Old lady needs your help again....MF1250 radiator woes!

[Old Gray Mare]

Howdy holeycow...

Great advice with the hoses. Thanks! The best way to remove them would be from the where they go into the engine and then when the radiator is out, remove the hoses from it, correct? I'd like to replace them (and the clamps) and doubt if exacts are available. Would a flexible type be OK? They have a couple of 90-degree bends, so are they that flexible? To replace the cap and thermostat, do I just take the old to an auto parts store and hope for the best? It's a long drive to end up having a wrong part

I'm reading (make that re-reading) the manual and I know I can do it if my old fingers can get in there and the bolts aren't "welded" on tight. Guess that would call for Liquid Wrench and patience lol.

Kinda figured Bars Leak was junk since it was sold at Family Dollar! I worked for a logging company in Idaho and the owner had me use some stuff in my "93 GMC 6.5TD but I can't remember what it was called. He used it in his fleet and equipment and it would keep things going until the spring thaw/shutdown. He HAD to keep the trucks moving. But, honestly, I think the leak in the MF is much bigger than a pinhole. The way it was dribbling out

I'm parked on packed gravel near the house, so that should be a good solid surface for the loader to sit on. I may just keep the hoses hooked up and back out of the loader frame enough to get access to the radiator. It's kinda in the middle of the engine compartment....battery is in front.

There are a couple of shops about 70 miles away that I'll call tomorrow and see what they say. Sure hope they don't jerk me around. Been there, done that, which is why I'm a DYIer!

Thanks for the guidance...it's appreciated!!

 

[Old Gray Mare]

We're only as old as we feel, eh? As long as I can remain vertical, the day is good!

 

[irvingj]

Ditto on the photos, and please share them here!

 

[jibe717]

When you have the radiator out I certainly would replace the hoses and thermostat since you already have them off. Also time to check your fan belt too. At this point if you don't have to remove the pullies to take the belt off you'll have more room now then later if they are getting old and weak.

 

[Old Gray Mare]

When you have the radiator out I certainly would replace the hoses and thermostat since you already have them off. Also time to check your fan belt too. At this point if you don't have to remove the pullies to take the belt off you'll have more room now then later if they are getting old and weak.

Yes...definately replacing the hoses (likely with flexible type) and the t-stat. Never thought about the belt, so Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Old Gray Mare]

Re: Old lady needs your help again....MF1250 radiator woes! Progress Pics

OK....

Had some time to delve into getting the radiator out. The service manual is about as usless as, well you fill in the blanks! Once I had the hood off, etc., here's what I was confronted with:



Nowhere in the manual does it mention the air cleaner tube and the bracket that holds both it and the radiator. Nor does it mention the fan shroud that has to be unbolted to hopefully give enough room to get the radiator out. There's also no petcock to drain it, so it's all going to flow out the lower hose connection.

What I've done so far is to remove the bolts from the air cleaner/radiator bracket, removed the air cleaner tube from where it goes into the engine (I covered the inlet hole very well so no dirt can get in there), and rotated the whole shebang up & toward the front of the compartment. :confused2: I have no idea if this will give me enough room.

It got real windy so didn't disconnect any hoses, 'cuz the coolant would have blown right passed the catch container and my nosey ol' chocolate lab would have found the puddle :licking:

I found a small hose at the bottom of the radiator that I *think* is for the transmission? If it's disconnected, will all of the coolant behind it drain out? I plan on replacing all of it anyway, but need to know how big of a container to use.

I called around to repair shops up to 75 miles away and found only 1 that would work on this. He couldn't give me any ballpark price, but did say that "worse-case" would be $300+ dollars !!!!! WTH!!! Do they use gold for soldering?! By the time I add in the cost of fuel and time, I should be able to get a new radiator!

Tomorrow, I'm going to call the dealer in Idaho who I bought from and see what they say. Also have a nationwide used/salvage parts dealer looking around for me.

Anyway, guess this old girl is once again a tractor mechanic...LOL

One big question....if no replacement radiator is found, is it possible to find something that will fit, if the hose configuration is changed using flexible hoses? Just trying to cover my bases.

 

[Hoochy]

Sorry to hear about your radiator woes. I am in the process of fixing the kne on my old 1010 and I just got the radiator back from the shop yesterday. Total parts and labor with 1 yr warranty came to $297.00 unfortunatelly I did not have the option of buying a new one and the one recored one I found was going for $710.00

I am replacing all the hoses, the belt and thermostat like others have suggested. You might want to check the water pump, which I am replacing eventhough is working fine, it is so hard to get to it that I figured might as well get it done also.

Looks like you will have a few components to remove so you can get the radiator out but be glad is not as bad as mine, air intake, muffler, hood, gas tank, front grill and support brackets and even the darn steering shaft had to be remkved just to get to the darn radiator.:laughing:

 

[Xfaxman]

Re: Old lady needs your help again....MF1250 radiator woes! Progress Pics

OK....

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I found a small hose at the bottom of the radiator that I *think* is for the transmission? If it's disconnected, will all of the coolant behind it drain out? I plan on replacing all of it anyway, but need to know how big of a container to use.

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If it is going to the transmission, there has to be another hose coming back to the radiator and will be transmission fluid in a separate core in the radiator, if it is done like trucks.

I have never seen it done that way on a tractor, but that only means that I have not seen it.

The oil coolers in my machines fit in front of the radiator.

 

[kthompson]

Sure wish I had seen this earlier; it is possible the leak could be soldered in the tractor. It does not have to a radiator shop, it can be anyone who has experience in soldering and common sense and the necessary tools. Yeah I know this will not suit some but copper plumbing is copper plumbing. They will have to find the leak and remove the fins to give work area but if you look this has been done to many old radiators. kt

 

[Old Gray Mare]

Re: Old lady needs your help again....MF1250 radiator woes! UPDATE!

Thought you all would like an update on the radiator replacing project. The "new" one got here yesterday and I've already installed it :dance1: . The hoses were cleaned and thoroughly inspected and I decided to reuse them since they look/feel/seem like brand new. The cap cleaned up beautifully and is 10 times better than the ones I saw online All that is left for me to do is to tighten all the clamps (a couple of them were replaced), tighten the bolts (I left them loose in case I needed to adjust something for the re-install of the radiator), and add coolant. Which leads to this question:

I drained all of the coolant out of the system and need advice on filling it up. I know to mix 50/50 coolant and distilled water. The manual says to just add coolant to the proper level. Do I need to have the tractor running when I add coolant? Does the system need to be burped (my 93 GMC diesel did when its system was worked on) or just go ahead and add it like in the good ol' days? I don't have access to one of those fancy burping caps...lol...so what ever can be done without extra tools is best for me

Anyway, sure am proud of what an old gray mare can do! :yes: