French heat!

[Taff Tenor]

Hi we’re taking Herman to France o our first foreign trip and mega excited obvs but given latest developments have a couple of questions:
1. Apart from the obvious like checking coolant before setting off and after a long drive, is there anything else we should doing to avoid any chance of the engine overheating in 40 degrees?
2. We’ll obvs need to take regular breaks and stops for water but anticipate that at our arranged stops, shower facilities etc will be rammed. Is it OK therefore to part fill the on board water tank at some point beforehand and travel ? That way, at least part of the set up will be done before we arrive and can rig our own shower on arrival if needs be.

Cheers all

Taff T

 

[MattBW]

I've driven in close to 40c and never had an over heating problem on my beach. Diesels are well known for not producing a lot of their own heat so personally I think as long as you don't drive at very high revs and keep an eye on the temp gauge you should be good.

A litre of water is pretty much 1kg, so I wouldn't worry too much about filling your water tank if you feel the need before you go. I don't have an ocean but we tend to at least half fill our water tank before we leave, if we think we may struggle for fill ups we will fill it to full.

 

[WelshGas]

Hi we’re taking Herman to France o our first foreign trip and mega excited obvs but given latest developments have a couple of questions:
1. Apart from the obvious like checking coolant before setting off and after a long drive, is there anything else we should doing to avoid any chance of the engine overheating in 40 degrees?
2. We’ll obvs need to take regular breaks and stops for water but anticipate that at our arranged stops, shower facilities etc will be rammed. Is it OK therefore to part fill the on board water tank at some point beforehand and travel ? That way, at least part of the set up will be done before we arrive and can rig our own shower on arrival if needs be.

Cheers all

Taff T

Don't get me wrong, but you're overthinking it. Relax. If the engine is running properly there will be no problems. These vehicles and diesels in general operate in hotter temperatures than 40c. I always travel with the water tank at least half full if not full. Park with the nearside in shade if possible to help the fridge keep the beers cold and you'll be fine.

 

[GrannyJen]

Alfie loves heat. Seems so much smoother and quieter in the high temperatures. I normally travel with a full water tank, an extra 30 kilo's on a 2800 kilo van is really not going to make a difference but not having enough water in those temperatures will.

I wold advise leaving with as much frozen stuff in the fridge as possible having previously had it running on max. I travelled to Pezenas a couple of years ago in 43c and three days later I still had stuff frozen.

Have a great trip. I'm jealous

 

[kp64zl]

I've driven in close to 40c and never had an over heating problem on my beach. Diesels are well known for not producing a lot of their own heat so personally I think as long as you don't drive at very high revs and keep an eye on the temp gauge you should be good.

A litre of water is pretty much 1kg, so I wouldn't worry too much about filling your water tank if you feel the need before you go. I don't have an ocean but we tend to at least half fill our water tank before we leave, if we think we may struggle for fill ups we will fill it to full.

Hi @MattBW -- what's your "water tank" pls? (considering you have a Beach)

 

[Eber123]

Good afternoon,

It will take another 3 weeks to our holiday, but my brother in Germany warned me from the heat.

I am not too worried. I plan to fill up the water tank (which I always do when we go away), not only for drinking but to be able to refresh.

From the speed I don't plan to drive faster than 130 km/h which should not put too much strain on the engine (even if it is fully loaded). What I will do, is if we stop for a break I will keep the engine running in idle for about a minute or two and not switching it off straight away. This should help to cool down the engine components. My driving teacher told me that many, many, many.... years ago and I read this as a recommendation in 2x German CamperVan magazines (under section tips and tricks of what to do travelling in high temperature).

The fridge will be on for the 3 weeks holidays, but I hope it is designed for that.

I don't believe we have the air conditioning on a lot, but if it gets really to warm of course we will. Recommendation was not to use it too much because it generates extra heat in the engine compartment. This seems to me not logical - not to use the air conditioning if it is to hot?!

Normally I am known to worry a bit too much, but funny enough I am not worried to travel with the California in the heat.

Enjoy your trip and have a wonderful and save journey.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[WelshGas]

Good afternoon,

It will take another 3 weeks to our holiday, but my brother in Germany warned me from the heat.

I am not too worried. I plan to fill up the water tank (which I always do when we go away), not only for drinking but to be able to refresh.

From the speed I don't plan to drive faster than 130 km/h which should not put too much strain on the engine (even if it is fully loaded). What I will do, is if we stop for a break I will keep the engine running in idle for about a minute or two and not switching it off straight away. This should help to cool down the engine components. My driving teacher told me that many, many, many.... years ago and I read this as a recommendation in 2x German CamperVan magazines (under section tips and tricks of what to do travelling in high temperature).

The fridge will be on for the 3 weeks holidays, but I hope it is designed for that.

I don't believe we have the air conditioning on a lot, but if it gets really to warm of course we will. Recommendation was not to use it too much because it generates extra heat in the engine compartment. This seems to me not logical - not to use the air conditioning if it is to hot?!

Normally I am known to worry a bit too much, but funny enough I am not worried to travel with the California in the heat.

Enjoy your trip and have a wonderful and save journey.

Regards,
Eberhard

That comment regarding the AirCon is, I'm afraid, absolute rubbish. I haven't turned my AirCon Off for the past 4 1/2 years since I picked up my California and it has been in some very hot weather in Southern Europe. No problems.

 

[Taff Tenor]

Thanks for all the great advice folks - I’ll be filling up before boarding the ferry in that case, watching those revs and parking the business end in the shade wherever possible as I intend to imbibe a très cold one and chill asap

Cheers and à bientôt

Taff T

 

[Adamvanman]

Hotel with air con would be my first choice, much fairer for the child and dog

 

[flying banana]

your off on holiday and worrying about it being sunny ?

 

[MattBW]

Hi @MattBW -- what's your "water tank" pls? (considering you have a Beach)

I have a Slidepod so it came with a water tank that is 30l and goes behind the seat. As this was low and wide I lost a bit of rear cab space. For that reason I've just switched this out to 2 12l upright tanks so they take up less space behind the seat but only a small reduction in capacity.

You can also fit an external underslung tank under the Beach if you want. I haven't though don't feel the need.

I also have my aircon on in hot weather all the time, never had a problem.

 

[rod_vw]

Don't worry about the heat or the load, these vehicles are built as fast travelling loaded delivery vans in all climates. What you are likely to put yours through is peanuts to what a delivery driver will be doing day in and day out. The T6 and its predecessors are built to survive brutal use.
The dash display will tell you if it gets too hot or is short of water. If it does drive accordingly but I suspect you will never be in that situation.

Rod

 

[kp64zl]

I have a Slidepod so it came with a water tank that is 30l and goes behind the seat. As this was low and wide I lost a bit of rear cab space. For that reason I've just switched this out to 2 12l upright tanks so they take up less space behind the seat but only a small reduction in capacity.

You can also fit an external underslung tank under the Beach if you want. I haven't though don't feel the need.

I also have my aircon on in hot weather all the time, never had a problem.

OK, thanks, I'm presently just using water bottles.

 

[bigmac77]

A handy tip I picked up on here was too open your bonnet once you are on site and let all that heat from the engine escape instead of radiating it inside the vehicle.

A couple of 12v usb fans are very helpful to move the air a bit, can make night time a bit more bearable.

 

[Aidy P]

I keep a couple of half litre thermal water bottles in the van (one up front & one in the back for the kids). These get filled up from a litre bottle I always keep full in the fridge. This means that you always have a cold drink without overfilling the fridge.

Open all the air vents when you park to aid air circulation.

Have a bungee cord that you can attach to the internal rear door handle and the tow ball / spare wheel to keep the rear door slightly open at night.

Invest in a Brandrup fly screen for the door if you do this and are bothered by mosquitoes.

Keep a small spray water bottle (the type for spraying plants) in the van. Great for ‘misting’ the kids when getting them to sleep.

If you’ve put carpets in the rear, remove them before the trip. You won’t need them.

 

[westfalia]

A handy tip I picked up on here was too open your bonnet once you are on site and let all that heat from the engine escape instead of radiating it inside the vehicle.

A couple of 12v usb fans are very helpful to move the air a bit, can make night time a bit more bearable.

I've never felt any heat radiation in the colder months never given that a
thought, on the T2 i would lift the
hatch in summer.
Great thing about the old T2´s and T3´s is that your bed gets nice and warm
after a long drive.

 

[Taff Tenor]

your off on holiday and worrying about it being sunny ?

Yep... but mainly for my wife as heat is fine but 40 another matter and exceptional for France

 

[kp64zl]

40C is pretty extreme, more so in Europe where we're not set up for that kind of heat.

 

[Eber123]

Good morning,

In the summer a sunny day around the mid twenty can be wonderful, but reaching higher temperature can be counter productive.

Have I said that everybody is different somebody might feel cold with 20 degree and another person feels super if it is 35 degree in the shade.

But overall if it is too hot it can have negative impact on the holidays - at least for me and my family. Also I think it is a hassle to protect the skin all the time, it is so easy to get a sunburn.

Regards,
Eberhard

 

[kp64zl]

I've posted links to a couple of relevant articles on the health dangers of heatwaves below.

This does need to be taken seriously way beyond normal.

note that the night time temperatures are thought to be quite important in the excess deaths.

minimum temperature on Friday in Nimes (France) predicted to be 25degrees -- so worth taking this really seriously -

The chance of ill effects especially raised if you've any health issues or are very young (babies) or very old.

How Does a Heat Wave Affect the Human Body?

Some might like it hot, but extreme heat can overpower the human body. An expert from the CDC explains how heat kills and why fans are worthless in the face of truly high temperatures

www.scientificamerican.com

Heatwave: how to cope in hot weather

Find out how to keep cool and safe in a heatwave, and who is most at risk of heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

www.nhs.uk

 

[kave]

We where passing through germany on the autobahn last summer in early august with our 204HP 4motion at very high speed. No problem, with the 35C degrees, this vehicle can easily march 180km/h even with 4 bikes on the Thule. Only problem was when stopping for the night, the metal parts on the floor where glowing hot and could not be touched.

 

[Taff Tenor]

Don't worry about the heat or the load, these vehicles are built as fast travelling loaded delivery vans in all climates. What you are likely to put yours through is peanuts to what a delivery driver will be doing day in and day out. The T6 and its predecessors are built to survive brutal use.
The dash display will tell you if it gets too hot or is short of water. If it does drive accordingly but I suspect you will never be in that situation.

Rod

Cheers Rod that’s very reassuring

 

[Erbster]

We passed through the oven of central Spain last August. Very comfortable whilst moving (except for the hot floor) - very relaxed cruising at 60-70mph - but the van was v hot inside at night. The brandrup device which goes in the tailgate was helpful. If I did it again, I’d use a tarp on the (uk) n/s to shade the fridge/cupboard side of the van. Fridge coped really well but lots of condensation if opened too frequently.


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[altvic]

Made this shade up from bits and bobs to take heat away from the fridge area. Seems to be working well so far. Strong reflective tarp and bungee balls and @Bigted brilliant connectors for the left hand side rail. Total cost about 16£

 

[TripleBee]

Letting the engine running idle for minutes won't really help in my opinion. When driving, you have more airflow, and the engine will cool better when driving than idle. When you stop, the heath from the tarmac will be much hotter to 'cool' down the engine. The only reason to let your engine run for a couple of seconds after stopping, is for the turbo to spin down, and let the oil run through it. If you stop your engine while the turbo is still spun on, then the turbo will spin off without oil when shutting the engine off.

Once (In 2000 I think) we returned from the south of France in my parent's car without airco (VW Passat from 1993). It was the hottest day on July 21st. We drove with all the windows open and the sunroof open. We stopped to try to cool down and got back driving as soon as we got out of the car and felt the heath from the black tarmac. It was much less hot while driving than standing still.