Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club | Coquihalla Highway - New Year - Advice pls :)

Remember a block heater if it gets really cold!

..I do the Coq 7-10 time a year -all seasons. My Deli has a new re-core/ pump/ etc..(and MANY other mods) but will still get hot when pushing the summit or outside of Merritt going east. Tried a good flush..some Royal Purple additive..2.5 exhaust..modified fan but was no use....still end up reving it to 3k doing 60-70kms on the sustained climbs. Finally ended up installing a heat exchanger (mounted to my "Issak" aluminum skid pan) pre front heater core and installed a 184 thermostat. This upped the total coolant capacity by 1.5 litres and allows better flow at the higher RPM's/ and a jump on flow at the start before the heat builds. This was no "be-all-end-all" but does allow me to push harder on the climbs. It now can sustain around 80km on the same climb(s) and no notable change on the temp gauge on loaded climbs less than 10min.(approx) No pics here at work, but I would be happy to post later to those looking for the same gains.

Thanks for all the advice, some of it i'll look into, like getting the rad checked over and some i'll do at a later date. I think a block heater is a good idea, anybody know a good installer in Vancouver/North van, that is IF I have to get it installed, are they easy to fit? know any good suppliers? i'm originally from the UK so never had to deal with a block heater before.

Also how long roughly do I have to sustain a hill climb for? lets say at 60 - 70 k

Kinl

Hi Kinl, the worst of the Coq is the bit from hope to the old toll booth, where the road starts to flatten out and then is just mellow up and downs. You could do a day trip now to the old toll booth area and turn round there, just to get a feel for it all now without any time pressure. The problem with the bad bit is it is basically uphill for an hour at Delica speed, so I suggest you just travel in the middle lane (the slow lane will be too slow as the big trucks are crawling up). It is fine, as long as you don't rush it, and just watch the heat guage, it will climb a bit as you are climbing, but if it gets very high ie near 3/4, then just pull over to the side and park and idle the engine a bit till it goes down. By changing your speeds as you drive by changing lanes, you'll change the rev points. Don't speed uphill, don't travel with overdrive in use (you know overdrive ... that passing gear where the deli is gulping fuel and revving madly). Practise driving on the North Van Cut, feel the difference when you just drive mellow up the slow lane vs whining up the fast lane. The Coq is just longer than the cut. Practise your "sweet spot", on mine it is about 70 k, where the tach drops to under 2000, and it happily loves to drive along at that speed forever without overheating.

The best part of the Delica is that if the snow or fog restricts the coquihalla, you just hop back into thebed and curl up a sleeping bag (have the bed preset before going so you dont open the door to lose heat), snooze till the snow plows come out. Daytime is better than night as temps are higher so roads better. if it is snowing, traffic goes to just one plowed lane, so everyone goes the pace of the slowest truck. So take heaps of protein bars, and thermos of hot drink for the long drive.

Cheers, Christine.
PS: rereading your post, you mention chains, our experience in the group Delica camping trips, chains got that delica only a few yards further than the other delicas with non chains. When the road is bad, it is usually the compacted layer of ice and snow that is next to the road that makes things bad. FYI: each driver thought their Delica would be the best, I figured to my great tires, another figured due to his great lift kit, another due to his lead foot on the pedal, another because he grew up in the snow of quebec, another due to his chains. We all got to within a couple delica lengths of each other. But the delicas made it further than other 4x4's, yippee.

next week will be my first coq drive with my deli...
it will sure be a different experience than it was with my pathfinder.
i suspect for me and my 5SPD, i'll probably be in 3rd gear up that hill.
it won't be a fast climb, but it will be in style!

Thanks for all the advice :)

Hi Kinl, realized we never answered your question of who does block heater installs, answer is CVI in Richmond, several members have been super pleased with Edwin and CVI's work doing this finicky thing in tight confines of the engine. They are delica experts, so will take the extra 5 minutes to put the vehicle on the hoist and check over your vehicle to ensure all seems happy.
Cheers, Christine.

Thanks, Butch or Edwin would have been the first port of call anyway :)