B1700 HST Overheating, Please Help

[Jimbaldi]

Hi, Im new to this forum, I could use some advise. I have a 1999 B1700 HST 3 cylinder diesel.
I use it strictly for Lawn cutting. It has a 60 inch deck on it.

Recently it overheated, my first thought was to try a new thermostat, this seemed to fix it but the next time I used it, it overheated again after about a half our of cutting so i parked it and went back the next day and it run fine for half our or so again then it overheated again!

Now im thinking either Rad cap or head gasket. Has anyone experienced this?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance
Jim

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Check the front of the radiator and see if any grass and debris might be clogging the coils to keep the air from flowing threw. Also clean off the air filter as well. Straight grass cutting can be brutal murder on a tractor if its not kept clean of trash and debris.

To give you and ideal how bad grass and dirt goes everywhere. My cell phone takes a huge hit when I cut grass. The cell is in a case hooked on my belt and usually my t-shirt is long enough to cover the phone and I still get dust and crap in my phone alot. I take it appart every so often and clean my cell.

 

[Jimbaldi]

That was the first thing I checked, I even replaced the air filter. The unit also seems to be running hotter then normal in general.

 

[kubotasam]

That was the first thing I checked, I even replaced the air filter. The unit also seems to be running hotter then normal in general.

Did you blow out the radiator fins with an air compressor? This sounds exactly like my B7100 acts after I have been cutting for a while. The first time mine overheated I looked at the screen and the radiator and did not think it was blocked. Someone convinced me to remove the screen from the front of the radiator and blow out the radiator fins with an air compressor. It worked great. I could not believe how much dust came out from the radiator.

 

[handyman]

Dont overheat it . When it is warmed up to operating temp. fill the radiator BUT BE CAREFUL DONT GET BURNED. If you feel a cooler area than other may be stopped up.Have you tried to backflush it ?

 

[Sam427]

I don't know what that tractor looks like, but does it have a screen either in front of the radiator or in the grill where the air comes through? If it doesn't have a screen it may have clogged the fins in the radiator and they need to be flushed out with a water hose, or the screen needs to be cleaned. I assume the fan is in good working order?

 

[handyman]

I agree with eric and sam. I assumed (we all know what that means) you checked for debree as they said make sure rad fins are blowed out from inside out and washed out inside engine comp out.and fan works ok. Also make sure you have a mixture of antifreeze 50/50 with the recomended type antifreeze.handy

 

[kubotasam]

This sounds exactly like what was happening to my B7100. I looked at my radiator and it looked clear. Someone convinced me to blow it out with an airhose. I could not believe how much junk and fine dust came out and I will stress again it looked OK before I started. Everyone said to blow it out from in inside but because of the fan and shroud I could not get much to come out from the inside. I put the blow gun to the front of the radiator and turned the pressure up as high as it would go. I worked great. No more overheating.

 

[handyman]

Yes that is a small hole to blow thru. Let us know what happens.handy

 

[Jimbaldi]

Wow you guys nailed it!

The screen in front of the radiator looked clean but when I removed the battery out of the way and pressure washed the radiator I could not beleive the dirt that came out of the fins. I also put a fresh belt on the fan. Now she is running nice and cool.
Thanks to all for your help.
Some simple maintenace would have saved me a lot of headache and money!

Thanks again.
Jim

 

[maverill]

It surprises me a little no one mentions tightening your fan belt as a solution to the over heating issue. My user manual lists that as one of the solutions for it along with other suggested provided in this thread. If you have a B7100 and you can turn the fan blade by hand you probably need to tighten your fan belt. I had to pull the driver side panel off the front to get to the pully nut (loosens the fan belt pully so it can be adjusted) and adjustment nut (tightens the belt).

Its a 3 Step process:

1) Loosen the pully nut
2) adjust the belt tension with the tension nut
3) re-tighten the pully nut.


I was starting to overheat quickly and noticed I didn't get the normal blow back from my fan when I opened the hood and sure enough the belt was quite loose. Just because it spins doesn't mean its working correctly. When you open your hood it should feel like a pretty strong fan is blowing at you if its tight enough.

I am not a mechanic by any means but it felt good to get things going again without dishing out high dollars to go to the Kubota dealer.

 

[hodge]

It surprises me a little no one mentions tightening your fan belt as a solution to the over heating issue. My user manual lists that as one of the solutions for it along with other suggested provided in this thread. If you have a B7100 and you can turn the fan blade by hand you probably need to tighten your fan belt. I had to pull the driver side panel off the front to get to the pully nut (loosens the fan belt pully so it can be adjusted) and adjustment nut (tightens the belt).

Its a 3 Step process:

1) Loosen the pully nut
2) adjust the belt tension with the tension nut
3) re-tighten the pully nut.


I was starting to overheat quickly and noticed I didn't get the normal blow back from my fan when I opened the hood and sure enough the belt was quite loose. Just because it spins doesn't mean its working correctly. When you open your hood it should feel like a pretty strong fan is blowing at you if its tight enough.

I am not a mechanic by any means but it felt good to get things going again without dishing out high dollars to go to the Kubota dealer.

99% of the time, it's because there is debris/dirt/dust in the radiator. Nothing wrong with checking the belt.

 

[Lil Foot]

It surprises me a little no one mentions tightening your fan belt as a solution to the over heating issue.

Good point, mine was slipping badly when I got it, & a couple times after that, until I replaced the antique (probably original) belt. It hasn't loosened (stretched?) since.

I had to pull the driver side panel off

I made the exact same statement, and my neighbor launched into a dissertation that there can't be a "driver's side" on a tractor where you sit in the middle.
I finally shut him up by saying "Don't worry, intelligent people know exactly which panel I meant."

 

[spacemanspiff]

Had the same thing happen with My air conditioning on the l4630. The radiator looked clean, but no AC. Blew it out and the cold air started again. Also after looking, the belt needed tightening on the AC.

I am glad that was all it was, because there is no way to survive in a cab, in the south with out AC.

 

[torch]

I made the exact same statement, and my neighbor launched into a dissertation that there can't be a "driver's side" on a tractor where you sit in the middle.
I finally shut him up by saying "Don't worry, intelligent people know exactly which panel I meant."

Given that this is a Japanese tractor, wouldn't the "driver's side" be the right (starboard) side?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Given that this is a Japanese tractor, wouldn't the "driver's side" be the right (starboard) side?

I finally shut him up by saying "Don't worry, intelligent people know exactly which panel I meant."

Might be something to these statements.

 

[torch]

About 1/3 of the world still drives on the left side of the road and drivers sit on the right.

Ok, now for the real trivia fans out there:

Name the area of the United States where the "driver's side" is the right side (ie: vehicles drive on the left side of the road).

 

[Donystoy]

Virgin Islands

 

[tcrote5516]

New Years Eve between 2am and 4am...just about anywhere