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Hi All

 A month or so ago we undertook our first trip in our first touring caravan a Coachman mirage  5 berth towing with a 2.8 pajero after a number of hours towing  (a 200 mile trip) the  temp gauge on the  truck started to rise  quickly  thankfully we where able to get off  the motorway  just before i had to turn engine of and call the RAC ended up a stuick thermostat after a not to cheap repair  in a local dealership(only one that could be bothered to help) on the trip home  we  sadly  had the same  results  with the truck overheating  although after a half hour stop it was ok  now the  million $quiestion  is  am i doing something wrong ?and a newbie to towing a caravan should i set myself longer stops etc lower gearing ?(the truck is auto ) do i need to sort a cooler out  any help would be  great as i worried about  any long journeys ending up the same

Ok, I assume as you had a thermostat replaced it was engine temp that was too high. I also assume that it was in fact engine coolant temp that was too high (guage rather than warning light) At dealer prices a thermostat test just aint worth it, by the time you have an hour or two labour to pull out, test, replace, you may as well skip the test stage and just shove a brand new one in.

Fitting a transmission cooler can actually make engine temp rise! keep reading to find out why.....

Its a problem I found often on "luxury" motors when I worked at a garage in a holiday destination. The usual diagnosis was a blocked radiator, usually blocked by the extra fans and radiator for airconditioning systems. Of course there are also other possibilities such as failed water pump, head gasket failure etc.

At 85 you would be getting a lot more air forced through to aid cooling, the lower speeds and extra strain of towing could cause an overheating problem in that situation. It is amazing how much dead flies, bits of paper and crisp packets picked up in the air can affect a radiators efficiency. Another possible failure point is the main cooling fan, if there is space the addition of an extra electric fan from a firm like kenlowe may be of use