Hey all new here. I come with a question but hopefully I can chime in and help in the future also. I have a 92 John Deere 5400 4x4 loader tractor. 1900 hours. I have owned for 3 years and put a little over 300 hours on it. Every since I first bought it I can't get the engine up to operating temp unless it is 80+ degrees outside and running at or near rated PTO rpm under a decent load. My obvious first thought was thermostat which I replaced. No change. Also replaced coolant temp sensor. No change. I'm out of ideas. It's as if coolant is somehow bypassing thermostat. I realize too cool is better than too hot but I know that it is still not good on them to run 160 or less. I don't know what actual temps are but when it is less than 70 degrees outside I have to run its guts out to even get the needle to touch the bottom of the green range. Middle of the green range is where tstat opens on a very hot day. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
JD 5400 cooling system
- Thread starter Abarnar1
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beenthere
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Say anything in the op manual ?
My 4300 does not show much different (from yours) on the temp gauge, and the subject has been discussed before. Will see if a search turns anything up for the 5400
Say anything in the op manual ?
My 4300 does not show much different (from yours) on the temp gauge, and the subject has been discussed before. Will see if a search turns anything up for the 5400
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Op manual just says run at 1500 rpm for a few mins and then at 1900 under light load until engine reaches operating temp. It may be normal as I know that Deere seems to over engineer cooling systems. I have however ran a 5200 quite a bit as well (same engine just non turbo) and it is up to operating temp within 10 mins or less. It seems to me that regardless of cooling system capacity the thermostat should allow engine to warm up before radiator begins dissipating heat. For an example I was mowing hay the other day. Temps near 90 degrees. Running tractor at PTO speed (2400 rpm) as hay was really think. Needle was in middle of green zone all day. As it got close to dark and temps dropped below 80 I watched the needle start falling to near the bottom of the green zone by dark. Just have a feeling that something isn't right and it is a terrible problem in winter feeding hay. Can't get the gauge even close to normal range in winter. Thanks so much for the reply!
Almost positive the thermostat I put in was 180*. It was a John Deere thermostat and the correct part # for tractor. In either case I will verify that. I like the idea of installing a mechanical gauge. When I get done with spring hay cutting I will install one and see what actual temps are. Again thanks for the responses.
