Death Valley Delica

[Blue Toad]

Death Valley Delica

Back in August my wife Kate and I took “Bluto”, the 95’ Delica L300 we acquired in December ‘11, for his inaugural major road trip. Over the course of 10 days, we put on almost 6,000 kilometers changing elevations from 200’ below sea level to almost 10,000’ above sea level. One of the most arduous moments in our trip came during our passage through Death Valley, California. This was our first visit to Death Valley and, although it hosts some spectacular scenery, we quickly learned that the middle of August is not the best time of the year to visit it or even pass through it.

Bluto’s biggest test came when we had to climb a steep and winding hill between Paramount Springs and Line Pine heading out of Death Valley that went from about 200’ below sea level to almost 5,000’ above sea level. We knew we were in for an ordeal when, at the base of the hill, we saw a sign that said, “Turn off air conditioning for the next 20 miles.”

I had read about problems with cracked heads on the Delicas resulting from overworking the motor on this forum. I tried to remember every trick and technique I could as the temperature needle started creeping higher and higher: “Don’t lug it.” “Take Overdrive off when climbing a hill.” “Keep the RPMs high.” Before we even reached Death Valley, we had already encountered a few tough hills—one on our way to Flagstaff, Arizona, and one heading out of Las Vegas towards California. On both these hills, the temperature needle never climbed to above the 9:30 - 10:00 position. However, as we were climbing up the hill out of Death Valley, the temperature needle went above the three-quarter mark and just kept climbing.

The temperature outside was reading 49 degrees Celsius (about 120 Fahrenheit), the hottest I’ve ever experienced in a natural setting. Death Valley holds the official record as the second hottest place on earth (next to Lima, Peru) and some temperature measurements taken at different sites in Death Valley suggest it could should have been classified as the hottest.

It was so hot that when we lowered the windows to try and cool off, we were hit with such a hot blast of air that it felt like someone was pointing a giant hair dryer set on high heat at us. Frodo, our Lhasa Apso, was beyond panting and simply lay splayed on the back seat in a daze, with his tongue quivering as it hung all the way to the floor of the van. Although we kept the sun roof open (the angle of the sun was such that it didn’t shine directly into the van), we had to keep the windows rolled up most of the way and there was absolutely no way my wife was going to let me turn on the heater to try and help bring the motor temperature down.

I tried to keep the RPMs up around 3,000 RPMs and averaged between 60 to 70 KM per hour in second gear as we climbed the very steep hill. At one point, the needle on the temperature gauge rose until is sat directly on top of the line underneath the “H” and I thought for sure that the motor was now cooked. I had images of big clouds of white smoke spewing out behind me because of a cracked or scored head. Because traffic was building up behind us, constantly pressuring us, I pulled over whenever I could to let the other cars pass. Usually, I would just drive back onto the highway after the last car passed, but one time I thought I was just going to sit and let the Delica cool down. However, after about ten minutes of baking in the incredible heat, the needle still hadn’t left the line under the “H” and I thought, “We’re going to get heat stroke if we stay here—it’s do or die.” So we pushed on.

We finally crested the hill and I kept the overdrive off for a while on the downhill stretch to keep the revs up. The coolant temperature dropped back to the quarter point in about five minutes and, much to our relief, I was able to switch the air conditioner back on.

Although we had camperized the Delica and slept in it for most of the trip, the night after Death Valley excursion we badly needed showers and stayed at a motel room at Lone Pine that night. The next morning I checked my coolant levels expecting to see them severely depleted. I was very surprised to see that it was only a centimeter or so below the “full” line. I topped it up with a half-liter of water anyway and, after I started the engine, everything seemed to be fine. There was only a small puff of whitish smoke, which quickly dissipated. This was the only morning during our trip that we had any irregular smoking and we haven’t had any white smoke since. In fact, after taking it to Rising Sun in New West for an oil change a few weeks ago, I was told that my visible emissions were very minimal, even compared to other Delicas. But this could possibly be because of the blanking plate I had installed before the trip.

It’s been almost two months since the Death Valley torture run. A few weeks ago I did the Coquihalla to Kamloops and then Kelowna and back to the coast, and the temperature needle never even got to the 8:30 position. I kept the speed below 100 KM per hour and tried to average about 85 – 90 KM per hour. It probably also helped that the outside temperature was reading about 14 or 15 degrees, about 35 degrees cooler than our journey through Death Valley.

Looking back—and I’m no expert with my observations—I think that some of the reasons the Delica motor survived Death Valley and the other tough hills we encountered may have been because:

- I avoided lugging it and kept the revs between 2,500 and 3,100 RPMs.
- I allowed plenty of time after the hill (and any hill during our trip) for the motor to cool down. Even when filling up or stopping at a rest area, I kept the motor running for between 5 – 10 minutes.
- I installed a blanking plate prior to the trip, which might have helped keep the motor cooler by keeping the hot gasses from being re-circulated.
- I have a ’95 Delica which comes with a water-cooled turbo which may have helped as well.
- My Delica had just over 100,000 KM on it when I purchased it, which works out to an average of about 6,600 KM per year—it has a well-seasoned motor.
- I’ve read of other experiences on this excellent forum which helped me fine-tune my driving techniques. Without this forum, I know I would have blown my motor.

After Death Valley, I’m no longer as scared of taking my Delica up a hard hill and I would say to anyone nervous about purchasing a Delica because of the potential for blown heads, if you’re prepared to go easy on the gas pedal and give your truck plenty of time to cool off between long treks, the Delica can be one tough machine. My Death Valley Delica proved it for me and I look forward to the next time I visit Death Valley—but in the early springtime, of course.

[konadog]

Great post - Good to hear everyone survived the Death Valley adventure! Did you take any pictures on your trip you'd be willing to share with us?

[vixentd]

You did things correctly. The reason for the revs on the hill and not logging is to flush out the cylinders to avoid high egt's. On a turbo diesel a boost gauge is a key instrument as well, as on long climbs etc. you want to keep the boost at a pre set level, say under 10 lbs and adjust your go pedal accordingly. You will soon learn on steep climbs what boost you can maintain while not increasing the temperature gauge, and what boost it will take to cool down the vehicle when climbing. Ideally a pyrometer is ideal, but keeping the revs up you should have no problems.