Deutz-Fahr Agrokid 45 2005 Running Hot

[Belvedere]

Hello All, greetings from the United Kingdom.

I have recently bought the above (2005 Deutz-Fahr Agrokid 45 40HP). It has only covered 350 hours, and is fitted with a 40HP Mitsubishi Four Cylinder Diesel Engine that's around 1,500cc and Turbo Charged. It's quite a neat little machine, very much a Large Tractor made Smaller than a Small Tractor made larger, if you see what I mean. Anyway, it replaced a Mitsubishi MT300D that we had for 13 Years that sadly came to the end of its life.

The Agrokid 45 has had some damage in the past (before we bought it), but only relating to being tipped onto its side which has bent the Cab slightly. Everything else looks fine, although the Left Hand Track Rod is not quite right and will be replaced.

It's far more Powerful than the MT300D. I use these Compacts mainly to cut grass paths around our Farm, most of which are on VERY steep ground. On the MT300D I had a 6 Foot Finishing Mower, and it managed that fine.

I've bought a new Hymari 6 Foot Finishing Mower for the Agrokid 45 and it powers that without any trauma. No sign at all that the machine can't manmage this size of Mower. However, the Tractor runs hot. When first started, the Temp creeps up, and just keeps going up gradually for as long as I use the Mower. I run the machine at the 540rpm mark on the Rev Counter, which is a little over 2,500rpm.

If I keep going, the Red Warning Light comes on, at which point I don't push my luck and ease back. Either stopping to let it cool on tick-over, or after allwowing the Turbo to cool for 60-90 seconds, I shut it down for 5-10mins, and then when the Temp is down, I can use it again for maybe 10mins.

I thought maybe the Thermostat was stuck, so removed that and tested it. It's rated at 82 C, and did Open at around 84-85 C and did close when I cooled the Water down to 82 C and below. Anyway, Tractor still ran hot when I put that back.

So, I then removed the Thermostat completely, and the Tractor still runs hot!

The Radiator looks brand new, and the machine doesn't seem to drink any coolant. Coolant looks VERY clean. There are no signs of Head Gasket problems, and the machine performs very well. It's just having to be used for maybe 10 mins at a time before I have to let it cool.

Fan belt is tight, fan turns, and as that's bolted to the Water Pump, that appears to be turning too (although I can't see it). It's possible that the Water Pump may be defective, say, a broken shaft inside such that the Impeller is not turning. That I can't see, which could be stopping the Coolant Flowing. But I can't tell so far.

The Radiator does not have a fly screen, and does not appear to be blocked at all with dust or seeds. The MT300D needed a screen taking out and blasting every now and again, and the Agrokid 45 feels like it just needs something like that cleaning...except it has no screen that I can see and all looks clean and un-clogged.

The Air Filter has been removed, and that was VERY dusty. But despite blasting that clean with Compressed Air, it has made no difference, the Tractor still runs hot when worked.

Anyone have any ideas? Any and all help appreciated. It feels like something obvious, but so far I have not established what I'm missing.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Keith

 

[buppy69]

Sounds like you've checked just about everything. Try wiggling the water pump shaft to see if it's loose.

Eugene

 

[Belvedere]

Hello Eugene!

Will do. It has an annoying wire mesh cage around it all, so when the sun comes up Tomorrow, I'll remove all that and see if I the Pump Shaft is dubious. It's not leaking past the seal, so I think it's probably tight, and the Fan spins true with no sign of any wibbles from a dubious Shaft.

It does feel like, say, grass and seeds covering the Radiator, but it all looks totally clean. I'll pull what I can away to see if there's a Screen buried between the Radiator and the Fan Cowling.

It's an odd one this, thought I'd have cracked it by now.

Cheers,
Keith

 

[lens12]

About the only thing left would to remove the radiator & have the flow checked & cleaned if needed.

 

[Belvedere]

Hello Leonard!

I think I've cracked it. Two factors seem to have combined. The Radiator Fins were certainly clogged up with fine earth dust, and I also think the Gearbox/Rear-Axle/PTO Unit was low on Oil following the tip over onto its side (i.e. that had happened just before we acquired it).

There was no sign of any Oil having escaped from anywhere, and as the Engine Oil and so on were fine, there was nothing to suspect any Gearbox Oil had escaped. I could see Oil at the lower Part of the Unit when looking in through the Top with a Torch. However, in case this was Low, I topped that right up to just below the Filler Hole at the top rear. With no Owners Manual or Web Data, I had no filling reference in terms of a Guide Target Level to fill to, or Oil Capacity/Quantity for the unit. All I could do was fill it right up for now. I will drain and re-fill soon in any event once I obtain the correct Data, as I'm giving the Machine a full check over just to make sure nothing else has been missed.

The Radiator was a little hard to get at, as it had a Wire Mesh around it making it hard to fully blast it with Compressed Air. But once all of that was removed and the Cowling/Shroud Bolts removed, I was able to pull that all away from the Radiator far enough to see that that the Wire Mesh Screen was designed to be removed (now I know how). The Machine's Cooling Fan Blows forwards, i.e. through the Screen and then through the Radiator so, in theory, any contamination has to go in from the Back of the Radiator and Forwards. I blew Compressed Air both ways and, at first, clouds of fine earth dust did appear. By the end, Compressed Air was flowing cleanly between all Fins, so I'm now sure the Radiator fins are not clogged up.

As mentioned, the Air Filter was very full of the same dust, so it must've been used in a very dusty environment with the last Owner. All of that dust has now been blasted out and the machine has also been Steam Cleaned as well.

