couldnt resist, ym1700

[California]

For YM2000 Yanmar specifies 13 psi. I got a lever-release 14 psi cap listed for 70's Datsun. It fits perfectly and has worked fine for years.

 

[winston1]

I'm "guessing" the 30 year old radiator needs professionally cleaned or a new one. Don't do it on my say so though. A new cap is much cheaper.

 

[clemsonfor]

Could be a cap but i think your radiator need rodding out. Its clogged. You cant really see it when it happens. trust me. I had an S10 blazer that would not overheat but just run hotter on the gage than i wanted it. New T stat and everything did nothing. Had the radiator professionally cleanded or rodded and it was amaxing the difference. there is scale that gets in there on the passages, you cant see it by looking in, its in the middles of them. It clogs them up and you dont get full water flow or completly blocked tubes.\

Find an old type radiator shop, probly will have a 60-80 year old guy that runs it or his son in his 40s maybe, no one does this anymore. They usually are not inthe best neighborhoods either. That or a commercial repair place may have a jobber to to them as its common on equiptment that may have expensive rads that are cheaper to fix.

 

[California]

Agree. Rodding or replacing the radiator is worth it. That is a component that requires maintenance. After 30 years I doubt it is up to spec.

Spending the equivalent money to add a water pump (that Yanmar felt was un-needed) may be only an expensive detour on the way to rodding out the radiator.

I had a first-generation Trooper that spit out a spark plug and ruined the head after 14 years. The replacement third-party head had a warranty conditional on installing a new radiator. I think the head manufacturer had identified that overheating was what would cause warranty claims.

 

[284 International]

Find an old type radiator shop, probly will have a 60-80 year old guy that runs it or his son in his 40s maybe, no one does this anymore. They usually are not inthe best neighborhoods either...

This is SO right on, and describes the only places I've ever found that will actually do radiator work like rodding out the core etc.

 

[clemsonfor]

Well i had experience. My father in law owned a shop. He was a general mecanic for auto/truck. If we had an onld school radiator like made out of copper, or it was something that was expensive or the customer wanted it fixed and not replaced even though the replacement may only be double....anyway there was a place just as i described. The concrete outside the place was black it was so oil stained. They did radiators. The owner then may have been late 40s or early 50s but that was 10 years ago. It was not in the best part of town. They did good work, i think something the size of a yanny rad would cost $40-50 then?

 

[Smoody]

Well I think I was my own problem. Apparently I did not tighten the clamp on the upper hose tight enough after backflushing and was losing water..after it cooled opened the cap and it was low..oddly the overflow bottle was at same level it was when I started..so it didn't pull the water in as needed...turns out the tube was clogged on the overflow bottle..I got it all fixed up and ran it about 30 minutes and bush hogged a bit..this time keeping rpms up not to lug the engine..checked temps and was 196 at injectors , 160 lower block...maybe that was all it was

 

[deepNdirt]

Smoody. I think you should add a bit more Antifreeze if it is at only 10% drain about 1 quart more of water/mix and add in about 1 quarts more of antifreeze, this is probably not perfect but closer to where it should be mixed with what you already have,
also if the overflow hose is stopped up it wouldn't be pushing water into the catch bottle, much less sucking it back out, Is the hose/tube in good condition?

I replaced the rad cap on my 1700 last summer with a 10psi, I cannot remember the spec on the original one but I thing it was a couple psi different one way or the other, In any case the 10psi has been working fine,
another thing I wouldn't be sure of is the engine temp reading of the block and cylinders, there are water jackets surround the cylinders, water could act as a buffer, presenting a hotter reading against the cylinder and a bit cooler reading on the exterior,
a temperature sending unit reads the actual water temperature from inside the block,
realizing your tractor has only the Dummy light, You might tray using a cooking thermometer inside the radiator filler neck, of course being careful when removing the cap and using a cloth, Or I'm sure letting it set for about 15 minute would allow to cool some, you might add a few degrees to the reading if letting cool,

I know at this point your not sure if to invest much $$ into the tractor, but if all is well and it's just a matter of getting the cooling corrected, a temp Gauge on the dash sure is handy to have, Rather inexpensive ( 30.00 ) and easy to install

 

[California]

Seems to me that aiming an infrared thermometer at the block's upper hose fitting and at the upper radiator tank should read pretty close to what an immersed temperature gauge will show. If the readings are well below the boiling point of a pressurized system (235* ???) then there's no problem. I agree there should be antifreeze in the water, even in summer, because it raises the boiling point higher than pure water. And long term it helps prevent corrosion.

In this case it sounds like the problem is solved and the tractor is ready to put in service with an expectation of normal performance.

 

[deepNdirt]

The reason I said and suggest checking the water temp is, I have one of them infrared temperature guns and it is inaccurate, I also have a digital test prob that is used in checking HVAC ( air/heat systems), one is used to read the serface tempt, while the other is used to read the interior tempt,