Help! Massey overheating currently

[rossn]

I just parked my GC1705 and it is overheating... boiling coolant in the overflow tank. I also see the filter in front of the radiator is jammed up, and cleared it. What should I do? Let it sit, or start it up after clearing the screen?

 

[TSO]

Clean the radiator screens, clean the air filter, let it cool, then start it back up.

Letting the screens get clogged is never a great idea...

 

[RSKY]

Didn't say what you were doing when it overheated. While bushhogging I keep one eye on where I'm going and one eye on the heat gauge. If you are in any high brush after July you will plug your radiator. Year before last in one twenty acre field that had some kind of cattail growing I had to stop every single round and clear the radiator of my CK20. Part of the problem is that the little tractor is close to the ground and the front is pushing the brush aside. The bigger 4600 Ford could go three or four rounds before we had to stop. We didn't use the Ford last year because the heat gauge was broke. You don't mow without one.

Standard procedure for us when overheating is to shut down, clear debris as quickly as possible, check for other problems like a broken fan belt, then start back up and let the radiator and coolant cool the engine down.

NEVER add coolant to an overheated engine, you WILL crack the block! Saw this happen once about forty-five years ago. Guy that did it should have known better but was in a hurry, and it wasn't his tractor.

RSKY

 

[rossn]

I was mowing my lawn with the belly mower.

This being my first tractor, I wasn't in-sync with the fact that the airflow could have been obstructed to the degree it was... the screen in front of the radiator had a layer of 'felt' on it. Now I'm clear I'll have to keep an eye on the temp gauge regularly and make sure the radiator screen is cleaned regularly when it is dry. After cooling off for an hour and replenishing about a qt of antifreeze/water in the radiator and another 3 cups in the tank, everything seemed to checkout fine - at least for now. I did also dive into the air filter after everything was cooled down, and it was scary how much stuff was in there... I bought the tractor about 8 hours ago, with 73 hours on it.... didn't check the air filter yet, and it had feathers, acorns, rocks, all kinds of crap I wouldn't think would be found there.

RSKY - is that also the standard procedure if it's overheating to the point where the coolant tank is boiling over? I guess my concern there would be that you could be without enough coolant in the engine.

 

[PatrickS2222]

I was mowing my lawn with the belly mower.

This being my first tractor, I wasn't in-sync with the fact that the airflow could have been obstructed to the degree it was... the screen in front of the radiator had a layer of 'felt' on it. Now I'm clear I'll have to keep an eye on the temp gauge regularly and make sure the radiator screen is cleaned regularly when it is dry. After cooling off for an hour and replenishing about a qt of antifreeze/water in the radiator and another 3 cups in the tank, everything seemed to checkout fine - at least for now. I did also dive into the air filter after everything was cooled down, and it was scary how much stuff was in there... I bought the tractor about 8 hours ago, with 73 hours on it.... didn't check the air filter yet, and it had feathers, acorns, rocks, all kinds of crap I wouldn't think would be found there.

RSKY - is that also the standard procedure if it's overheating to the point where the coolant tank is boiling over? I guess my concern there would be that you could be without enough coolant in the engine.

I would agree generally with that - it's similar to as if your car radiator airflow was severely restricted. Do not remove the radiator cap. Clear the obstruction, a brief check that all else is Ok, then start up again and run at a fast idle (1000-1200rpm) so the coolant is again circulating whilst watching the temperature gauge. It should begin to reduce engine temperature withing two minutes. Running the engine is important because even though you've stopped the engine, heat is still "soaking" out of the metal surrounding the combustion chambers in the cylinder head. This can occur for several minutes and boil the already very hot and stationary coolant in this area. Running the engine turns the water pump and coolant then keeps moving through the area. If the engine temperature doesn't begin to come down, stop the engine because there is probably not enough coolant still in the engine. Leave it to cool for one hour. Then check and replenish coolant, check for leaks and start up - suggest with the cap removed, to check for air "burped" from the system and top-up where required.

 

[drizler]

My 1736 picks up a lot of packed chaff whenever I mow. I always pop the hood daily and give it a few shots with the high pressure air. I have a nice long nozzled air chuck that gets in there without having to crawl around. I like to yank the air cleaner cover and blow it out or at least dump the excess out.
Mine likes to build it up between the back of the rad and the oil cooler in that narrow space between them. You can't really see it all that easy at a glance but it builds up in there. By the time the grille gets pretty coated you can be sure the rad and cooler are nasty.

 

[PatrickS2222]

Our MF135 has a radiator cowling with quite fine holes in the grille - stops almost all matter from getting into the radiator, and can be easily brushed or broomed off in a few seconds. When I bought our MF40 loader it had no grille, and I was utterly amazed at how blocked the radiator core was with not just leaves, but dirt and dust as well. I hosed it for 5 mins, then gently with the high-pressure "water-blaster" was the only way to clear it out. It didn't ever overheat - in fact they both have the same huge radiator, and the 135 can block the grille whilst slashing tall weeds etc, or making hay, and has never overheated either. I didn't waste any time making a military-grade grille for the loader - I was worried too much about damaging the radiator or the hydraulic pump with a falling rock. I'll post a pic or two. :thumbsup: