MF 65 Overheating

[mgmhistory]

I have a 1958 MF 65 with the gas engine. After an hour of use, it overheats to the point of dying, steam and fluid overflow. After sitting a while it starts right up but this time is will not take an hour to overheat, much less. When this first happened I thought thermostat and so I replaced that and while I was doing that I notice the radiator is in bad shape so I replaced that along with the hoses. No luck, it is still over heating, any ideas. I am desperate as I have no way to haul it somewhere to be repaired. By the way I am no mechanic but can follow directions.

 

[massey driver]

You say you chg the Rad so it shouldn't be a problem with it.It could a faulty thermostat even if its new.What you can try is take the thermostat out and hold it over a steaming kettle and watch to see if it opens.You can pour hot water into a old jar and watch to see if it opens as well.If that all checks out then its a possibility the water pump isn't ciculating the water properly.One other thing is the engine block may need to be flushed out.Go to any parts store and buy a bottle [or 2] of radiator flush follow the directions on the bottle.Put new antifreeze in and that should hopefully help.The engine block could be all blocked with crud. Other then doing the above not sure what else to say other then it needs a good cleaning.Hope this helps.Larry

 

[mgmhistory]

How can I tell if the water pump isn't circulating the water properly? I will try all the other things mentioned first of course.

 

[sweettractors]

If the water pump is working, you should see a cross flow in the fluid in the radiator (looking thru the radiator cap hole). Any water mixing with the oil? I would not run the tractor till the engine quits anymore. Something internally is getting close to doing bad things. Ken Sweet

 

[Gator6x4]

I would do a compression check on the engine. If you do not have a gauge to check the compression with, you can rent one at Auto Zone or Advance. The symptoms you describe sounds like a blown head gasket leaking exhaust gas into the cooling system. Since it is a gas engine replacing the head gasket should not be a problem. If the compression check discloses a weak cylinder and you do remove the head please check to insure it is not warped prior to re-installing. If you do not know how to check for warpage take the head to a machine shop. The water pump could also be worn and not circulating water correctly. Continuing to operate the engine by running until it get hot enough to stop will shortly require the removal of the radiator cap and placing it on another engine.

 

[mgmhistory]

Thanks for all the replies, I will try to answer the few questions asked. No there does not appear to be any water mixing with oil. Currently the radiator coolant is in good condition. When the tractor does get hot and I shut it down, water comes out the overflow tube and there is some steam. One other problem is that temperature gauge does not work and that makes it difficult to tell temperature.

Anyway, I will look and see if the coolant is moving in the radiator and then will move on the the thermostat again. If indeed the water is not moving I assume that is indicating water pump, how difficult is that to replace? As I stating earlier I am no mechanic but can read and follow directions.

Thanks for all the advice and help, I will keep everyone posted when I can, as I said I work full time and can only work on things on the weekends and occasional evening.

 

[sweettractors]

Thanks for all the replies, I will try to answer the few questions asked. No there does not appear to be any water mixing with oil. Currently the radiator coolant is in good condition. When the tractor does get hot and I shut it down, water comes out the overflow tube and there is some steam. One other problem is that temperature gauge does not work and that makes it difficult to tell temperature.

Anyway, I will look and see if the coolant is moving in the radiator and then will move on the the thermostat again. If indeed the water is not moving I assume that is indicating water pump, how difficult is that to replace? As I stating earlier I am no mechanic but can read and follow directions.

Thanks for all the advice and help, I will keep everyone posted when I can, as I said I work full time and can only work on things on the weekends and occasional evening.

I have forget on a MF 65, You may be able to remove the fan blade and access all the bolts on the water pump. If you cant, then the radiator has to come out. Ken Sweet

 

[mgmhistory]

I see what you are asking now, no even then the coolant was not rusty.

 

[massey driver]

I forgot to ask but how long have you owned the tractor.Have you ever used it for any length of time without it overheating,before this current problem that your having now.The reason I ask is that if this tractor has done this since you've had it .Anyway you can find out if the previous owner had this problem???? Do you know if he's ever had the head off and replaced the head gasket.I'am reaching here as if this kinda work was done it could be the wrong head gasket or put on backwards blocking the proper water flow through the water jackets.This is a long shot,thats why I didn't mention it up earlier.If you've had the trator for awhile and have used it without it over heating you can rule this out what I've just asked,Larry

 

[Egon]

I would do a compression check on the engine.

That sounds like a plan.

