Hot engine

[jyoutz]

Was it pouring out black smoke?
If not, I'm sure it's temps was not the result of a super fueling pyroclastic event..

Over heats are normally a cause of not enough coolant movement, not enough air moving or exhaust getting mixed with coolant.

No smoke. What surprised me was the fact that the radiator screen had very little chaff or other debris. It was a little dusty, but not too bad because we had an inch and a half of rain last week.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Have you checked the radiator level?
Not the overflow tank.
Did is smell or feel hot?
Wouldn't be the first time a sensor is lying.

 

[jyoutz]

Have you checked the radiator level?
Not the overflow tank.
Did is smell or feel hot?
Wouldn't be the first time a sensor is lying.

It was hot. When I shut down I saw the overflow tank fill up. I had this happen before with another machine. But that was because the radiator screen was plugged with chaff. That’s what surprised me: my screen was clear.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Check / Fill radiator to full, then with cap off run and see if water is flowing, might need to warm up to get flow.
Also check fan belt condition and tension.

 

[Grandad4]

No smoke. What surprised me was the fact that the radiator screen had very little chaff or other debris. It was a little dusty, but not too bad because we had an inch and a half of rain last week.

The screen does not catch very fine debris that a mower or cutter can generate. It will accumulate on the radiator fins as others have mentioned. Mowing in dry, dusty conditions seems to make it worse. Gentle rinsing of the radiator fins every few weeks during mowing season worked for me.

 

[jyoutz]

The screen does not catch very fine debris that a mower or cutter can generate. It will accumulate on the radiator fins as others have mentioned. Mowing in dry, dusty conditions seems to make it worse. Gentle rinsing of the radiator fins every few weeks during mowing season worked for me.

Thanks. I will do that before I use the tractor again.

 

[Tonka]

I was 5hrs into brush hogging this past weekend and glanced down and saw the temp warning light on. Pointed the tractor into the wind and let it idle for approx 20 minutes and temp was good so continued. Couple hours later the temp was at the top of the scale. At this point it was the end of the day for me so repeated and called it a day. Next day check the screen, radiator, fan belt, fan, and coolant level in radiator and overflow tank. Screen had a little fluff on the edges, along bottom of radiator was a little fluff. Hardly enough that would be much impediment to airflow. Cleaned it all out.
Tractor is a 23 LX2610su with 5 some hours on it when I began. Running a Land Pride 60" rotary cutter. Temperature that day was 85 to 90 degrees with a nice breeze blowing. Altitude is a little over 4K feet.
I'll see how it does this weekend. Supposed to be 92 this weekend.
I will say I hate the lcd dash display. With dust and bright sun its next to impossible to see.

 

[jyoutz]

That

I was 5hrs into brush hogging this past weekend and glanced down and saw the temp warning light on. Pointed the tractor into the wind and let it idle for approx 20 minutes and temp was good so continued. Couple hours later the temp was at the top of the scale. At this point it was the end of the day for me so repeated and called it a day. Next day check the screen, radiator, fan belt, fan, and coolant level in radiator and overflow tank. Screen had a little fluff on the edges, along bottom of radiator was a little fluff. Hardly enough that would be much impediment to airflow. Cleaned it all out.
Tractor is a 23 LX2610su with 5 some hours on it when I began. Running a Land Pride 60" rotary cutter. Temperature that day was 85 to 90 degrees with a nice breeze blowing. Altitude is a little over 4K feet.
I'll see how it does this weekend. Supposed to be 92 this weekend.
I will say I hate the lcd dash display. With dust and bright sun its next to impossible to see.

That’s about the same experience I had. But the temperature was about 73 degrees F, not hot, 6,900’ elevation. My tractor is basic with an analog screen.

 

[Grandad4]

That

That’s about the same experience I had. But the temperature was about 73 degrees F, not hot, 6,900’ elevation. My tractor is basic with an analog screen.

The crud that gets on the radiator fins is easy to miss. A minute or two rinsing the rad with a hose occasionally is simple basic maintenance. Just a suggestion that it's worth a try before assuming there is a more serious problem, particularly during mowing season.

 

[RBsingl]

Depending upon tractor, there can be multiple coolers and it is common for crud to end up between two of the coolers where it is far less visible.

I have owned several generations of GMC Duramax diesel pickups and after a few years of operation, "cooling stack" maintenance is a must because in layers starting from the front you have coolers for the transmission and power steering/hydraboost brakes, A/C condenser, charge air cooler, and finally the radiator providing lots of area for stuff to hide.

When I finish mowing with my Kubota F2690 I open the screened engine compartment, pull the radiator screen, and then use my blower to blow air backwards through the coolers before blowing off the engine compartment screening and removable screen. Doing this always results in plenty of dust coming back through the hydraulic cooler after it exits the radiator area.

The LCD screen on my F2690 is easy to read but it may be angled differently than the regular tractor models. If hard to read due to sunlight, one of the computer style anti-glare films may help. All things considered, I would prefer old style analog gauges but cost wise it is much cheaper for manufacturers to integrate information needed into a LCD display.

Rodger

 

[Flintknapper]

The crud that gets on the radiator fins is easy to miss. A minute or two rinsing the rad with a hose occasionally is simple basic maintenance. Just a suggestion that it's worth a try before assuming there is a more serious problem, particularly during mowing season.

^^^^^^
Agreed.

Eventually....it involves even more than just debris that impedes air flow.

Over time...the fins themselves become coated with a film of dirt/other and this causes the radiator to be less effective as a heat exchanger.

From time to time....it is well to use a 'Coil Cleaner'. Spray it on and let it soak, rinse, repeat.

You'll be surprised to see the 'gunk' that comes off.

 

[jyoutz]

^^^^^^
Agreed.

