bcarter
Silver Member
OK...we've had our first snap of really cold weather for this season (temps in the single numbers) here in southern New England and I tried out the block heater on my B2710 for the first time.
The good news is that it seems to heat the block quite nicely (so I guess it lives up to its name.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif), and the tractor starts up even smoother that it did in the late fall. But there are a couple of things that I'd like some help/opinions with/on.
First...the block heater makes a very faint "sizzling" sound when its plugged in. I had to listen really hard to figure out that it was coming from under the hood of the tractor - so I'm talking very faint sound here. Its definitely coming from the heater since it goes away when I unplug it (a very scientific study.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif). Are these things supposed to make any noise? This appears to be in the coolant part of the block so maybe I'm cooking a little coolant?
Second (and possibly related)...I noticed a small puddle of anti-freeze (the area of dampness was maybe 3 inches in diameter with a wet spot in the center where the drips had hit) on the floor after the heater ran for several hours. I couldn't tell where the leak was coming from, but it was dropping out between the tractor frame and the loader frame (where the two bolt together), so the leak had to be above that. It doesn't appear to be coming out anywhere near the block heater itself. There is a rubber tube in the vacinity of the dripping, but it appears to be a vent for the crankcase and it appeared to be dry inside. Now, I'm no grease monkey, but I do know that in general, things like leaks are not a good thing... Has anyone else noticed any leaks when they run their block heater? Any thought provoking comments on what might be happening here?
Thanks...
Bill
The good news is that it seems to heat the block quite nicely (so I guess it lives up to its name.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif), and the tractor starts up even smoother that it did in the late fall. But there are a couple of things that I'd like some help/opinions with/on.
First...the block heater makes a very faint "sizzling" sound when its plugged in. I had to listen really hard to figure out that it was coming from under the hood of the tractor - so I'm talking very faint sound here. Its definitely coming from the heater since it goes away when I unplug it (a very scientific study.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif). Are these things supposed to make any noise? This appears to be in the coolant part of the block so maybe I'm cooking a little coolant?
Second (and possibly related)...I noticed a small puddle of anti-freeze (the area of dampness was maybe 3 inches in diameter with a wet spot in the center where the drips had hit) on the floor after the heater ran for several hours. I couldn't tell where the leak was coming from, but it was dropping out between the tractor frame and the loader frame (where the two bolt together), so the leak had to be above that. It doesn't appear to be coming out anywhere near the block heater itself. There is a rubber tube in the vacinity of the dripping, but it appears to be a vent for the crankcase and it appeared to be dry inside. Now, I'm no grease monkey, but I do know that in general, things like leaks are not a good thing... Has anyone else noticed any leaks when they run their block heater? Any thought provoking comments on what might be happening here?
Thanks...
Bill