High temp running when towing

[Mike Jill and Emily]

I had the pleasure of moving a shed today and needed the use of a trailer - we have a towbar fitted and borrowed a twin axle trailer (big thing, but not as big as a caravan)

The temperature gauge always seems to go quite high when not towing (on steep hills it will hover around the top end of scale (excellent Mason alarm fitted) but I found that the gauge was into the red on hills and as I have the set the alarm to the top of scale it was coming on most of the time. The handbrake lever was quite hot at these times and I did put both heaters on to ease the temp. Once up the hills the temperature dropped quite quickly back to normal and the handbrake cooled down quickly too. The Bongo seemed to find it a struggle up the hills - but the weight of the Bongo, plus the trailer and the shed must have been quite significant. The heat from the heaters was positively tropical.

Now the question has to be
Is this what I should Expect when towing a big trailer (the shed was a bit heavy too !! (8' X 5') or should I be looking for possible problems. It is possible that I just have a bad case of Bongonoia (like paranoia only Bongo related)

I have to say that the trailer looked really good on the Bongo - very Junior Eddie Stobart I towed it with my focus a couple of years ago (probably not legally) and it looked silly

[Lewy]

I'm not sure but if you have not had loss of coolant or a guiser from the header tank I would have thought it was okay, did you hear the rad fans on high speed fans come on?

[mister munkey]

Mine's done just the same but only noticed since fitting the Mason. Windy Hill M62 @ 80mph with a trailer is enough to get it blipping when set at 5. Hardknott Pass up in the Lake District did the same.

Locally, the temp guage reads higher up hills with a trailer than without. Probably because the Mason is reflecting the extra load on the engine.

I'm sure its a normal thing.

[Seamus]

I towed my six wheeled box trailer (with racing car, spares, tools, generator, spare wheels etc...) probably weighing almost 2 tonnes on a 260 mile round trip to Wales a couple of weeks ago and the temp guage read normal for the whole journey.

The £160 worth of diesel hurt though!

[bigdaddycain]

Test the engine cooling fans by removing the plug to the engine block on the drivers side,just about centre with the middle of the front wheel,mid way up.

[The Great Pretender]

Hi Mike, my cooling system is modified, but appears to operate similar to standard. I have a thermistor in the waterway on the outlet of the head feeding a digital gauge.
What I have found out is that the cooling system is capable of coping with anything it was made to handle. With my thermostat on the outlet of the engine my gauge slowly rises to 90c then quickly drops to 80c at motorway speed (that is stat opening and closing).
The point being if any Bongo is running hot there is a fault.

[dobby]

Doone - I get similar symptoms on mine. If I undo the drain valve and coolant comes out will I have to bleed the system or just top up? If no coolant comes out then can I assume the Rad is sludged up and needs flushing thru' or will it need replacing?

Thanks

[Mike Jill and Emily]

hi all,

Thanks for all the advice - much appreciated. I am due a service soon (and MOT) so I may well take a trip to the wonderful Wigan emporium (wheelquick) for a good once over assuming I don't get the chance to have a look myself. Although I won't be towing the big trailer too often I wold be happier knowing that everything is OK.

The Mason alarm is fantastic, it is really assuring to be able to see what is happening with the temperature - rather than the Bongo standard "I am at 11 and I 'aint budging"

The Mrs is ordering a Conservatory this weekend (DIY ) and guess who is fitting it - so I may be a bit busy to have any quality time with the Bongo

[Mike Jill and Emily]

Thanks Nick ---- do I get geek points for knowing what a Bridgeport Miller is

[Dave Mason]

... Mason alarm fitted ... the gauge was into the red on hills ... The handbrake lever was quite hot at these times and I did put both heaters on to ease the temp. Once up the hills the temperature dropped quite quickly back to normal and the handbrake cooled down quickly too. The Bongo seemed to find it a struggle up the hills - but the weight of the Bongo, plus the trailer and the shed must have been quite significant. The heat from the heaters was positively tropical.

I towed my six wheeled box trailer ... probably weighing almost 2 tonnes on a 260 mile round trip to Wales a couple of weeks ago and the temp guage read normal for the whole journey.

This probably show the difference a Mason alarm makes - the temp gauge tells you what's happening to the engine temperature, alerts you to be careful, or that something has changed. Since excessive heat means wasted energy it even encourages you to adopt a style of driving that wastes less fuel.

HOWEVER going "into the red" no longer means what Mazda intended it to mean. If you see the pointer in the red you may well need to take action but on the other hand it may help to remind yourself that if you disconnected the Mason alarm the temp gauge would (probably - I am Bongo-less and unable to test this - put a switch in the blue wire if you want to!) just sit calmly in the middle.

[Mike Jill and Emily]

Dave's right - dis the alarm and the gauge will sit at 11 till either a) Hell freezes over (great Eagles DVD) or b)The head fries

So - do you fit the alarm and get the truth (and possibly a little paranoia)
Or - do you not fit the alarm and just nothing goes wrong

Get the alarm - you know it makes sense