Found this Youtube video

LOL Thanks Kevin for your email giving me the heads up. Yep. My SH and my video channel. Glad to see you guys liked it so far. I'll eventually get more material out there and improve the video quality. Many hands on the camera, some of them youngsters, means the the quality isn't really consistent. :)
Still, with that many years behind the wheel of a Subaru, I'm a fanatic of the brand and I'm keen to take it, and others, on some truly challenging tours of the country, showing off how capable they are and showcase some modifications and setups possible.
Since I last was on this forum I've left my job in Sydney and moved to Bathurst, hence, a lot of my videos are of places around this glorious and iconic 4wd hotspot.... the only kind of hotspot you WANT to visit (ha haa).
 
subalex said:
Since I last was on this forum I've left my job in Sydney and moved to Bathurst,
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I reckon you're heading in the right direction then. ;) Big Cities are overrated. Even small cities are...

about the video, was the diesel a CVT? I'm surprised it didn't go as far as the XT
 
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Ben Up North said:
I reckon you're heading in the right direction then. ;) Big Cities are overrated. Even small cities are...

about the video, was the diesel a CVT? I'm surprised it didn't go as far as the XT
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Yes, the SJ diesel has a CVT, and the owner has already come to the conclusion that if he could swap it for a traditional auto box he'd "do it in a heartbeat". As for it not going as far as the SH XT... he got the locker installed after doing a couple of trips with me and he found he just couldn't climb the obstacles I could with mine. He put the rear Torq locker in recently and, while it's a whole lot better, it's now the CVT gearbox that still lets it down.
 
Teetee2tone said:
from what ive read & watched on youtube the CVT cuts power when there is too much load on it
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Yes, you're right. As the SJ diesel owner and I have found on our journeys and testing, the CVT warms up very quickly and is generally shutdown by the computers, even without warning or codes. The day after this trip he went back to his engine tuner and had them tweak a few things, including the drive split to the rear, which he hopes will help it push a lot further offroad. I just installed a center diff lock circuit in my SH and I'm testing it in comparison to just letting the factory computer setup do its thing.... which is quite good. The videos from Lidsdale show that it's not sending much power to the rear until the front slips and even then it's not for long. My new circuit is adjustable and I hope to set it up so I can ramp up power to the center diff lock (duty solenoid) and get it pushing a lot harder from the rear. Meantime, my auto box has a trans cooler from a Pajero on it and I bypassed the lines going through the radiator to help keep everything cooler when working hard. David, who owns the SJ diesel, is going to do the same when he can.
 
Teetee2tone said:
from what ive read & watched on youtube the CVT cuts power when there is too much load on it
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Yeah, that's what I was inferring. Seems a bit of a waste to attach a CVT to a diesel.

subalex said:
Meantime, my auto box has a trans cooler from a Pajero on it and I bypassed the lines going through the radiator to help keep everything cooler when working hard.
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Interesting. The general feel I get from researching the auto in my SVX is that it's better to use both in line, run it through the factory oil cooler, then the external cooler and back to the engine.
 
The reason the ATF goes through the radiator is to warm it up from a cold start (mainly for cold climates). No point where you are Ben! Reminds me that I have wanted to divert mine away from the radiator and go directly to / from the external cooler.
 
Kevin said:
No point where you are Ben!
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I've actually been thinking of doing a thermostat delete for that very reason! Don't really see the point up here, just a restriction to flow :)

Reminds me that I have wanted to divert mine away from the radiator and go directly to / from the external cooler.
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Very simple if possibly messy mod to do I reckon, having taken the external oil cooler off the parts car.
 
Ben Up North said:
just a restriction to flow
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Ah but - a closed thermostat means the coolant remains longer in the radiator and cools more. I know in "the old days" we used to remove the thermostat but not so sure that's of any benefit these days.
 
As Kevin said, the point of the trans lines going through the bottom of the radiator is good in terms of normal use, quick warm up, and it keeps costs down. However, once the coolant or trans fluid is worked hard and is genuinely hot then they make matters worse when sharing the space. I've had an external cooler on mine for 2 years with the factory rad lines being used, but it was worked hard on a very tough hill climb a couple of months ago and it boiled both of them.

I bypassed the trans lines and put the OEM bar and plate trans cooler from an NM Pajero on it, mounted away from the rad and guess what... it hasn't overheated at all on the trip last weekend, and it was worked very hard indeed.

As for removing the thermostat, I recommend keeping it in there 100%, as per Kevin's comment again. Coolant has much greater effect when pressurised and it helps to do exactly that, and slow the coolant down so it has more time to cool the coolant as it goes through the rad. If it needs a little help then you can try modifying the thermostat by drilling two small holes around the edge of it so it flows a little more before opening. This is a popular mod to help bleed the cooling system, especially the older EJ with the upside down thermostats.
 
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