I just imported my first Townace over to North America. Absolutely love it. However, I have experienced overheating when under heavy load, as it appears many Townaces do. It seems to me that a good solution would be to install an intercooler. Is this possible? My Townace has a 2-CT (diesel, 4x4, auto, 1989). Was there ever a Toyota intercooler for the 2-CT (in a Camry or something)? What would be the part #? What about a non-Toyota intercooler? Who should I get to install this intercooler in San Francisco or Vancouver?
- (#13061) Lee Laskin, 27 Aug 04 21:52
There was never an intercooled townie, and any intercooled 2CT would have a totally different configuration. So you're on your own. I've done it. There's nowhere in the engine bay for it and in a 4x4 no way to get the ducts in front of the radiator. So I ended up fitting it under the floor adjacent to the side door, the plumbing going up and down in the vacinity of the fuel filter, to a modified manifold. Intercooler came out of a Peugeot 405 (so you'll not get one in the US...)
A helluva lot of fiddly work, but it DID make quite a difference. When I sold my townie I took the kit off and Rob Drinkwater took it off me. Don't think he ever fitted it tho ;-)
And who could do such a conversion in the US? Plenty of choice I'd think. There's a BIG industry in tuning, especially diesel tuning these days. Try logging onto TurboDieselRegister or TDIclub and see who's doing odd conversions.
But be warned, to get a job like this done won't be cheap. A custom-made intercooler will be maybe $4-500, although something out of the scrapyard would be MUCH cheaper. But the custom plumbing, alumnium welding to the inlet manifold etc...$$$$$
Email me if you want pics of my setup.
- (#13061) David Miller, 28 Aug 04 02:57
Hi Lee,
I still have the intercooler kit that David is referring to. I have never found the time to have the vehicle off the road a couple of days to fit the thing. It's exactly as David describes & also has the variable boost valve with it, so you can up the boost a little to compensate for the slight extra lag induced by the cooler.
I am still looking to buy a Lucida in the next few months, so I doubt that I'll ever get to fit it. If you are interested in buying the kit, I'll sell it to you for what I paid David (£100 GB) obviously the shipping to the 'states would be down to you, it's all packaged well & I could weigh it if you want to find out shipping costs.
Let me know.
Regards Rob.
- (#13061) Rob Drinkwater, 28 Aug 04 12:31
Thanks David and Rob. I appreciate all the help. Rob, I will perhaps hold off on shipping David’s intercooler over until I do a little more research. I have a friend who knows a lot about engines in general (but nothing about Townaces) who has suggested that adding some supplementary heater cores to the cooling system might be a cheaper way to keep things cool. He said they would be good because they are small and simple to hook up. What do you guys think? This friend also suggested an oil cooler too as being much simpler than an intercooler. Again, does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
Lee
- (#13061) lee laskin, 28 Aug 04 16:11
Both are sensible options, but neither will do what an intercooler does. A radiator cools the water, an oil cooler cools the oil, but an intercooler increases the DENSITY of the charge air, increasing power (especially if the fuelling is increased in proportion...)
- (#13061) David Miller, 28 Aug 04 16:56
do any of you guys know the model and/or part number of the turbo on my 89 townace's 2c-t? Could it be a CT20 or CT26? If so then it could be the same as that found on cars like an MR2, which, like the Townace, were very limited for space but had an intercooler I think. Could I use the intercooler from one of these cars, if it is the same modle turbo, on my Townace? This link was helpful:
http://www.turbocity.com/documents/TurbochargerMatrix.pdf
thanks, lee
- (#13061) lee laskin, 28 Aug 04 20:18
Early models use CT20, later ones the CT12. But that doesen't help you much because the number relates purely to the "frame" size of the turbo. The size and "trim" of the wheels is likely to differ between petrol and diesel models, and the end housings certainly differ, connections vary according to model application. Plus I'd guess that different A/Rs exsist too...
- (#13061) David Miller, 29 Aug 04 02:06
Lee,
As David points out, an intercooler won't keep the engine cooler in itself, only additional cooling, correct mixture control, etc will keep it cooler. An intercooler does indeed make the air coming into the engine more dense, because the turbo is hot, it heats the incoming air up, by passing it through the intercooler, it cools it down again, the cooler air is more dense, therefore it contains more oxygen, therefore it helps the fule burn better, hence more torque.
As regards the using a cooler from another vehicle, easy to get, I suspect much more difficult to achieve a fitment on the Townie, as David points out, there is very little airflow through the engine area that's why this kit that David sold me is hung under the car with a couple of fans on it to achieve the required airflow through it.
HTH Rob.
- (#13061) Rob Drinkwater, 29 Aug 04 04:37
As has been pointed out, an intercooler will not really help with overheating. It is a project I will eventually pursue but for now I just want to augmenting my townie’s cooling system. What do you guys think of this: I was looking at a motorcycle on my block and I noticed that it had a very small radiator with two fans built onto it. It seems to me this would be perfect as a remote auxiliary radiator for the limited space of the Toyota Van. Perhaps I could even have two of these as satellite rad’s that are plumed into my cooling system. The multiple and very small electric fans also seem ideal. Would these motorcycle rad/fans work?
Lee
- (#13061) lee laskin, 31 Aug 04 01:40
Lee. My view is that the Townace was never designed to be a high speed, high load vehicle. The 2CT engine HP figures show this and, the very name "Townace" does, I think, indicate that Toyota had a particular function in mind for this type of vehicle. However, there are many modifications which will provide the optimum cooling performance but, the vehicle must be used within certain limits. Among the wealth of advice in the archives, you will see that there is much to be gained by a modified thermostat, correct filler/rad cap, replacement temperature gauge etc and, above all, using the vehicle within it's limits.
My own experience, after following all the advice is that, after nearly 50,000 miles in my ownership, and with all the recommended modifications, together with careful driving and never stressing the engine, these vehicles can be as reliable, and have an as efficient cooling system as many other similar vehicles. In the Townace, the small difference between adequate cooling and boiling, is a problem and there is not much leeway but, this can be compensated for by cetain modifications and, possibly, additional water volume, together with the auxiliary radiator which you mention, and this could increase that all important time between rising coolant temperature and the "bannana head" syndrome. If one modification is helpful, it is, in my opinion, the change from the standard "all or nothing" temperature gauge, to a reliable, full range type of gauge so that the all important rise in temperature is seen as early as possible.
- (#13061) John Davis (Leics), 31 Aug 04 02:15