Skid Plate and overheating

[impalator]

I got myself a nice skid plate for the Van (from the 2nd shiny batch) and really like the look of it... I mounted it in February or something like that (early in the year) and obviously heat was not a problem since then until recently...

Now, that we've had some really hot days in the lower mainland, I noticed that even modestly "pushing" the engine (going up Keith Road from Brooksbank... which is maybe 1.5 km's of hill) leads to the temp gauge indicating higher than normal temp. It hasn't gone past the middle yet, but it definitively climbs.

I have new "everything" as far as cooling is concerned (rad, pump, thermostat, hoses, even cylinderhead.... - after massive overheating damage last year) and as such think that my cooling system should not cause any trouble.

So I wonder if maybe the skid-plate restricts airflow onto the radiator when driving as the air essentially passes through the holes cut into the skid-plate as opposed to freely flowing through the entire width of the opening... Do I need to worry about this as I will be "negotiating" the Coquihalla and heading into the Cariboo etc. this summer.

I guess I am just being paranoid about heat-issues since my disastrous overheating failure last year...

Anybody with similar experience after mounting the skid-plate: What is your impression / feedback on this?

The other thing is that I traveled in the Middle East, North Africa and India for work extensively for three years (Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco... you name it) and over there, everybody and their dog cruise around in Diesel Vans (trailing massive black clouds of smoke due to poor Diesel quality and probably poor engine maintenance).... and yet, most of these machines are waaaaay older than our 15 year old Delica's... and believe me, at 45+ degrees celsius, with the air conditioner going full tilt and driving over the long and steep mountains from Beirut to Damascus..... the engines have to work hard... and the vans are usually full to the brim with people and stuff....

How do they do that, I mean if all their Vans would overheat, they wouldn't be so popular there... they also have lots of Toyota Diesel Vans and I heard that the Toyota Diesel 2.4 is even more likely to overheat than the Delica? Is it because they don't have a skid-plate? I am just not 100% sure... is there a heavy duty cooling system available (larger radiator, heavier blowing fan, bigger hoses?...)

Any feedback - with or without skid-plate would be great...

Cheers,
Chris

[bionic]

...same experience. I thought the cut-outs on my "aftermarket wink-wink" 1/4" aluminum skid plate were poorly thought out as I noticed a rise in heat almost immediately after install. I "connected-the-dots" so to speak with a jigsaw thereby connecting the cut holes vertically for the top two rows and horizontally for the bottom. Massive improvement. If I were not on my second a/c fan from debrit from logging roads I would strongly advise NOT to install one of these. Did the old side of the road pit manouver on the Coquihalla at the old toll both in a drastic attept to cure this problem. The stock Chamnix/ Jasper cover with its louvers appears to be a better design however if your not truely doing any serious offroading, then don't bother with a belly cover.

[R2D2]

Hmmm. I have one of the skid plates too and also experience overheating. Could this be the problem??? I'll remove mine and give it a try.

[mararmeisto]

I don't mean to be overly critical, but the first thing I noticed about the skid plate everyone bought this past year was how it seemed to go all the way down to the 'scoop' in front of the radiator. And now that I've found the pictures, I've confirmed my suspicions. The double row of holes is at the wrong angle to allow enough air flow, and the lower single row of holes is too obstructive too.

Very nice looking, but covers the ram scoop for bottom edge of radiator.

IMG_0141.jpg (123.24 KiB) Viewed 7141 times

The red arrow in the next image indicates where most of the aftermarket skid plates end.

IMG_0140.jpg (164.51 KiB) Viewed 7139 times

I suspect that this particular version doesn't allow enough air flow around the engine bay - might be the cause for your overheating.

Here are two others that either end before the ram scoop or have sufficient-sized holes down in what I am speculating is a critical area for air flow:

[konadog]

I've got one of Fishslapper's skid plates and never noticed any difference in engine temps. I think there is lots of room for air flow myself...

[jrman]

I'd be very surprised if the skid plate was the source of the over heating problem. I mean, worth a shot I guess - but the openings are reasonably liberal and it's true that our temperatures are a fraction of the those in SE Asia where so many of these vehicles work and play!

