BX overheating

[rlsmith]

Had my first boil over on mine, last week finish mowing with over 900 hrs on my 5 yr old BX23 The gauge never moved past where it has always sat running and that is no where near red zone. But I smelled it and then throttled it down and heard it so I ran it back to the barn and pulled the clean screen out and grabbed the air hose and blew that rad out. Haven't had the time to run it real hard since but have done some brush cutting in the woods an hour at time with no problem.

 

[DavidAubke]

How can you spray the front of the radiator without removing the plastic fan cowl? It seems like that blocks access to most of the engine side of the radiator.

I've been timid about hosing down my radiator because I felt like that area under the dashboard that houses the battery wasn't designed to handle a bunch of water. Sounds like I should just go for it.

 

[TripleR]

When I bought my first Kubota six years ago, my dealer said to use only compressed air. This has worked well on my Kubotas as well as my full size tractors.

 

[chucko]

"How can you spray the front of the radiator without removing the plastic fan cowl"


I did not say I did a good job of it. Just that it seemed to have helped
As far as getting wet ....well um it is a tractor I figure most of them get wet

 

[Donkey Shade Farm]

My 2360 is only a month old. I came home from work one day and went straight out to the tractor and noticed the temp gauge was in the center. Asked son if he had used it, not since morning. Odd, I thought. Started it up, let it warm up anyway even though the gauge already showed it was. As soon as I throttled up and began moving it began creeping up. Just before it hit red I stopped and idled. Opened up the cover, looked at screen and filter, radiator, checked to see if fan was working. All okay. And the engine did not feel as though it was close to overheating (normal amount of heat coming off it). I shut it down and checked radiator fluids and for clogged lines. Nothing. Started it back up and the gauge went back to normal setting. Ran the tractor since with no re-occurence (about 3 days). Wonder if it was a gauge problem?

 

[DavidAubke]

Could swear I remember reading some other folks posting about a BX temperature gauge recall notice. I don't remember any details except they were reading hot.

 

[Tom_H]

When I brush hog, the chaff from the dried out wild oats is pulverized into very fine material that floats in the air. It takes less than 5 minutes for a layer to build up on the pre-screen (the exterior one right in front of the operator) that is like the layer of lint that builds up on the clothes dryer screen after 5 or 6 loads. The radiator fan sucks the stuff forward and I have constantly to reach down and wipe it off of the screen in order to keep from overheating. About every 45 minutes I have to pull the tractor into the garage, take off the outer screen, pull the inner screen, vacuum both, and use the narrow little wand from the shop vac to vacuum the entire face of the radiator. I have to insert it through all the cables, etc. from many different angles to get behind the battery and clean the entire radiator face.

I used to be able to go about 2 hours without having to do this. This thread now has me wondering whether there is material that has accumulated deeper in the radiator face that the vac isn't sucking out, stuff that needs to be blasted out with water.

 

[Jimmyp5]

When I bought my first Kubota six years ago, my dealer said to use only compressed air. This has worked well on my Kubotas as well as my full size tractors.

ditto... my dealer even gave me a adapter "long needle" looking device so I could get the air in all the tight spaces.. yesterday at 105 degrees I ran my BX for three solid hours cutting fields... no problem over heating.

 

[Tom_H]

ditto... my dealer even gave me a adapter "long needle" looking device so I could get the air in all the tight spaces.. yesterday at 105 degrees I ran my BX for three solid hours cutting fields... no problem over heating.

Which side do you blast from, engine side or battery side? Since stuff gets drawn in from battery side, my guess is that you blow it back out from engine side; is this correct?

Also, it matters what is being cut. The very dry chaff from the wild oats I cut puts so much material in the air that my outer screen has an eighth inch thick layer of lint like material covering it in less than 5 minutes. If I were cutting green live hay, this would not happen. I can run my tractor wide open at 115 degrees doing other applications and not overheat. The issue for me is this dry chaff when I cut after everything is so dry.

 

[Jimmyp5]

Which side do you blast from, engine side or battery side? Since stuff gets drawn in from battery side, my guess is that you blow it back out from engine side; is this correct?

First off sorry for taking so long to get back! It been in the 100-105 plus range the last few days to have been out early morning and back at it late at night. I do it on both sides... on the battery side I manage to get the outer rim at least. I use the shop vac to blow the whole thing out first, then the long neddle with the compresser air. I do this after every cutting of the fields, so about once a week. Just part of my put it back in "ready mode", top of the fuel, check the levels, grease what needs to done etc. I figure 45 minutes of maintenance, to have it ready for the next time I want to jump on at night is worth it.