the gasket needs to be. On mine they probably used one that was too thin initially (or just badly placed/torqued) and it leaked. Whether they then measured it properly or just replaced it with a thicker one I don't know, maybe that would work fine but I'm no expert. I do know harsh words were exchanged between supplier and garage, it was replaced (at their cost) and 12k km later she's still great.

Had a quick web look see this http://www.carsrus.com.au/toyota-hilux-hiace-3l-2-8ltr-diesel-head-vrs-gasket-set.html it confirms there are 3 for the 2.8l 3L

Sorry I don't know enough to be more specific.

Well the replacement radiator cap didn't work  . All seemed fine when pootling locally, took it out today & after about 20 miles the temp started rising. When I stopped it was bubbling away furiously in the expansion tank as before.

I think the best bet is to hand it over to someone to have a look at. If anyone has any recommendations for garages in Devon, Dorset or Somerset I'd love to hear them!

Assuming the thermostat is ok, then it has to be head or head gasket.

As it's a cheap job we just fitted a new stat when MOT'd, I'll post back but suspect it's more serious.

Right, it's in the garage with the head off & the mechanic suspects an incorrect gasket, it's definitely not genuine Toyota & it seems that the gasket covered a few of the waterways when fitted. Talking to our local Toyota dealer there are 3 different gaskets available (as mentioned above by 4x4camperman), marked B, D or F, of varying thickness. However they have no idea which gasket is which thickness! Does anyone on here know? They thought perhaps the owners manual might indicate which gasket I need, but I don't have one. I'm stumped. But I'm also encouraged, as I may have to got to the root of the problem.

Info found! A useful link here for 3L engine specs: http://www.kilometr.com/3l.pdf