Driving across Canada with my (wife says our) L300

[LMcD]

Hi all.
I have been lurking on here for awhile now; reading about engine temp's, fuel eff, and fixes on this's and that's of my (our) new toy. I have learned much, and thanks to all for sharing their knowledge.

We (wife and 2 kids) left Victoria on Sunday and as of now we are in mid SK. Just taking our time and stopping where we want to stop, camping when we get tired and staying with friends and family when and where we can; we are hoping to be home in Halifax by end of next week. We had lots of stops in the mountains, now that we are in the prairies we are going to drive longer days.

I had the a general checkout, brakes, motor mounts, u joints, oil/fluid change done in Victoria. The shop brought a few other concerns but funds left that not possible to do at the time. The timing belt was done at 70k, and the machine now has 155k. I know the timing belt is due, will get that done when we are home.
The machine is '93 L300, 4D56, super exceed.
I have some technical questions about driving the beast (I didn't know whether to put this in the L300 tech or not) and looking for general advice. I have never been a car guy so I do not know my way a vehicle very well, but I do fix electrical things for a living so I can find my way tools, wrenches and turny things.

- when driving the Crowsnest highway, in general, going up a long mountain pass the speed would drop to 50ish and the rpm at 2700, with the temp at 3/4's scale (between the two lines on the temp. gauge). When going down hill the temp. would drop to about 1/4 scale. Is this normal?
- when driving on a straight stretch hanging around 100 (rpm 2500) to 110 (rpm 2700), temp would hold 1/2 scale. Lots of comments I read in other posts said it should be closer to the bottom end of the scale on the gauge. Am I in the safe zone?
- the coolant level in the rad is about 3 inches below the opening when the cap is removed. Nothing in the overflow. If i read the other threads right, it seems there should always be coolant in the overflow, should there be coolant in the overflow? How full should the rad be? I would assume the shop I had it at checked that and left it at the right level - but as grampa says - ASSUME spells / makes an ASS outa U and ME. Haha..thanks grampa.
- I got the AC system checked by a co-worker who has a fridge ticket and all the proper gear. He purged/vacuumed/filled the system and said it held a charge. It blows cold air, but not much. Any thoughts? The super cool coolbox barely gets a bottle of water cold.
- with almost 60l of fuel per fill in the mountains we got about 400km(ish), east the mountains we get close to 475km(ish) per tank. Good or bad?
- No matter how much we clean the carpets and inside, cant get rid of the musty smell. Where would be the most likely causes of water getting in? Any thoughts on a temp. cover-up for the musty smell? Freebreeze is not the answer.
- The headlights and the DRL. I dont want to dwell on this, and there is tons info here, but a few simple (I hope) questions. These are the headlights in the beast [http://www.amazingautoimports.com/t/del ... headlight/].
Question 1) when I turn the beast on, the round lights come on, is these the DRL's? Are these also the normal headlights?
Question 2) when I turn the headlight switch to the first position, the parklights come on. When I turn it to the second position, no other lights come on. When I turn the brights on, I hear a relay pull in and the inside (oval) lights come on. Is this the way its suppose to be?

So far, it has been a great trip for us. Even though I am not a car guy, I am pretty excited to have this machine and I hope to keep it for a long time. In NS where I am from, there are few of these around and I have coveted one for awhile now. I have found this site [http://www.planetdelica.com/] so I know there are some locals in my area I can meet and torment in the future.

We are hitting the road this morning so I thank all in advance for all the help, and if there is a delay my response it's b/c I am driving and don't want to give up the wheel to the wife.

[konadog]

Go up those big hills slow, but keep the revs between 3000 and 3500 - 2700 is way to slow. The higher the revs the better coolant and air move and so your motor cools better.
That's all i have for you on your list. Hope you have a fun trip - heaps long way!

[yojimbo]

She is very low on water and running too hot. The rad should be full to the top. The overflow should be full to theax/min lines. The temp should be bottom of the gauge, 1/4 region. Rising to 1/2 as a safe max. I get concerned if mine goes to 1/3! Fill it with coolant, and see where it sits. If its still that high the rad is probably blocked.

Fuel economy sounds roughly normal. And the musty smell is probably rain leaking into the front footwells. Check to zee if they are damp, theres a few fixes.

[nvanadm]

going up a long mountain pass the speed would drop to 50ish and the rpm at 2700, with the temp at 3/4's scale (between the two lines on the temp. gauge). When going down hill the temp. would drop to about 1/4 scale. Is this normal?

Like it was mentioned, 2700 rpm is too low. Want to keep the rpms up. 3rd gear usually works ok (might need 2nd). Just turn OD off so that it's not constantly switching between 3rd and 4th.
My '93 L300 does about the same with the temp gauge. They vary from van to van though. Seems normal

the coolant level in the rad is about 3 inches below the opening when the cap is removed. Nothing in the overflow. If i read the other threads right, it seems there should always be coolant in the overflow, should there be coolant in the overflow? How full should the rad be?

The coolant should be filled right to the top of the rad, and you should have coolant in the overflow. There is a line on the overflow container if you look really close. I would make sure you top that up ASAP.

with almost 60l of fuel per fill in the mountains we got about 400km(ish), east the mountains we get close to 475km(ish) per tank. Good or bad?

I would say Bad. I'm usually closer to 600kms for 60L (about 10L/100km or anywhere from 20-23mpg). You'll want to figure it out in either L/100kms or mpg to compare apples to apples. Saying an amount of kms per tank doesn't give the full information to make a decision. If you use Fuelly.com, it will show you both L/100kms and mpg. And you can track your mpg's over time to see if anything drastically changes.

[LMcD]

Thank you Folks.
Coolant filled to TOP of rad, and overflow to cold line.

We will keep good track of the fuel consumption, and input the data to see what we really get.

LMcD

[gezzza]

I have installed a coolant sensor in my top radiator hose and an engine watchdog sensor attatched to a side bolt on the head along with the factory temp gauge .The watchdog will always be the the first to pick up true changes in engine temps as it measures the metal .The hose sensor will follow shortly after but the factory gauge is not to noticable in 1 or 2 degree changes. For a guide my coolant has gotten up to 100deg ,watchdog 106deg and factory gauge sat at half way

P2060036 (800x600).jpg (237.72 KiB) Viewed 5801 times

[Spearo]

All sounds normal. Yea top up the rad and shift down up the hills; higher RPM's also means more fuel cooling the valves/pistons as well as coolant pumping through the block.
The AC in these things is not great; you'll have to deal with it. Your mileage isn't bad and it depends on how much weight you're hauling, how you drive, wind, what you have on the rack etc. Mine changes noticeably with the rack off, as well as cruising speed.
Your temp gauge: assuming all is working well, if its in the middle it's fine. It depends on what temp your thermostat is set to open at. I run a higher one and it sits in the middle until we hit some long hills, but it doesn't rise much.

Happy travels!

[thedjjack]

if you add throttle and get little to no speed increase you are only making HEAT...

piston/head melting heat in a diesel....

[LMcD]

Thanks for the input everyone.
We made it across Canada without incident.
Except for the time we almost ran out of gas in Northern Ontario.
Got 71km with the gas light on before we found a gas station.