Kama 554 Radiator Maintenance and Mods

[3RRL]

Then it was time to take off the old lower radiator hose and replace with a new one. I bought Ø1-1/2 hose at Napa. The old hose was extremely hard to get off because there was very little room between the radiator and the engine return. The new hose was even harder to get back on! I had to fold it in half to get it in there.



I guess the best way to do it is to remove the radiator completely and put the hoses on the engine ports, then put the radiator back on and connect the hoses to it. but that seemed like too mush work so I managed to sqeeze them in there. I changed to top hose also, while I was at it. I reused the old clamps since I forgot to buy new ones, but they were fine.



Then I filled the radiator with a 50/50 mixture of the wet sleeve type anti-freeze and distilled water. After that, I used the little flimsy bracket that came with the overflow kit and added some of my own. Then tack welded the bracket to the air intake tube so the overflow could sit as high as possible under the hood.

 

[3RRL]

Here is the overflow kit mounted inside the engine compartment. You can see how high I was able to mount it and without interfering with anything else.



I was able to use my old radiator cap since I've never had an overheating problem with it. Nor did I move the giant air filter which is mounted in front of the radiator for the same reason. I might move it in the future only for the sake of easier cleaning of the radiator. But as far as blocking the air flow and causing overheating, it is no problem. The 554 runs constantly at 80°C as it is.

Here is a shot of the overflow from the bottom. I thought it turned out pretty good with the modified bracket and all.



Thanks for looking.

 

[Captinjack]

Say Rob

If you change the hose from the water pump to thermostat housing.......Let us know the NAPA part number as the diameter of the hose ends are different and the hose also has a 90 degree bend. I believe the bottom connection is 1" and the top is 1 1/2".

All my Chinese hoses are cracking and I'm going to do exactly what you are doing hopefully next week if I have time. If I beat you to it replacing this hose I'll post what hose sizes I used and the NAPA part numbers.

You said that the lower hose between the radiator is 1 1/2"? I must have measured wrong as I've recorded that it should be a 2" hose. The top radiator hose is 1 1/2" though.

I didn't buy the cooling system flush as my coolant also looked so clean. It is suprising how cruddy that looked when flushed. Larry had the same experience and that is what made me want to do the flush "before it needs" to be done.

I just cracked 100 hrs on my Kama 554 and just haven't had the time to get more hours on her.

Your postings have been a tremendous help to us inexperience tractor operators. Thanks again.

 

[3RRL]

Jack,
When you change the elbow hose, let me know what that is.

I used the same hose for both top and bottom connection...both are 1-1/2". If you look closely at the bottom hose photo you can see after the "609" there appears the start of an "S". Then look at the top hose photo and the "S" of Straight hose is cut in half.
Get some hose clamps too.
Thanks for your support and appreciation Jack.

 

[zogman]

HI WC ROB!

Great thread, I may do this mod too. I have had the slow overheat problem since I got mine and thought it was the radiator cap but now I believe it is the head gasket getting a little blow-by into the coolant. I can fill the radiator and after 4 hours or so it will blow out enough fluid through the overflow tube to see the top of the coolant tubes. I will try to re-torque the head this weekend with my new impact gun

I love my toys!

 

[Brad_Blazer]

I love impact guns but I strongly recommend a torque wrench instead for your head bolts.

 

[irwin]

Say Rob

If you change the hose from the water pump to thermostat housing.......Let us know the NAPA part number as the diameter of the hose ends are different and the hose also has a 90 degree bend. I believe the bottom connection is 1" and the top is 1 1/2".

Don't know if this will help anyone http://www.napaonline.com/MasterPag...at=Heater+Hose+-+90+Degree+Molded&VehCode=N.. NAPA has pictures and hose sizes posted on their web site..Also has adapters available for "limited" hose size changes, ie: (3/8" to 1/2") etc.

 

[NewToy]

That is until I ran the flushing solution though. Then it all started to make more sense. Don't forget to drain the petcock on the right side of the engine block either.



I ran the engine for about 10 minutes after reaching operating temperature as suggested on the instructions. Even in need of an oil change and a valve lash adjustment, the 554 Kama ran smoothly at 2400rpm.



The more I drained out into the big container, the more I could see how much crud and rust had built up on the inside of the engine block and radiator. This had to affect the cooling ability of the system a little, I would presume.



After the first flushing, I re-filled the radiator and ran it for another 5 minutes or so before draining it again. This time most of the crud had been flushed out.



I did that one more time until the water coming out of the radiator and engine block petcock was very clear.

I don't think the wet sleeve type is orange but just has the specific additive for the application. IH sells the additive for PowerStroke diesels that goes with ethylene glycol antifreeze. Also, TSC sells the FleetCharge brand that is pre-mixed ethylene glycol, low silicate with the wet sleeve/diesel additive already mixed in. My Ford manual specifically states to use a low silicate blend, Prestone says on the bottle that it is a high silicate formula so I stayed away from that.
John

 

[3RRL]

Agreed.
You can see in the first post I used the Fleet Charge SCA Precharged product.

 

[NewToy]

Agreed.
You can see in the first post I used the Fleet Charge SCA Precharged product.

I changed my tractor coolant today, refilled with the FleetCharge stuff from TSC. It was the neatest Purple color, too cool.
John