I Still Hate My Tractor II

MHarryE · May 8, 2014

I assume it the "donut" type cooler. I Googled that and quickly found a YouTube video of. Mechanic replacing the third failed donut cooler on a Jetta TDI. Hope that turns out to be your problem. I really don't think the head gasket could be your problem - maybe wishful thinking. When one of the new prototype engines, Tier 2 I believe, was giving me head gasket problem, peak pressures were at cold start with no turbo boost really coming into play. However having worked in the industry and knowing how the bean counters want you to squeeze every penny out of a design, there is a possibility that they had different head gaskets for your engine, with turbo(skid steer you mention) and non-turbo. Can you picture the assembly line problems possible by confusing them? I'll bet my money on the cooler.

s219 · May 9, 2014

It would almost have to be the oil cooler I think, especially if it's a VW cooler, as this is not uncommon. Is there another brand you can try? I know I had one on a Subaru H6 motor in an Outback many years ago. I was a Subaru nut at the time (had 5-6 of them) and never heard about any issues with their cooler. It's somewhat typical for manufacturers to slap on a donut oil cooler over the oil filter mount on engines when they increase the service/duty rating. So there should be a few options that will fit.

dodge man · May 9, 2014

You may have answered this in a previous post but did you add more fuel somehow because of the turbo? What does it look like when under a hard load, does it smoke a lot? Its probably not likely but just wondering if its over fueling.

The Fred · May 9, 2014

The cooler is bad, more later.

Good weekend all, Fred

MHarryE · May 10, 2014

You are size limited, but might be worth looking into the donut cooler Perkins uses. I can't remember the maker but they were pretty robust as I recall. Only thing is whether the mount size matches.

sd455dan · May 10, 2014

The Fred said:
The cooler is bad, more later.

Good weekend all, Fred

That's great news :thumbsup: - sounds like time to (Upgrade) to a different cooler...

TomSeller · May 10, 2014

The Fred said:
The cooler is bad, more later.

Good weekend all, Fred

Very, very good news. I know this will end well..

crazyal · May 11, 2014

dodge man said:
You may have answered this in a previous post but did you add more fuel somehow because of the turbo? What does it look like when under a hard load, does it smoke a lot? Its probably not likely but just wondering if its over fueling.

I was kind of wondering about this myself. Not because of getting too much fuel but just more of a general question about if and how to adjust the injection pump. I've always thought that the EPA has made it so mfgs no longer let their engines get as much fuel as possible when under load. Fred did you ever try turning up the amount of fuel your injector pump delivered under full load before adding the turbo?

The Fred · May 11, 2014

Before adding the turbo 1/2 turn of fuel made such a black haze and you couldn't stand to be near the running machine. It made no power difference whatsoever.
After the turbo install I slowly added fuel until it felt right. It doesn't smoke one bit except on cold starting.

Cleaning the cooling system today.

Yes the Subaru cooler is smaller but the price was stupid at over $300 dollars that's why I used the VW unit.

I couldn't imagine using this underpowered machine without the turbo. It was by far the best $1,000 bucks I ever spent on a mod. Yeah it uses more fuel, yeah I shortened the life of the machine. About 1/2 the tractor work I do has been shortened extensively, those chores that require power are just that much easier now.

Fred