Intercooler (L300) and US Pacific road trip...

[Johnny&Ruby]

Hey y'all. It's been a while since we posted ... but we're planning on taking a road trip (end of September, beginning of October) from Victoria, down to San Simeon, CA and then east through Nevada and north and west through Utah and Idaho and back home. It's a long trip. Juniper is in great shape and running fine... our only concern is that perhaps the American highways might be a little fast and hot for her? Our plan is to hug the coast and not use the I5 at all, but is there anything we can do to hedge our bets against a breakdown? We are thinking the possible addition of an intercooler but we don't know how to install and are hoping for a little help in that department.

Any ideas are appreciated! Thanks!

[sasquatch-hunter]

Intstalling an intercooler on a L300 is tricky as hell. Just ask Gary O. There is a company makes water cooled intercooler called frozen boost or something.

[jessef]

Best thing you can do is to make sure your cooling system is running 100%

[after oil]

i have now logged 3 trips south of the border, one all the way into central mexico.
i just returned from 6500 kilometers mostly on US desert interstates in mid summer. there were 3 of us and all our gear, and sometimes up to 250 liters of veggie oil. once or twice the temp gauge pushed a little past the center line, but still far from high.
we drove 110 to 120 km/h most of the time, with RPMs at about 2800.
has your cooling system been replaced since japan? you should be just fine, just take it easy. i think your bigger worry should be cooking your head/turbo/manifold from extreme exhaust gas temperatures, but like i said, take her easy.
also consider that when sustaining long uphills, better to be in a gear with higher RPMs becuase then the engine cools better...

just point your delica in the direction you want to go, and youll get there!

[Jensen]

My only issue is the location most people have to put the intercooler in. Not too great for offroad, I'd probably stick with what you've got.



I snagged the image from one of the GaryO threads, if you google L300 intercooler you'll see most are the same setup.

[jessef]

Spending the time/money on an intercooler is better put towards replacing the rad/waterpump/thermostat/hoses/coolant flush and timing belt/tensioner check.

People drive these things everywhere.

Just drive it nicely (don't lug up hills) and make sure the servicing (especially cooling/timing) is done.