LRCC

Well, on Friday, my Carawagon went on its first 'long' run, up the A1 towards the Ripon show.

When I was doing the 200TDi conversion, I looked at the separate oil cooler I'd bought on ebay (I decided against using the 200TDI combined radiator), and thought "those pipe stubs look a bit small!", but decided it would probably be ok.
All was well on the local trips around town, to the MOT station and back etc. but on the 'long' trip, once everything got nice and warm, and the oil pressure was well up at 60mph, one of the hoses blew off the stub and dumped the fresh oil (only changed the day before ) onto the road and all over the engine bay

Unluckily, it happened just after an exit on the A1, and the hard shoulder was narrow with no grass to the left to pull on to, so Patrick gave me a push from behind to get to a safer place. Luckily, Patrick's Carawagon has a big towing eye on the front bumper, which he used to push my towing plate. Once we were in a better place, Patrick managed to get in front and we used our solid bar to tow me the final 8 miles or so to the campsite as I knew we didn't have enough oil to refill it even if I repaired the hose at the roadside.

This is the second time I've seen this happen - the first was John Horne's (Overlander's) 200TDi Carawagon when we were leaving Zagora to enter the Sahara in Morocco - I think we'll call it the Zagora Horne syndrome

As in that case, it was just a matter of reconnecting the hose, with a new Jubilee clamp, and scrabbling round for another 6.5l of engine oil.

It was fine after that, but I kept the revs low so the pressure wasn't too high, changing up early and sticking to 45-50mph in overdrive on the journey back.

Anyway, I'm on the lookout now for an oil cooler with a bigger bore and hopefully, threaded unions, oh, and a load of engine cleaner to clean the engine bay

Cheers,
Robin.

Just an update on this - I managed to get an oil cooler in time, a Vauxhall Senator unit, about 9" square, which fits the space I have a treat :)

Plumbed it in on Thursday, then on Friday drove to the LRO show at Driffield (on my own - no convoy which shows how confident I was ).

No problems at all - cruising at 60mph on the motorway with some 70mph + bursts, followed by some fast (and some slow!) 'A' roads, and I'm pleased to report that I'm now happy with my setup

Cheers,
Robin.

Glad to hear that all is well with the conversion, you are inspiring me to get started on mine

Interesting topic. I am a fan of oil coolers and generally fit them - the LR OEM - scrounged from ex mil where possible. Many folks say don't bother. Well....
The oil does get hot. In April 12 I towed a diesel Dormobile with my 6 pot Dormobile - which has not yet had the oil cooler fitted. After about 50 miles, loss of power and lots of smoke. Oops - engine gone? Not at all - the oil was way to hot, even though the water temp was stable.
Now all I need is the 6 pot oil filer adaptor Pt Number -

Hi Jon,

The 200TDi was designed with an oil cooler in the circuit, fitted within the radiator, so LR must have thought it was necessary.

I think most, if not all, turbo Diesel engines have oil coolers as the oil is also used to cool the turbo as well as providing a floating bearing, so I think it is probably a good idea to fit one to that type of engine.

I think most non-turbo engines would cope without an oil cooler, unless, as in your case, you're stressing the engine by towing etc.

Cheers,
Robin.

I used the 200 Tdi tax on mine, like the idea of a stand alone cooler better.