a lot of dust when driving over dirt

[krypt]

Hello,

I have noticed that whenever I drive my car over a dirt road (parking spaces), some fan under the car (in the front) makes a HUGE amount of dust, so much that everyone starts staring, the car gets so dirty, and I get to the point of suffocation if I don't have the windows closed.

I understand that these cars are not designed to be driven in such places, but it is inevitable in my part of the world.

Is this normal? Any fixes/remedies?

Best,

Krypt

[White987S]

Normal. When the car reaches certain temperature thresholds, the fan up front turns on automatically. Is your a Tip? Do you use the AC?

You need to keep an eye on your air filter and possibly shorten your oil change interval, given your current road conditions (dust).

[krypt]

Yup, it's a tip, and I usually use the A/C.

I'll try turning off the latter next time.

I change oil every 5k km (3.1miles) according to dealers' recomendations in the country.

How often do you think I should change air filters?

[pk2]

2x wht98s,

Don't know which would be worse but if you crank up the heater up a few blocks before you hit the dirt, you'll have added a 3rd radiator and fan which may drop the temp enough to drop turn of the radiator fans off. The heater is just another radiator with a fan (that doesn't blow dust off the ground).

Regards, PK

[amegarth]

Hello,

I have noticed that whenever I drive my car over a dirt road (parking spaces), some fan under the car (in the front) makes a HUGE amount of dust, so much that everyone starts staring, the car gets so dirty, and I get to the point of suffocation if I don't have the windows closed.

I understand that these cars are not designed to be driven in such places, but it is inevitable in my part of the world.

Is this normal? Any fixes/remedies?

Best,

Krypt

With my '97 Tip the front fans are on high (2 speed electric cooling fans) whenever the A/C is on; if the car is not hot I can turn off the A/C and the fans go off. I always forget to do this until a cloud of dust engulfs me! When the climate control is on "Auto" the A/C defaults to "on" so I turn it off when I dont need it by pushing the button with a snowflake symbol on it.

Garth