Adding a temp gauge to a Kubota L2500

[RobJ]

I truely am out to see how much I can nickel and dime myself on this little tractor. Brief background is my temp gauge seems to be running high, I've done several things but an about to call it good until I can get to run it hard in the summer. Now some fun pics of installing a temp gauge.

Temp gauge is just a $17.00 white background I found at Autozone. It is a mechnical gauge. The gauge came with 3 brass fittings, 1/4" npt, 3/8" npt, and something else, maybe metric, about the size of the 1/4" npt. I purchased a couple new parts in case I needed to "modify something" to mount the sensor. Since my tractor is 120 miles to the north, I don't always have the picture (in my vast catalog) or memory on what is actually on the tractor. When I arrived on Friday evening I found a nice gift. Looks like a Place where Kubota "meant" to add something. It looked solid, and no surprizes. It also looked clear of the thermostat.

Pic 1...The predrilled almost through area. You can see it comes in next to the small water pump bypass hose (it's removed). I predrilled it with a 1/4" bit.
Pic 2 A 7/16" bit is the size needed for a 1/4"npt tap.
Pic 3 Ready for the tap.
pic 4 tap complete, love working with a soft metal.

 

[RobJ]

pic 5 after a little teflon tape I have the seating brass coupling installed. no big deal here.
pic 6 a nice shot of where the sending unit sits inside. right next to the thermostat so I should get a nice accurate reading as the water exits the head. It would be nice in the head, in the back where the Kubota sender is but I'm working with what I have.
pic 7 the sending unit installed.

 

[RobJ]

pic 8 just a little trick to help manage things like this. it sort of gets it looking decent. With mechnical gauges you can not trim the cable, making a kink is also a no-no. There is some sort of liquid inside that expands and moves the needle. I'm not sure what, but it works I guess.
pic 9 cable management, the yellow wire goes to the electric kubota sending unit in the back of the head.
pic 10 initial install is using the stock bracket and a nice and easy place to put it quickly. It's also out of the way. I think I'll eventually put it in the dash where the amp gauge is. Since my alternator failed and I have no plans to putchase a $550 alternator...why not have 2 temp gauges.
pic 11 just a closeup of the gauge.

 

[RobJ]

pic 12 Now we are in the home stretch. I hooked up the FN and ran around a bit to get the temp up if I could. This gauge reacts a bit slower than the electric gauge but it did come up and stablize. It's actually reading about 150 degrees. I'm thinking I'll turn the angle of the gauge up a bit before I move it.

pic 13 what the kubota guage is doing. I also grabbed an cooking temp tester and stuck it in the top of the radaitor. It also read 150 degrees.


The longer history it started to overheat after some bushhogging. I removed the thermostat and it was in fact stuck. I replaced with a new Kubota and still a problem. A few weeks ago after I put the head back on and stuff I replaced the thermostat with another new kubota thermostat. Now it seems (I forget what I've done and what order it's been over a year...that happen to yall?? ) that the temp is stabilzed. In other words the needle comes up on the gauge and parks in one spot. and as mentioned before I ran it pretty hard a few weeks ago pulling my disk. I'll do that again this weekend.

Enjoy,
Rob

 

[johnk]

Very nicely done. Now you don't have to second guess the other gauge. Thanks for the pics...

 

[wushaw]

Now that will answer the overheating question for good.

 

[diyDave]

Why not just buy a cheap non contact IR thermometer. You can use it to check engine temps, look for hot bearings, cool cylinders etc. Versatile little tool for $35-50.00.

 

[johnk]

If he's like me, If it's not permanently mounted I'd lose it. Not a bad idea though depending on how accurate the unit really is.

 

[sandman2234]

Now where in the field did that IR fall off, and if I do ever find it, will it be before or after I ran over it with the bush hog, and before the snow flies?
I think I like the extra temp guage better.
David from jax

 

[RobJ]

Here is a final shot as when thinking before I didn't notice the gauge down low, I had put it in the dash but have taken no pic.

A typical late June day, temps around 95ish. running a 60" finish mower in thick Bahia grass(I hate that stuff). The t-stat is a Kubota 190 degree. If I see this I don't worry to much. It might spit a little out of the overflow but there is nothing else I can do. If I lower the rpms or stop for a couple minutes, it'll back right down.