The Radiator didn't look at all clogged up, i.e. looking from either the Front or the Back, and the Mesh Screen was not blocked to any degree (as used to happen with the Mitsubishi MT300D). There was some areas of material at the very top, bottom and at either sides where the Cowling created "dead-zones" of reduced Air Flow, but the Screen was otherwise clear.

However, the Agrokid 45's Radiator is quite a chunky unit, something like 2.5-3.0 inches thick. So, there's a lot of area inside that can hold crud and dirt. I think I'd recommend that the Radiator should be Blasted from the Front (which is easy to get) with Compressed Air every couple of Weeks, just in case, to dislodge any Crud before it has a chance to harden up and consolidate its hold within the Fins. This task can be varied depending on how much crud comes out for your own environment. I suspect we'll only need to do this every Month or so, but will do it every week for now, and will reduce or step up the Task frequency in line with what gets blasted out each time.

I did also start the engine with the Radiator Cap off, and could see coolant was flowing smoothly. I pinched the Top Hose, and saw the flow reduce, and when I let go, the flow picked up again fine, which seemed to confirm the Water Pump is OK.

The Gearbox Oil could well have been a contributing factor to the machine Running Hot, but now I can't say for sure which factor caused it. But I suspect both issues (i.e. the Crud in the Radiator Fins and the Low Gearbox/PTO Unit Oil) had a part to play.

The good news is the machine ran fine last night. I did the same circuit of our Grass Paths as before. Whereas before, i.e. when it was running Hot, it would work fine, but the Temperature would creep up all the time, until I had to shut it down for 5 mins for every 15 mins or so of use. I never let it get that hot, but did see the Red Light once after which I shut down straight away. Last night it did the same work, and the Temperature was fine, stayed below 80 C and only crept over 80C at the top of a very long and exceptionally steep climb. When at the top, i.e. when the effort required eased, the Temperature returned to below 80 C, so the Cooling System was doing its Job and well able to maintain Temperature within limits.

This was with the Thermostat still removed, so it looked like the engine was now running a little cool in effect, as I'd think should be the case with an otherwise healthy engine and Cooling System and no Thermostat to control the Working Temperature.

I think the Thermostat can now be safely re-fitted (a New one, just to be sure), and that should then regulate and hold the Working Temperature around the 82-85 C range, which I assume is the optimum working Temperature for a machine fitted with an 82 C Thermostat.

Looks like I'm in business anyway! Now I'll sort out the Cab Damage and all being well, this fine little machine will give me many Years of good Service.

It's an impressive Compact, but the Cabin is way too small. They have addressed that in the 2006 Models. I may be able to improve the Cabin on my 2005 Model. The main pain is the lack of floor space for the Driver's Right-Hand Foot, as there's almost no Space between the Diff-Lock Plunger at the rear and the Brakes/Throttle at the front...unless you have feet the size of a Baby! I'll probably re-position the Throttle Pedal, by cutting off the Pedal and welding it back on a little further up the shaft (which I'll shorten by an inch or two. That should move the Throttle Pedal far enough forwards to create a little extra floor space, whilst still being easy to operate. Then it should be possible to rest my foot on the floor when working with the Throttle Position fixed via the Manual Lever.

I'll post any further issues that come to light. But, for now, I can say it's a great machine. It's far more powerful and capable than my old Mitsubishi MT300D, better Traction, and more stable on steep ground than I was expecting. The MT300D did well, but would struggle around the odd tight corner when cutting grass paths going up steep hills. The Agrokid 45 manages all of these same areas with no trauma at all, indeed, with plenty of power in reserve.

I wasn't sure at first, but having now driven the Agrokid 45 on the same tasks, it's impressing me more every time I take it out. The four cylinder Mitsubishi Turbo-Charged Engine is very sweet indeed.

Thanks again for your comments. Looks like the "Running Hot" problem is now fixed.

Cheers,
Keith.

 

[gojicoach]

Do any of you know how to solve this problem.

Having problems with my Deutz-Fahr Agrokid 55 starting problems

Battery fully charged, but the ignition to starter will not engage.

 

[mit]

you will have to check the starter solenoid for voltage when the switch is turned to the start position.the solenoid has a heavy wire that goes to the battery.it also has a small wire that goes to the ignition switch.if you find voltages there then the trouble would be the starter and you can replace it.if no voltage goes to the small wire.then the switch may be faulty.check for corroded connections and broken wire also.

 

[oliver28472]

I put a new battery cable on my Mits D1450 the other day. I had suspected some internal corrosion inside the insulation. It has been a slow starter for years compared to it's slightly larger brother, the S-470 Buck which uses the same starter and battery. I have interchanged them before when I had to. The new cable made a huge difference in the speed of the starter. Also, the wire Mit refers to had to be replaced after getting hot & smoking up the barn.

 

[eightksi]

Very interesting...I have a starting problem too with my S470d. Maybe it's the battery cable....I have noticed that where the cable attaches to the terminal clamp looks pretty bad..it's frayed. Maybe that's the whole cause of my issue? I never got around to getting a voltage tester and messing with one. I just unhook the negative terminal when I park it, and it usually starts up OK when I do that. oliver28472, did you buy an OEM cable replacement, or something else? Wonder how much one costs? I'll have to get a part number from my parts book. I should replace it regardless...the cable's frayed. The hood latch is so close to that terminal...maybe it rubbed it a little to fray it over the years.

 

[oliver28472]

No OEM, I just measured the length and bought a 20" one at NAPA. Brand name was Balkamp I think. Make sure the ground cable is good and has good clean connections on both ends. Somewhere around 8-9 bucks.