I beg to differ - it is largely about engine power.
A diesel engine is around 30-40% efficient - depending on load and engine speed - at turning the chemical energy in the fuel to useful work in moving the train. Ignoring the heat lost through the exhaust gases this means that some 60-70% of the energy in the fuel has to be dumped by the cooling system. So a 500bhp engine has to dump over 1000hp worth of heat through the radiators.
Because of the limited space available for underfloor engines the radiators are constrained in size - which means that in order to dump these quantities of heat on a hot day the cooling system has to work very effectively. Any reduction in the ability of the cooler group to dump the heat will be noticeable.
Unlike road vehicles there is no ram effect in trains where the vehicle's forward motion forces air through the radiator. In road vehicles the fan is often only needed when the vehicle is stationary or slow moving whereas the only way that air is drawn through the radiator matrix in a rail vehicle is by a fan.
Cars only use much or all of their maximum engine power when accelerating - and this only last a few seconds (0 to 60mph in 10 seconds or less...). At constant speed the engine power needed is in the order of a few tens of horsepower so the quantity of unuseable heat which needs to be dumped is comparatively small - in the order of 100hp or so. Lorries are slightly different in that high or maximum engine power is needed for longer periods or when climbing long inclines - these are more akin to rail vehicles and the radiators are sized to cope.
I am not surprised that difficulties arise in the cooling of underfloor engines in hot, dusty weather.
You miss the point - if you go back to the old DMUs they were running engines like the Leyland 600 / 680 which were 11 litres but only generating 150hp.
Now 150 hp is in the ballpark of most family cars nowadays, yet their cooling needs are far less in part because they are doing it with 1.5 - 2 litre engines.
The basic fuel / air requirements of an engine are normally greater the larger the engine is - so whilst power output may also be a factor, the reality is an 11 litre engine is going to have a greater demand for fuel and air as well as cooling demands than a 1 litre.