[FalcoColumbarius]

I am inclined to agree with JRman & Konadog, that I don't think the skid plate is the culprit. The bottom picture is off of the Miss Lil' Bitchi and I was very careful to make sure that the grille was lined in the right direction but I don't think it really matters. One thing I think we should be considering is that it has been rather hot these last few days and perhaps this has something to do with the recent experiences of Delica drivers on our steep BC hills. Another thing that comes to mind: I'll bet that most of the drivers (like myself) moved to Delicas from gasoline vehicles and are driving in the same manner, which might have something to do with this... Just a thought.

Other possibilities: Rad; water pump; thermostat; fan clutch.

Falco.

[maxpowers]

i doubt it, steep local hills are not any steeper anywhere else. and most drivers in other countries are much less concerned about what kind of engine they are pushing. the reason you choose a vehicle like this is because you need it to work under all conditions not some.

otherwise you would just buy a dodge caravan.

you should be able to run one of these engines under load for a long while, 10 +++ hrs--- to forever. no problems. provided they are serviced at correct intervals.

that came off kinda wrong... i don't mean the skid plate is culprit..... it might be?...... its just not the hills.

[Blue Van Group]

I don't think that the skid plate is a problem. I have seen lots of vehicles with overheating troubles these last few hot days. I am not fortunate enough to have one of the skid plates but have noticed increased temp going uphill in recent days. In hot weather your engine temps will go up when working hard (going up a steep hill) if your cooling system (this includes air flow to the rad) is working properly the temp will go down fairly quickly after the workload drops.

[Green1]

There is of course a quick way of checking...
take off the skid plate and then do the same trip again and see what happens...

[loki]

There is of course a quick way of checking...
take off the skid plate and then do the same trip again and see what happens...

Bingo!

[jaggedfish]

I have to be nothing but supportive of the skid plate. I have been diligently watching the temp guage in this recent heat wave... my daily commute is 100 kms - White Rock to Van City and back. It never moved above the equivalent of 1/4 tank on the bigger hills. The most increase I have noticed (not in the heatwave) was trying to accelerate up the hill on Hwy 1 heading west from the Taylor Way on-ramp in North Van but that is still in the "1/4 tank" range and quickly drops again as the hill levels out.

I also sit in traffic on Oak Street in the heat with only airflow from the fan and don't notice any rise in temp.

The one thing I DO notice tho is that you can definitely hear the fan running when you drive away from a stop after sitting for a while. So my question would be whether your fan is operating correctly (I'm pretty sure they are clutch fans, controlled by temperature) - I noticed that wasn't in the list of new parts. Just a thought.

I can fully understand the tentativeness after being stung by overheating.

[shaun]

I have noticed that in this hot weather my temp goes up just above 1/2.I was driving from my work in Chilliwack back to Langley.When I get to Sumas & start climbing to Abbostford,temp starts to climb.Today I joined the holes together & took the Hope Princeton.I am now in Vernon & had no temp problems.Tomorrow going to Kettle Valley & then Banif.The pictures used in this section are of my van.The plate just needs some bigger cooling holes,easy to do,no big deal.

[Golf Cart]

Ive installed Isaac's skidplatter with no changes to my cooling that I could really see.

I normally don't drive when its hot out, but due to timimg I had to head up to the Okanagan last Friday. After turning around on the #1 , and heading back thru Abby onto the #7 about 3:30 , I had not noticed any diff in temp. Headed up the Coq and was doing 80kmh in 3rd at the snow shed with a slight increase ( just over half on the gauge). I did replace my rad with one of Mardy's new ones a while back.

And I'm the type of driver that will turn on my defrost/heater ( and open the windows) and try to reduce the temp, and it seems to work on the Delica just nicely. We ended up tootling around the Aspen Grove area and during parts of the weekend and at times outside temp was showing 38c. Engine temp stayed pretty consistant.

[Adrock]

your new thermostat is just working properly, while your old one didn't. as long as you don't go above half unless you feel like its fair for it to get that hot I wouldn't worry at all.