Adding Guages To your Yanmar

[Domush]

Thanks for the info. I added a temp gauge because the little 1500D was running hot very quickly. I am going to try reducing my anti-freeze mix below 30%. I hope it works.

Have you checked your thermostat? It may not be activating. Take it out and put it in a pot of water on the stove with a meat thermometer in there with it. Heat up the water and watch for it to activate at around 160F. If it doesn't activate by 200F you have a bad thermostat.

The alternative is to run it without the thermostat and see if you temp gauge reads higher than with it installed. If it does, replace with a new thermostat. The reason for the higher temp is because the temp probe is mounted before the thermostat, so if it never activates the probe will show water temps which never enter the engine block. It is a bad design, as people tend to listen to temp gauges and forget they are essentially meaningless (show a normal temp on an overheating engine) if the thermostat never activates.

Either way these beasts are better off with gauges anyhow. Good luck.

 

[Scotty Dive]

After installing me temp gauge in the upper radiator hose...I only get to 140 to 150 degrees. I bought a infrared hf temp probe and it verified that it was accurate.....so I am pretty pleased that my cooling system is working well

 

[Jay Roberts]

Have you checked your thermostat? It may not be activating. Take it out and put it in a pot of water on the stove with a meat thermometer in there with it. Heat up the water and watch for it to activate at around 160F. If it doesn't activate by 200F you have a bad thermostat.

The alternative is to run it without the thermostat and see if you temp gauge reads higher than with it installed. If it does, replace with a new thermostat. The reason for the higher temp is because the temp probe is mounted before the thermostat, so if it never activates the probe will show water temps which never enter the engine block. It is a bad design, as people tend to listen to temp gauges and forget they are essentially meaningless (show a normal temp on an overheating engine) if the thermostat never activates.

Either way these beasts are better off with gauges anyhow. Good luck.

I didn't know my YM1500D 4WD had a thermostat. I wasn't looking for it since it didn't have a water pump. (I wish it had a water pump at this point). Where would the thermostat be located?

My temp gauge appears to be working ok because the temp is showing that it is overheating and is exceeding 200+ degrees F. I shut it off at that point. It only takes a 3 or 4 minutes to begin to overheat. A funny thing I noticed as I test drove after I had flushed the coolant system. The temp begins dropping slightly (20 or 30 degrees) as I drove up the hill next to my barn.

You are right about these things being beasts. Mine has been a tough little beast until now. It has about 700 hours run time and all I have replaced was tires other than normal maintenance.

Thanks for the info. By the way I bought mine on the grey market about 7 years ago.

 

[284 International]

I didn't know my YM1500D 4WD had a thermostat. I wasn't looking for it since it didn't have a water pump. (I wish it had a water pump at this point)...
A funny thing I noticed as I test drove after I had flushed the coolant system. The temp begins dropping slightly (20 or 30 degrees) as I drove up the hill next to my barn.

I wonder if the cooling off you mentioned had to do with there being air in the thermo-siphon system, and tilting the tractor as it went up the hill "burped" the system of air.

One thing that seems to help the non-water pump tractors is running more water than usual in the mixture (around 25% to 30% coolant and 70% to 75% water) with a surfactant like Water-wetter as well. It helped my Kubota B6000.

It's also vital to make sure the radiator is clean inside. If you needed to flush it, it probably ought to be rodded out by a radiator shop to clear any occluded passages.

 

[Jay Roberts]

I wonder if the cooling off you mentioned had to do with there being air in the thermo-siphon system, and tilting the tractor as it went up the hill "burped" the system of air.

One thing that seems to help the non-water pump tractors is running more water than usual in the mixture (around 25% to 30% coolant and 70% to 75% water) with a surfactant like Water-wetter as well. It helped my Kubota B6000.

It's also vital to make sure the radiator is clean inside. If you needed to flush it, it probably ought to be rodded out by a radiator shop to clear any occluded passages.

The burping theory makes sense. I'll park it on the hill and check to see if the coolant level changed. Wouldn't this indicate air in the system?

The radiator is new so I feel pretty certain it is clear. I am going to try the 30% mix first but I will try the water-wetter too. I appreciate that you shared your experiences. Thanks

 

[284 International]

It indicates air in the system, but not necessarily why. It is possibly because of an incomplete fill, or because of a leak.

The "running hot very quickly" description is worrisome to me. If properly maintained, the machine should be able to run virtually indefinitely at its rated power and not overheat. It certainly shouldn't overheat just driving around. Make sure your fan shroud fits, the fan blades are in good shape, there is no chaff or things blocking air flow through the radiator, and so forth.

 

[Domush]

I didn't know my YM1500D 4WD had a thermostat. I wasn't looking for it since it didn't have a water pump. (I wish it had a water pump at this point).

From what I can find, you are right. :ashamed: It doesn't have a water pump or a thermostat. I'm a bit puzzled as to how it moves the water through the radiator at all without a means to pump it.

I did, in my travels find Hoye makes a water pump addon kit for your tractor, though.

Sorry for confusing you. I had no idea anything could have a radiator without a water pump to drive it. If anyone knows how this tractor moves the coolant, I'd be grateful to learn. Seems like a car driving without an engine. :confused2:

 

[Jay Roberts]

It indicates air in the system, but not necessarily why. It is possibly because of an incomplete fill, or because of a leak.

The "running hot very quickly" description is worrisome to me. If properly maintained, the machine should be able to run virtually indefinitely at its rated power and not overheat. It certainly shouldn't overheat just driving around. Make sure your fan shroud fits, the fan blades are in good shape, there is no chaff or things blocking air flow through the radiator, and so forth.

Already checked the items you suggested. By the way I make it a habit to clean the radiator screen and radiator after each use. I loaned my tractor to my son-in-law and I believe he did something accidental to my machine. That is when I started having all this trouble with overheating. I'll let you know how it all works out. I'm going to remove the radiator again and test it for leaks with 5 PSI pressure. Just because it is new doesn't mean it is OK. I have more investigation planned this weekend.

Thanks
Jay

 

[Domush]

When you have the radiator off, try hooking a garden hose up to the inlet of the engine to see if the water is even able to circulate. Then move the hose to the outlet and see if you can dislodge anything which may be stuffing up a port.
If the radiator is new, it stands to reason the issue is inside the engine passageways. If a garden hose doesn't have enough pressure to push out a clog, you can always jam an air nossle into the outlet port for some high pressure passage cleaning power. Just try to keep it under 1000PSI or a head gasket may be in your future

 

[Car Doc]

Yeah definitely keep it under a thousand psi!