 

[mgmhistory]

Ok I just got from the farm where the tractor is and this is what I checked/found out. I checked the oil again and truly do not believe there is any coolant in it. I took the radiator cap off an started the tractor, after between 5 and 10 minutes i could see the water begin to "churn" as flowed back through the hose and the water level rose. This I assume means the water pump was working. I did not drain the radiator and then run a hose in to see if water will flow through, I can try that this weekend. I did not check compression either as I ran out of time and 1) do not not how and 2) do not have a way to check it anyway. So, what have I really learned?

 

[massey driver]

If you saw the water moving around then it looks like the pump is moving the water.Your best bet is to try doing the engine flush,buy a couple bottles of the rad flush follow the directions on the can and see what that does.You need to start somewhere so do this step first.I'd also check the new thermostat as well.Its a starting point,do that stuff first and see what happens,if thats the problem then good,if not you'll have to dig deeper.I'll throw this at you too as its been know to happen,check the rad hose's they could be collapsing inside restricting water flow.As you can see many things can be causing the problem need to rule them out first before digging to deep.Larry

 

[mgmhistory]

Ok thanks, I will do the radiator flush first and check the hoses too, then move on to the other things. Thanks for the help. I will let everyone know how things proceed.

 

[mgmhistory]

Just to be clear, you think I should remove the thermostat, then do the radiator flush, then check the thermostat and then reinstall it? I just want to be sure I do this right the first time so 1) I do not screw something up worse and 2) I only have so much time to work on this at a time.

 

[massey driver]

I agree with K7LN about doing the flush without the theromstat in,the only thing is you'll have to run the tractor longer in order to get it to operating temp.When you do the flush make sure to drain the block as well to get all the water etc: out.There has to be a drain cock[or plug] somewhere on the block that needs to be removed or opened up.Seeing you've changed the rad you know where that one is.Do a good flush even a second one if you feel that it needs one.Larry
Forgot to mention don't add cold water if the block is really hot.You have to flush the rad & block with plain water after doing the first flush with the Rad Flush stuff. Larry

 

[mgmhistory]

Ok, so I finally got to work on the tractor. I flushed the radiator twice following the instructions on the bottles. I did not see horrible gunk but the drainage looked somewhat tan colored. As I was closing the drain cock on the radiator when I was done, it broke off, so I had to take the radiator completely out to put a new one one, all this was done outside in the rain. Then I refilled the radiator and as I was looking everything over I saw a pretty good size crack in the manifold. So, did this cause the overheating or did the over heating cause the crack? No matter what I will need to fix this and frankly I am scared that I really have not fixed the problem and what will break next. I am running out of time, patience, money and am very discouraged.

 

[mgmhistory]

Can I check the compression with the cracked exhaust manifold or do I need to replace it first?

 

[massey driver]

Still wondering if you had this tractor for any length of time.Has it given you this problem of overheating before now.Larry

 

[mgmhistory]

I have had the tractor a few years but it has been used infrequently, so it is possible it has always had the overheating issue. A couple of years ago is when it first overheated and when examining the radiator I found it to be in terrible shape and so I replaced it. I should have investigated further because obviously that is not all that was wrong. Now I have a mess. I have located a exhaust manifold and will replace that since I found the large crack, I will also check compression what should it be on this tractor? Since I am going to replace the exhaust manifold and will have to tear the tractor apart to do that, should I remove the head and replace the head gasket at the time as well?

Thanks for everyone's advice.

 

[massey driver]

Do the compression test first before pulling the head off.If you do go to the point of pulling the head off pay attention to how the head gasket is put on.The head gasket is marked in writing this side up.I'am wondering about this myself if the head gasket is put on with the writing facing down then its a pretty good possibility that its got some of the water jackets particially blocked or completely blocked.Don't pull the head untill you check the water pump.The water pump is easy to remove and check it's impler condition before digging into the motor.What I suggest is pull the water pump after you've done compression test.see what the impeller looks like and male sure the gasket isn't blocking the water flow into the block[Possibly some one used silcone on the gasket and useded way to much blocking the passage.Funny and strange things have been know to cause over heating. In my years of mechanicing we once had a problem with a truck that had us scratching out heads and what it was that the Rad hose under pressure would collapse inside stopping the water flow.The outside of the hose looked good but the inside was seperated from the cords. Take a look at the hose if it's questionable [maybe] its the cause.If your hose has the metal coil[spring] inside then it should be good.Just giving you some other stuff to check out thats easier to do before pulling the head.Larry BTW sorry about the hassel your having with your tractor.Hopefully with help from this site you'll get it figured out.