Overheating while drifting in the snow

Hello all,

I have done a lot of searching and i cant seem to find an issue similar to mine.

Ive been having a problem with my 2003 3.4l 4x4 (auto tranny) overheating while under heavy use.
It has only happened in the snow. The first time was during a lengthy back road tour. After hours of drifting around and plowing through snow (20-30cm) i noticed my 'A/T temp' light was on along with a needle that was almost in the red. I could hear a boiling sound coming from the engine bay.
I pulled over, blasted the heat, put it in neutral and held it around 1500-2000rpm until the temp went back down.
We still had a ways to go to get out of the woods so i took it easy. I kept a close eye on the needle and it began to rise two more times, but i pulled over and cooled it down before it got very high.

The next time it occured was in an empty parking lot while i was drifting around in the snow. After a bit (more than 20 mins), the needle bagan to rise. This has happened several times.
I never let it get high though as i know that can cause HG damage

One other time i was driving home in a snow storm and the needle began to rise. No drifting was involved, i was just plowing through snow. It was over 40cm on the streets!

My guesses:
-The workload on the tranny and engine combined is too much for the radiator to cool down effectively.
-My radiator is clogged, leading to ineffective cooling
-mud has gotten in the fins on the radiatior, snow collects around the muddy fins and insulates the heat rather than dissipating it.
-Or is my engine simply overheating due to hard use? I truly hope this is not the case as my friends rides have never overheated while drifting together.

that's all I've got!

Any input/advice/links would be greatly appreciated as the snow in NS keeps coming and i dont want to worry about overheating!

 

I recently did a drain and fill of the cooling system. I drained it, filled it with distilled water, and repeated this three times. I drained from the rad and block each time. I filled it with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and toyota long life coolant.

I have never done anything to the tranny. But, with it at 250k, i am wondering what the best steps would be for this.

 

@ 250K if nothing has been done maintenance wise to the transmission, I'll bet smart money says leave it alone.

The only time I had trouble with a radiator was when I once had too much time on my hands and thought I should do the flush, I think I washed everything away that was holding it together !

Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie and deal with problems as they arise at this point.

 

I had this exact problem years ago, in a 22R. Mostly, it overheated while on a snow run (truck constantly worked hard while blasting thru power snow, but no velocity to draw enough air thru the radiator). Over-heated in Death Valley runs as well. Running the heater would always bring bring the temp down, so was never stranded, lived with it for about 4 months.

Tried flushing the system, replaced the thermostat and the fan clutch, but nothing helped. Replacing the radiator fixed it. I guess it had an un-correctable restriction/clog. Pretty easy job, to replace it.

 

Thanks for the replies.

tan4x4 i was thinking about going the same route and trying the full flush/fan clutch/thermostat but I am definitely leaning towards the radiator. May as well save some money and just go for the new rad.
OEM is just so much (~$600-$700 in canada) and there are so many aftermarket ones to choose from i don't want a lemon

 

I went with aftermarket because of that.

However it was harder to find the exact fit. For example, I had a 5-speed, but the radiator I got had connections for the AT fluid cooler. Not an issue though, just put plugs over the ends to prevent water and debris from getting inside.

Good luck

 

A snow clogged radiator sounds the most plausible and as Tan mentioned you're under heavy load while driving at a low velocity. The cooling function of a radiator is proportional to velocity so the faster you're travelling the more heat is going to be dissipated from your engine to the air. I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's just the perfect storm of occurrences to over heat an engine.

 

^ this man here is wise ^

 

I thought Toyota Long Life Coolant was already diluted 50/50?

 

I caught that too..... lol. Just to make sure though.

OP, you didn't further dilute the 50/50 long life coolant with more water, did you?

 

Also, you heard a boiling sound. sounds like something is wrong with your cooling system and I think it's pressure related. Try changing the cap. since a water/antifreeze boiling point is about 105c and your engine runs around 100c, a weak cap could easily lower the boiling point and cause this issue. plus if you change it and it doesnt work, you didn't lose much money.

also, too much antifreeze or water can also cause issues. youll want to make sure you have at least a 5050 mix. 60/40 coolant to water is best.

 

Also! Did you properly burp the system and get all of the air bubbles out? You may have heard the boiling in your heater core where air can easily get trapped!

 

Bubblin' & boilin' in the radiator with overheating makes me think head gasket no matter how you diluted the coolant....

 

If your at light came on the fluid/oil is toast.

 

, try a trans cooler . not expensive and easy to do

 

his automatic is already connected to the trans cooler built in the radiator. you mean put another one on?

 

Add another trans cooler............
The coolant runs at 190
the trans needs to stay below 170....
So the radiator is heating the trans fluid too much...
I disconnected mine from the radiator and run the original trans cooler and I added an extra trans cooler....
Now it runs great.....

Unless you just go to the mall put on a trans cooler and change the trans fluid every couple of years....

 

my first thought was something like this and easy to guess why the overheat



then realized you meant something else

 

yes put a separate trans cooler

 

x2. I installed one in my tacoma. just maker sure you run the right hose to the right fitting