towing with an auto

[ourkid]

My Mistral is going well now after a few tweaks but i haven't tried towing my van yet.It's a 980KG van so am hoping it will cope ok (Any idea of towing limit with the 2.7 TD Auto?)

Thing is,i've read about the need for an oil cooler.I've looked underneath as i'm not sure if it has one but am unsure what i'm looking for,whereabouts would it be?.Do i really need one if i haven't got one fitted?

 

[briggie]

your oil cooler ( atf cooler ) is situated at the bottom of your rad , its built in

 

[briggie]

no harm in fitting a extra oil cooler though ( mine is from a range rover 4 litre lol )

 

[briggie]

its on page 195 of the manual below :thumb2

http://bebrs.pie-dabas.net/Webs/Terrano/R20/at.pdf

 

[zippy656]

its part of the rad.. autos have a two part rad..

Briggs had a MANUAL rad, without a oilcooler at the bottom, so his box was cooked!!

 

[briggie]

its part of the rad.. autos have a two part rad..

Briggs had a MANUAL rad, without a oilcooler at the bottom, so his box was cooked!!

is that cooked with a c .. or cooked with a f ?

 

[briggie]

surely too much cooling is better than none at all tho ? :nenau

 

[Timbo_1975]

I think cooked with an 'f' !!

Anything over about 90deg C as far as an autobox is concerned is not good.

If you are intending prolonged, hilly or regular towing, then an additional thermostatic cooler is a must. It will also take alot of the load off the engine cooling system so that will run cooler aswell.

eg this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Oil-therm...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3a59d757ef

and

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-13-row-oi...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item414eadf986

Plumb it so that the original cooler remains in use at all times, but the thermostat allows the additional cooler to help out when the temp rises. (they open at about 85degC)

 

[Deleted account DD]

surely too much cooling is better than none at all tho ? :nenau

Nope, in theory a correct spec radiator will keep whatever fluid is going through it within a certain range. Too cool or hot the liquid doesnt work properly.

Under cooled oil cant circulate properly for one thing :thumb2

 

[4wheel]

Nope, in theory a correct spec radiator will keep whatever fluid is going through it within a certain range. Too cool or hot the liquid doesnt work properly.

Under cooled oil cant circulate properly for one thing :thumb2

Here's one for the book.The rad and oil cooler are one unit.Prob is if the rad leaks into your oil cooler bang goes the box.Plenty ££££££.So some are by passing the rad oil cooler and fitting an external job just for safety sake.They are availabe from most reputable rad suppliers (the oil cooler that is)However ! An overcooled box will be a problem in winter as the rad/oil cooler combination is designed to keep the box at optimum temp at all times.Food for thought.

 

[pgrem]

hi,just found this on wikipidia its talking about the pathfinder but that uses the td27 as well,cheers

The first generation (WD21) Pathfinders are known to develop rust in the following areas: the frame above and behind the rear wheels, the floor directly above the catalytic converter and under the back seats. On automatic-equipped models, the transmission cooler is notorious for clogging up and starving the transmission of fluid, resulting in a costly rebuild or replacement. Installation of an aftermarket transmission fluid cooler is recommended for any WD21 Pathfinder with an automatic transmission. Nissan techs generally recommend that the stock cooler in the radiator not be used at all.

like briggie ive just had a cooler fitted but for the purpose of towing a small caravan,cheers pete

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

i would suggest that if towing and box is changing alot then to use it manually
as it were. as for weights the creator of the club towed a twin axle 1500kg
caravan without issue with his misty.

so by manual mean dont let it search excessively.

 

[lacroupade]

I owned an automatic 2.7TDi from new for ten years and did 175,000 miles in it - its now still going like a train under Extremes ownership.

I towed extensively with it, including numerous 2000-mile round trips to the south-west of France in the height of summer (40C plus one year as I recall) towing a fully-loaded twin axle 8x6x6 box trailer, with four kids, a wife and a roofbox, at very illegal speeds on the autoroute.

Never had a problem....which I put down to regular (and expensive!) maintenance. Only ever overheated once when the stat went.

So from all that experience, the standard oil cooler set-up gets my vote. :thumb2

 

[rossco]

I owned an automatic 2.7TDi from new for ten years and did 175,000 miles in it - its now still going like a train under Extremes ownership.

I towed extensively with it, including numerous 2000-mile round trips to the south-west of France in the height of summer (40C plus one year as I recall) towing a fully-loaded twin axle 8x6x6 box trailer, with four kids, a wife and a roofbox, at very illegal speeds on the autoroute.

Never had a problem....which I put down to regular (and expensive!) maintenance. Only ever overheated once when the stat went.

So from all that experience, the standard oil cooler set-up gets my vote. :thumb2

I agree on the standard set up.

Our hills are a bit steeper and every where, pain in the butt when towing as the Mistral doesn't like them but still gets up them even if slow Oh for a intercooler

Had no problem with auto over heating.

And yes the secret is regular servicing

 

[brianpaul]

I used to tow a 2 ton trailer with my terrano 2.7 manual, with no probs apart from slight over heating on long gradual hills....
Now have a 2.5 ton trailer and a 3ltr patrol auto..... its far to easy to forget the trailer is there now...

 

[dave36]

towing weight (just to answer the first question)

I have been told its 1.7 tonnes
I would love to hear more about the cooler issue, my auto box failed, I had only driven 8k of the 84k on the clock, she had been stood up in Japan for at least 10 years! and I was the first UK owner - I did tow on 4 occasions, each round trip about 240 miles, never overheated, a pig on hills, towed weight on 3 trips 1 tonne and the fourth trip 1.6 tonnes - overdrive on all the time, never thought there could be an advantage to switching it off on hills!
I also suspect that she was owned by someone in a mountainous area, judging by the maze of arials and the passenger footwell being full of computer boxes and disk based satnav.

 

[lacroupade]

I have been told its 1.7 tonnes

correct - 1700kgs for the auto and 2800kgs for the manual (with or without intercooler).