Oil & Fuel Coolant Change on a 3 or 4000 Series Cab Tractor

[Glen Watkins]

Has anyone done a Coolant change on one of these tractors? At the dealer today and the parts guy said service told him there is a special method to avoid getting an airlock from the hoses running up to the cab? Anyone able to shed any light on this? Should have gone back and talked to service myself I guess.

 

[greg_g]

I haven't done it myself, I've only accumulated 120 hours so far. But do you know how to remove the cab roof? If yes, then DIY should be no problem.

//greg//

 

[Glen Watkins]

Yes, I had the roof off for a radio upgrade. I don't think I will need to go to that extreme but I will report back on the process.

 

[greg_g]

Well, you may not have noticed it at the time. But that's where the heater is located too. If you have to bleed those hoses, it may be necessary to pop the top. Ideally though, if you close the heater valve (inside the cab) before draining the cooling system, you may avoid air locking the heater hose(s).

//greg//

 

[Glen Watkins]

That's a thought too Greg thanks or maybe I can just clamp off both lines where they are accessible? I will go back and check with the service department before I do this.

 

[greg_g]

Ok. But that will end up mixing contaminated old coolant with your fresh clean stuff. If/when I get to where you're at now, pretty sure I'd want a complete drain/flush before replacing with new.

On the left side of my 3720 tractor (as viewed from the seat), there's a hose splice. If I might recommend, that's a good place to temporarily install a circulation pump oriented for reverse flow (back flush). Open the heater valve, drain/flush with pump assistance, reverse pump, refill/circulate with pump assistance, clamp off lines, remove pump, remove clamps, top up radiator. Never did this, but it's how I envision an efficient coolant change. Might even resemble the dealer procedure, but that would be a long shot.......

Anyway, I added "top up radiator" because it might not yet draw from the coolant reservoir. Mine overheated a while back, yet the reservoir was still at the correct level. So I removed the radiator cap for a look-see, and saw nothing. Topped up the radiator itself, replaced cap, over-heating issue cured.

//greg//

 

[Glen Watkins]

Does anyone have the service manual for this series of tractor with cab that can look and see how the manual says to do it? Would be much appreciated!