Eventually....it involves even more than just debris that impedes air flow.

Over time...the fins themselves become coated with a film of dirt/other and this causes the radiator to be less effective as a heat exchanger.

From time to time....it is well to use a 'Coil Cleaner'. Spray it on and let it soak, rinse, repeat.

You'll be surprised to see the 'gunk' that comes off.

Well that was the issue. I cleaned lots of gunk off the radiator fins today. I never thought they would be dirty when the screen was clean. Learned something.

 

[BruceP]

I spent several hours rotary cutting today. Towards the end of the day, the tractor started to overheat. I shut it down and immediately checked the radiator screen expecting it was clogged. It was not. I removed the air filter and found it dusty. After cleaning and reinstalling, the tractor ran at normal temperature. Can a dirty air filter cause overheating?

I do not know the 'technical' answer to your question.

HOWEVER: Empirical evidence suggests when you cleaned the air-filter (and did NOTHING else), that the overheating went away.

With the limited information we have at this point, the answer is logically YES.... until more datapoints are gathered to suggest anything else.

 

[Tonka]

I spent several hours rotary cutting today. Towards the end of the day, the tractor started to overheat. I shut it down and immediately checked the radiator screen expecting it was clogged. It was not. I removed the air filter and found it dusty. After cleaning and reinstalling, the tractor ran at normal temperature. Can a dirty air filter cause overheating?

In an earlier post, I relayed my experience with my LX2610 with sub 10 hrs on it at the time overheating after brush hogging for approx 5hrs. I too was surprised that there was very little fluff on the radiator screen or radiator fins. I then blew out the air filter and couldn't believe the amount of dirt in the air filter. There was a lot of dusty dirt being lifted while I was brush hogging that day. Often I was in a cloud of dust.
Went out again and brush hogged for approx 6 hrs. At about the 5th hour in I began running hot again. Idled into the wind for 20 minutes or so and the temp came down so I continued brush hogging. Then about 1/2 later I saw the temp at the top of the scale and decided to shut down for the day. Once again very dusty conditions. Almost no fluff on the radiator screen. At this point I think that once the air filter gets sufficiently clogged with dirt that the tractor runs hot. I am going to buy a 2nd air filter and have it with me so in the future at the 4hr mark I can simply replace the clogged air filter with a clean filter and continue. If it doesn't overheat then at 5 to 7hrs in, I can say with some degree of certainty that a dirty air filter will cause a tractor to overheat.

 

[jyoutz]

In an earlier post, I relayed my experience with my LX2610 with sub 10 hrs on it at the time overheating after brush hogging for approx 5hrs. I too was surprised that there was very little fluff on the radiator screen or radiator fins. I then blew out the air filter and couldn't believe the amount of dirt in the air filter. There was a lot of dusty dirt being lifted while I was brush hogging that day. Often I was in a cloud of dust.
Went out again and brush hogged for approx 6 hrs. At about the 5th hour in I began running hot again. Idled into the wind for 20 minutes or so and the temp came down so I continued brush hogging. Then about 1/2 later I saw the temp at the top of the scale and decided to shut down for the day. Once again very dusty conditions. Almost no fluff on the radiator screen. At this point I think that once the air filter gets sufficiently clogged with dirt that the tractor runs hot. I am going to buy a 2nd air filter and have it with me so in the future at the 4hr mark I can simply replace the clogged air filter with a clean filter and continue. If it doesn't overheat then at 5 to 7hrs in, I can say with some degree of certainty that a dirty air filter will cause a tractor to overheat.

Thanks. Please keep us posted regarding what you find.

 

[RBsingl]

A restricted intake will definitely cause a diesel to run hotter under load. GM released the LLY generation of their Duramax turbo-diesel with an undersized cooling system and a restrictive air intake. Part of the factory suggested fix was the less restrictive air intake from the next generation LBZ.

It doesn't matter whether it is a truck, tractor, or stationary engine running a generator or irrigation pump; both the radiator and the air intake play a role in thermal management. If you restrict the intake of a diesel engine, the EGT is going to go up and some of that heat will end up in the cooling system. A dirty air filter is going to reduce airflow; with a modern electronically controlled gasoline engine the result will be decreased horsepower and with a diesel the result will be increased EGT over a wide operating/power range along with reduced maximum available power.

Rodger

 

[The Evil Twin]

^^^^^^
Agreed.

Eventually....it involves even more than just debris that impedes air flow.

Over time...the fins themselves become coated with a film of dirt/other and this causes the radiator to be less effective as a heat exchanger.

From time to time....it is well to use a 'Coil Cleaner'. Spray it on and let it soak, rinse, repeat.

You'll be surprised to see the 'gunk' that comes off.

Not a bad idea. They sell the aerosol ones at the hardware store.
On the bikes, I'll use laundry detergent. It has minimal suds, formulated for cold water and dirt/ grease lifting, and is environmentally friendly.
Guess I'll do the little tractors radiators also.

 

[JasonW]

I believe I’ve posted this before. I sewed aluminum window screen on the front side of the factory screen.
This was after cutting an hour in 6’ tall grass, and the temp gauge was only slightly elevated.

I came up with this idea after having over heating issues one summer, ended up removing to radiator to clean it as it was about 90% blocked, but appeared clean in the tractor. Radiator genie would not work with air or water as the chaff was packed in. Had to soak the radiator in a large cooler over night to loosen it.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

A completely-blocked air filter would cause engine shut-down, not overheating.

How you try to stop a run away diesel if you're brave. I was at an auction and an engine was running away. The auctioneer pulled out the filter and shoved his jacket in there.

 

[Txpitmaster]

When shredding goat weed I have to clean my fins and filter at least once a day or it will get hot. Let sit clean and good as new.