Running Coolant Flush in Cold Weather

[mmranch]

I will be changing out my tractor coolant. But I want to run the coolant flush for several hours before putting in new coolant.

My tractor is stored in a heated shop and I use a block heater on it before running it. I will be adding the coolant flush & water inside before starting it and moving it outside to run. I'm thinking the water and coolant flush won't freeze while the tractor is running. Am I correct in my thinking? It's currently 3 degrees F outside this morning.

Thanks!

 

[oosik]

I can give you the operational temps of my tractor as an example. After I have plowed snow on my driveway for at least a half hour the coolant temps coming into the radiator are around 190F to 205F They will exit the radiator on their way back to the engine at least 20F cooler.

Your concern - you exit your heated shop and something happens to cause the engine to quit. If you can not get it back into the shop - at 3F you better be well prepared to drain the flush and add antifreeze - PDQ. And even then if you are still unable to start the engine and circulate the antifreeze completely thru the cooling system - there will be places where the flush did not drain out and still might freeze before you can get the engine restarted.

If it were me - add the flush - open the doors on your heated shop - run the tractor inside the heated shop for half an hour - drain the flush and add the new antifreeze.

Why take chances with an expensive tractor.

 

[mmranch]

Thanks very much for the ideas!

I'll let the tractor warm up inside the shop before heading out to work. I want to run the flush for several hours while plowing, then change to coolant (the coolant system is really dirty and I want to clean it up).

Thanks again.

 

[blacklion66]

If you do run it outside remove the thermostat.
I.E. the thermostat only circulates water through the engine when the engine is at operating temp.
Cold air hitting the rad will freeze it solid
Or you could use a 1900-1960 farmers trick and drape a old blanket over the front of the rad.

Me I would wait till spring

 

[LouNY]

If you do run it outside remove the thermostat.
I.E. the thermostat only circulates water through the engine when the engine is at operating temp.
Cold air hitting the rad will freeze it solid
Or you could use a 1900-1960 farmers trick and drape a old blanket over the front of the rad.

Me I would wait till spring

Blanket, card board, or a trash bag in front of the radiator at almost 0F the water will freeze quite rapidly,
working the tractor in those temps will not get her very warm. At those temps I can cover the entire inlet area in the grill
and never over heat.

 

[mmranch]

Thanks all for the tips!

By the time I got the coolant drained and the flush put in, temps were about 18 degrees. Plowed for about 2 hours and put her back inside. Thermostat opened as radiator was warm while working and the flush in the overflow reservoir didn't even freeze with the engine warmth and the tractor slamming around while plowing.

I will run her again today to get the flush to circulate and suspend the debris before draining the flush.

One thing I didn't like though... there is a hard plastic drain cock on the end of the drain hose coming from the radiator. This has a little plastic plug with a tiny o-ring that when I removed the plug by unscrewing it with a small crescent wrench, the threads of the plug looked terrible. They almost didn't look like threads at all and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get this plug to go back in. I did get it to thread back in but may be replacing this thing soon.

I'm sure this was the first time the coolant has ever been changed in this machine so I'm pretty sure the plug has never been out before. Could the coolant distort the plastic of the plug?

Thanks again.

 

[RalphVa]

Years ago, I'd run a lot of water through the radiator and engine to flush them. I haven't done a flush between coolant changes in many many years. Actually, I don't change out coolant much now anyway. Most are cited to go either the life of the engine or 10 years. That's about what I follow now.

Ralph