PT 1845 Overheating

[marrt]

Charlie,

You may want to check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.enginaire.com/prod01.htm> Enginaire</A>. I bought one of these for my 425 but haven’t put it on yet. The design of the precleaner make’s it self cleaning. It uses the air intake to set up a centrifugal force to expel heavy material out the sides. You may still have to use some type of screen to catch the large, but light, material.

I know that some folks have used dryer hose to mount the device outside of the engine compartment. Enginaire also makes filters that can be used with the precleaner. You mention that the oil cooler has “a rubber intake adapter to mate to ducting.” This could perhaps be adapted to connect a hose leading to a filter and precleaner (nothing a little more judicious use of duct tape couldn’t handle).

Without a precleaner, I’m concerned that a filter alone wouldn’t be much help as it would just clog up like the oil cooler.

 

[marrt]

My oil cooler on top of the engine compartment looks the same way after mowing my field. When I shut the engine off, the grass falls down on the muffler and starts to smoke. I am afraid it could actually catch on fire. I was thinking of wrapping the entire inside of the engine compartment in screen.

Charlie, I seem to recall you live in MD. I live in NoVA. We had rain Saturday and I noticed a lot less dirt/dust/flying grass when mowing Sunday. If you also had rain Saturday, imagine how much worse the grass accumulation would be after a dry spell. I agree that something needs "fixed."

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color=red>You may want to check out Enginaire.</font color=red>
Marrt: That or similar technology is certainly worth a look. I need one about a foot in diameter, followed by a fine mesh.
For the imediate future, I'll knock the dust off my insect screen every half hour, and see if Power Trac can do some effective remedial engineering. I'd try a few things, but my time will be sorely limited in August. (And of course today is predicted to be 98 degrees, so I don't mind sitting in my office.)

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, that would most likely get caught up in the coolers had the screen not been there.

As far as a self cleaning screen goes, it would probably cost way more than its worth. Have you looked into a small 12v compressor with automatic pressure shutoff that you could mount on board? You could plug the ends of your trailer hitch tube and make it into an air tank. A short hose and blow gun could make quick work of the screen debris in the field.

My hydraulic cooler fan has worked flawlessly so far, but this seems to be a weak point in the PT for all series as several of us have reported hydraulic cooler fan troubles in the 400 series as well. Please let us know what the cayse/cure is.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

MR: You suggested:
<font color=red>You could plug the ends of your trailer hitch tube and make it into an air tank.</font color=red>
Reminds me of the time AJ Foyt got caught with the roll cage sealed and full of nitrous oxide. It would have made a spectacular fire if he'd had a wreck and it had leaked.
When I get the carryall built, it would not be a problem to put an air tank on it. Of course, at my current progress rate, the carryall may be done about 2004. I hadn't thought of an onboard compressor, though.
Terry will mull over what I wrote him and call me. I'm hoping that they will agree that a real filter system needs to be developed. I would think a variant of my external screen wire system, coupled with a finer filter in line, and probably another cooler in the top of the compartment would be a genuine fix. The inside of the oil cooler is so busy that even compressed air doesn't get every bit of debris out.

 

[MossRoad]

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I've never heard that one about AJ. KaBOOM!

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Re: PT 1845 Overheating- Fan

I talked to Terry today about the hydraulic fan sender. He told me to look on the inside of the right rear of the engine compartment, on the frame below the electrical junction box. He said that I could test it with a heat gun. Turn on ignition, heat, and fan will come on.
Turned out the heat gun test wouldn't have worked. Of course, once I plugged the loose wire back on the temperature sender, it probably would have worked fine. I jumpered the wires and the fan ran, so there isn't much question that the disconnected wire was the problem.
The real trouble is that I don't have anyone else to blame./w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif I almost certainly knocked the wire off with the shop vac. See if I ever clean again. I should have known it would cause trouble./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif