Supercharged engine running hot

Consider replacing thermostat - inexpensive way to eliminate a point of failure (maybe lower temp on replacement?)

 

That would be awesome! Mine feels the same always...hot or cold. I can easily pin it with my hand

 

If I do decide to change out the thermistat I think I will go with the urd 170* thermostat. Couldn't hurt and I was considering doing it before I was having issues.

 

http://neuralfibre.com/paul/4wd/tuning-and-understanding-your-toyota-viscous-fan-clutch

Don't know the validity of this info in regards to your exact fan clutch but it was an interesting read.

 

Very interesting. If all else fails and I decide to replace the fan clutch I might see about checking the old ones fluid. If it's low maybe I'll even feel ballsy enough to add some and see if it works better than a new one.

Really makes you wonder if you are better off swapping in a good electric fan and getting rid of the clutch...

 

I swapped a flexalite dual electric fan setup in my old Tundra. A few random blown fuses and 2 lower radiator hoses later followed by a burnt thermostat computer made me super happy to swap the stock fan and clutch back on. It was a nightmare that I'd rather not relive. YMMV.

 

The ONLY advantage to doing this is it allows the coolant to hit the rad sooner and therefore delay the climb to overheating. It does not open any further or make the system more efficient. It may cause your engine to run colder than recommended in some scenarios.

Motors are designed to run in a certain range. Too cold and they can use risk anything from inefficiency to cold seizures (piston expands faster than the cylinder walls and sudden stop and all sorts of motor carnage) or bearings that don't have the correct tolerance to their moving parts. Too hot and many of the same scenarios (but slightly different in actual mechanical / physical terms) play out and possibly including blown head gaskets, cracked heads, cracked blocks, leaking piston rings and we could go on forever. I rarely recommend a thermostat range change unless there is a very specific problem we are trying to address. Often one step hotter for those who live in very cold places to help keep the interior heat sufficient for instance. IF on a race machine we go colder it is due to overheating and it allows full open slightly sooner but at the same time the machine is at full running temp before any load is added.

One option we used to use was to use aluminum hard piping for long straight runs. Aluminum transfers heat very well and this slight drop in temps vs full runs of rubber hose can drop a few degrees in some scenarios. I still say however check the whole system FIRST. If all checks fine my FIRST thought would be larger rad or supplementary rad.

 

Do you have OE front bumper or aftermarket OR bumper? winch? Just make sure your radiator is clean. Take it all the way off and check it thoroughly. The Rad should have no problem handling the SC if its the same one that TRD used to make for the tacos.

 

Most of the time the weather out here is pretty mild. Very rarely is it cold though. Summer time the heat kicks in really heavy sometimes, this summer actually has not been all that bad though. From what I have read it seems the URD T-stat is only about 10* colder than stock and opens closer to the engines set operating temp which I think I read is around 168 *.

OE front bumper for now, soon to be getting an after market, at least that is the plan. I cleaned it pretty good but taking it off would definitely be able to clean it more thoroughly. If I have to drop my coolant again I will definitely take it out and clean it real good with a decent pressure, but not enough to damage it and bend any fins. For the most part I have no issues. Only time things start getting hot has been when I am out in real desert climates (Nevada, Arizona)

 

I bought a flex-a-lite fan and can idle in Havasu at 125 degrees with my AC blowing cold. It will definitely help.

 

You shouldn't yet have a head gasket leak. Engine is too young.

I'd start with just replacing the radiator cap. $15 max part at a local store. Raise it to 1.1 - 1.3 Bar. If possible.

If you had a cap tester, you could see how much pressure it holds. Otherwise, it is a cheap part to throw on.

 

One reason I suggested replacing the thermostat - had a 73 Celica with dealer-installed A/C. Water temp would start to climb in stop and go traffic. Was under warranty, and took it in. BAD thermostat - coil was slightly crooked and it would NOT open fully. Problem solved.

 

Any chance the wrong rad was installed at the factory?

Regardless, radiators are cheap and should be considered consumable parts. every 100k, new rads goes in my trucks. The cost of a new rad vs. the cost of a flush is slight. Just change the thing and move on. In addition, with a rad change, you will most likely use new coolant.

Also, I did not notice, but is there a chance the coolant is undiluted? Straight anti-freeze is not as good heat transfer fluid as water and anti-freeze.

 

To piggyback on this, fuel starvation on these trucks is an inherent problem. I sometimes feel inconsistencies in the fuel system, and I do not have the Magnusen on my truck. There are a number of kits designed to deliver the output needed for the supercharger. They all follow the same procedure; remove bed, modify fuel tank with higher-output fuel pump, and re-seal. Might be a good solution if you're having these problems after hard driving of the engine in harsh conditions. Most newer generation (factory) supercharged engines come with a cooling block that separates (to some degree) the heat of the supercharger from the engine block. I don't know if this could impact trans temp, but maybe? I know sometimes these transmissions run hot on warm days, especially under heavy loads or towing, but not knowing the EXACT situation of the heating problems I can't really help with that! The regular maintenance and low mileage of your truck speaks to the fact that there probably isn't anything preventative that could be done to avoid this scenario. So many possibilities! Also, as stated by Exracer2 sometimes when a radiator begins functioning poorly, it just needs a thorough clean.

Unfortunately it comes with the territory! I will never supercharge or do long-travel on my truck because while I like wrenching, I don't want to have to do it regularly to solve the problems of my modifications, but I understand why people do them! I would supercharge my truck in a heartbeat if I knew it would never need maintenance/attention, but it just complicates the simplicity of the 2nd gen drivetrain (a solid reason for my purchase of a 2nd gen). You do you, though! Hopefully you or others find the problem and solution! Good luck!

 

Definitely going to get a new cap on Monday. Is the Toyota one adjustable? Or maybe a different model cap will have the raised pressure.

Anything is possible, once I narrow it down more if I am still having issues I will buy a new one. I guess technically my truck is still under warranty but I don't even want to mess with taking it to Toyota for them to look at it.

I'm not sure how I would know if I have the wrong rad, it seems to be the right one but then again I could be wrong. The shroud says GR on it if that had anything to do with it.
Coolant is 50/50 toyota premixed coolant. I remember I bought 6 gallons when they installed the suoer and they only ended up using 3 gallons so I still have 3 left over. Makes me wonder if the truck only holds 3 gallons or what because I could have swore when I looked it up I was going to need around 5 gal between the supercharger and the engine/rad.

 

The urd fuel pump upgrade has been in my crosshairs for awhile now, was going to wait when I put the stealth pulley on to do it. Couldn't hurt to do it now though.

 

URD was the one! Yes, would definitely be good choice regardless of the cause.

 

I live in Nevada and see above 100* ambient temps often. I would see 205 at idle with my a/c on max every now and again. The a/c would also blow warm at stoplights and such. This thread was the final straw in my knowledge of it not being normal, so I started by pressure washing my tranny cooler, and radiator today. The water that came out didn't look too dirty. But pressure washing made a huge difference! I let it idle for about an hour and my a/c blew colder than ever. My temps never got over 190 and I monitored them for the entire time.

 

The SC kit from Toyota calls for upgraded spark plugs and larger fuel injectors bigger belt and CPU flash does not say anything about upgrading fuel pump. It comes with a separate water/ air rad make sure that is clean as well... TRD designed these to be plug and play with no to very little maintenance. I believe magnuson took over the TRD supercharger when TRD decided that they weren't making any money on them to justify the cost and should be the same exact SC. There for upgrading fuel pump unless there is something wrong with it I wouldn't do it. Waste of money. Make sure you have the right fuel injectors spark plugs and clean rads air filter.... one other thing the larger TRD air intake is not compatible with the supercharger. Thought I would mention that.