Fitting the engine saver to a 1KZ-TE

[Antshiel]

Well the kit arrived this morning, much to my surprise as it was only posted last night. Anyway, i wasted no time and got right on with the fitting.
The kit consists of:
The probe
The wiring loom for the probe
A prewired buzzer and led
Led bezel
(Top hose) Jubilee clip
"low water" Led surround dash sticker
Earth connector (with heat shrink)
Zip ties

And a complimentry pen. (thanks Haydn)



Fitting the kit to the 1KZ-TE:

The first and most important thing is to fit the kit to a cold engine.
Secondly, remove the radiator cap and top hose:



Drain the coolant just enough so the top hose is emptied, i just crimped the hose clamps with a pair of grips and removed the hose completely:



For those of you doing this on your drive, you may want to drain it from the radiator drain at the bottom of the rad.

Next came the fitting of the probe to the top radiator spiggot, this was relatively simple as all it required was a dab of super glue to hold it in place and then sealing the edge and top of the probe with silicone sealant. I used white with leek trace so it will turn red if sealant leaks from this joint. (just so i know the jubilee clip is secure enough)

With the probe now in it's position i left it for the silicone to cure and went on to fit the rest of the kit. This was started with the prewired buzzer and led. For the led i drilled a 6.5mm hole in the dash to the right of the steering wheel and pushed the bezel into place and affixed the "low water" sticker around the bezel:


The buzzer was secured using zip ties to tie it to the vehicles wiring loom below the steering column.

Now for the wiring, This was straight forward as all that's required is an ignition switched live and an earth. Previously i have installed a secondary ignition switched 6 way fuse block in my engine bay so this is where i got my switched live from. The earth went to the bolt that holds the lower dash bracket to the chasis. Simply undo the bolt, fit earth loop over the bolt and refit it.

Now it was time to wire the probe to the prewired loom. from the buzzer/led loom plug the bullet connectors from the alarm and the probe wire together, run that into the engine bay via the rubber grommet in the bulkhead and connect the other end to the probe, again using bullet connectors. Zip tie this wire around the outer of the engine bay to the existing wiring loom.

Now back to the probe. Make sure the silicone has dried and refit the top hose using the original spring clip on the lower of the hose (to thermostat housing)and the supplied jubilee clip for the top hose fitting (to the rad):





Appart from topping up with coolant, that was it.

So now comes the big tester, before topping up the system, i switched on the ignition to make sure the probe was functioning as it should. So i switched the ignition on and the led lit up and the alarm sounded:

Then i topped the system up with coolant and tried again and....:

No alarm.

The bleep and led flash you hear when the ignition is turned on is the unit status pre check.

I must say that the probe is very similar to one used by a certain car manufacturer for their screen washer bottles.

The kit is very well put together and is easily fitted by anyone who has a little knowledge of auto electrics (ie finding a switched live)The included instructions are very understandable and well written.

It took me just over 1 hour start to finish.

All that remains now is to give the kit a right good testing, but until i start to loose coolant i guess i'll never know, so doing the check before you top up the coolant is a must just to confirm the system actually works. That's enough for my satisfaction in knowing that if i ever loose any, the kit will keep me well informed.

I have a tm2 engine monitor fitted also which is basically a digital temperature sensor with a temp probe connected to the engine and an led display which alarms at a pre set temp. This is a useful bit of kit for knowing what temp the engine is running at but knowing what's going on in the cooling system is extra peace of mind, for me anyway.

A big thankyou to Haydn Callow for supplying the kit for trial purposes.

[davemaxx]

i don't wish to sound like a dork and i'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation but why can't it be fitted to the expansion bottle.

'like' on a cold engin, drill a small hole in the top of the expansion bottle, fit a gromit and push the probe down to the full levell, put a smear of sealent round it and job dun,

there are no pressure and seal issues, like what there are by fitting it at the top hose and as long as there is coolant at the expansion tank there will be coolant at the rad,

[europa88]

This may help!

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37151

[The Lovely Boyo]

Originally Posted by davemaxx

and as long as there is coolant at the expansion tank there will be coolant at the rad,

If you drive around believing that you could be heading for some serious expense when your head cracks.

[davemaxx]

i have now read through it all and fully understand how it all works.

and i dont have a smarty pants reply, except that i never realised pit-bull-terriers where banned, i thought they where prohibited

[The Lovely Boyo]

Originally Posted by europa88

This may help!

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/sh...ad.php?t=37151

Oh no - not that thread. It was interesting but the initial errrr, misunderstandings soured it a bit.

The kit is good though - glad someones fitted it and we can find out how it goes.

[Haydn Callow]

There is a kit being fitted to a 2.4 which will be reported on shortly. This one will again have a sensor in the top hose but a different type to the 3.0lt described above.

[NiftyNev]

Now that the kit will actually be fitted in the correct location for the Surfs then I see no reason it won't work provided it actually trips an alarm if the level in the cooling system drops. If the kit had been sold and fited as originally suggested then it would have been as useful as tits on a bull. I'll be very interested in the test results.

Nev

[Haydn Callow]

The alarm "audio/visual" will activate if ever the coolant level drops below the probe/sensor. The alarm also self tests every time you switch on the ignition and lets you know the coolant level is o.k. before you start the engine.
go to http://www.enginesaver.com.au/testimonials.html to see feedback on this alarm system

[Sancho]

You could always wobble the tits on the bull, could provide some entertainment.

Incidentally, I went on Bongo fury once and asked if anyone could help my friend with advice on a propshaft and various other issues with her Bongo (note, it was the previous generation to the current 'Friendee') and I might as well have been shouting into the Siberian wind.

Anyway, back to the point. Looks like a good bit of kit. Just need one for the oil and I will never have to go through the misery of opening my bonnet again.