2004 Malibu Maxx LT - Towing Question

#11

All very good points.

I'm in New England, USA. I'll be towing from Boston, MA to Pittsburgh, PA.

By noticeably hotter, the temperature gage moved up about 3 millimeters
when going up steep hills - I should have qualified that statement.

I leave tomorrow for the big trip - full report to come when I return!

Thanks for all the words of advice and comments.

Micheal Artindale wrote:

Quote:

"Cy Welch" <cywelch (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message
news:O6-dnTSaTINAFhnbnZ2dnUVZ_vumnZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com...
4newsgroups wrote:
It's been years since I've owned a vehicle that I've noticed running
hotter under heavy load. Back in the day, I had a Toyota that would
overheat if you drove for extended periods at about 130 kph.

We've got three delivery vans, two newer Fords and an old Chrysler. Both
Fords, rock steady temperature loaded or unloaded. The Chrysler bounces
around quite a bit, but I think that's more a function of the sensor
location.

I just thought that the new (i.e. 2004 Malibu) would have adequate
cooling capacity under all but extreme (like +40C) conditions. I've
never noticed my 2000 Malibu run hotter and while I don't tow with it, I
have taken long trips across the parries with the AC cranked and fighting
some pretty strong headwinds.

"Cy Welch" <cywelch (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote in message
news:db6dnXyZYLadcBzbnZ2dnUVZ_szinZ2d (AT) comcast (DOT) com...
4newsgroups wrote:
Your engine runs noticeably hotter when you're towing?

Where are you?

snip
Of course an engine will run a little hotter when towing. Since you are
putting more load, you will get more heat.

Nobody said anything about overheating. Trucks tend to be overcooled
since they are setup for the max load expected, most cars however are not
setup for towing since that is such a small percentage who tow with them,
so the cooling system tends to not keep it as cool. Towing tends to put a
LOT more stress on a car than heavy load due to the drag of the trailer,
even more so than the AC and heavy headwinds. For that matter, my
experience has been that headwinds tend to make the cooling system work
better rather than worse. If you want to see the worst conditions, try
towing a large heavy trailer with a tailwind uphill.

I have one worse than that...

Go up a mountain, hauling a trailer, realy hot day out, no wind....

There is a reason they sell transmission oil coolers for cars.

There is a reason older cars break down....

Cars are more of a people mover.

Trucks are for cargo.

At least thats what the designers think.

Micheal

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2004 Malibu Maxx LT - Towing Question

Chevrolet Malibu Chevrolet Malibu Discussions (alt.autos.chevrolet.malibu)

Re: 2004 Malibu Maxx LT - Towing Question - 07-03-2007 , 12:25 PM