New Member/Issues With My 1995 Massey 231 Getting Hot

[231Massey]

Hello to all the veteran members here. I discovered your site after finding a link on Bing concerning my 1995 Massey 231 starting to get hot, which it has never done before.

Specifically, I found this link from another TBN Member who also has a Massey 231 who was experiencing almost the same issues as I have now. Here is the link to his thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...g-operating/210573-my-mf-231-running-too.html

FWIW, on my Massey 231 I am seeing the original stock temperature gauge (which is green on one side and red on the other) getting VERY close to the red when I am running the tractor "under a load" as when I am bush hogging or disking fields. The gauge never gets in the red but it is very close. So far, I have flushed the radiator, adding new coolant and water, changed the factory 160 degree thermostat and I just got a new temperature sending unit but have not had a chance to install it yet.
As I said, my issues are almost IDENTICAL to the member in the thread above. As I recall, he ended up solving his problem by changing his temp gauge.

After some heavy use this past weekend I took temperatures of the engine etc. with a quality laser thermometer and here are the temps I got:

Upper radiator hose @ thermostat area: 168 degrees
Lower radiator hose: 105 degrees
Cylinder #1 @ injector: 182 degrees
Cylinder #2 @ injector: 184 degrees
Cylinder #3 @ injector: 185 degrees
Exhaust temp at manifold: 254 degrees

Any input you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

----------
John P.

 

[lpakiz]

Be sure the radiator is not plugged with chaff or debris. This happens a lot if you do much weed mowing.
Move the tractor to someplace not too well lit. Inside the shop or barn with the door closed is perfect. Put an old style incandescent trouble lite behind the radiator, next to the fan blades. Then look in from the front, straight thru the fins.
If you cant see the light, it is plugged up and the radiator can稚 cool like it should.
You need to CAREFULLY pressure wash the radiator. Start far enough away and with low enough pressure that you don稚 bend the fins. Don稚 let the water hit the fins from an angle, as this can flatten the fins. Go slow. Hit it straight on.
Good luck!

 

[231Massey]

Ipakiz:

Thanks so much for your reply Sir! I was beginning to wonder if anyone would reply as their was a lot of views to my thread but no replies until you came in.

I will do what you said and see what happens. I see you are from the State of Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Green Bay.

Take care and thanks again!

 

[aczlan]

Here is what the radiators on our Kubota BX2660 and B7500 tractors looked like before I cleaned them.

They had similar symptoms which went away (and worked much better) after I cleaned out the radiators.

The B7500 also had a bad thermostat that was stuck open.


Aaron Z

 

[lpakiz]

Yeah, those pics are a great example of junk accumulated on the surface of the radiator.
The plugging up that I refer to is not visible on the surface. It is packed into the core internally.
If you cannot see thru the radiator, front to back, its plugged up. The light bulb procedure makes it obvious.
If you have another heat exchanger in front of the main radiator, there can be surface debris in between them. Examples of an extra radiator might be an A/C radiator, transmission cooler, hydraulic oil cooler, an inter cooler if you have a turbo. In this case, see if the auxiliary cooler can be detached and moved or swung aside so you can access the main radiator. Many times this can be accomplished WITHOUT unhooking the fluid hoses.

 

[Mattsy Fergy]

You can use a cleaner like Simple Green to help clean the rad. Let it soak in a bit, then spray.

 

[aczlan]

Yeah, those pics are a great example of junk accumulated on the surface of the radiator.
The plugging up that I refer to is not visible on the surface. It is packed into the core internally.
If you cannot see thru the radiator, front to back, its plugged up. The light bulb procedure makes it obvious.
If you have another heat exchanger in front of the main radiator, there can be surface debris in between them. Examples of an extra radiator might be an A/C radiator, transmission cooler, hydraulic oil cooler, an inter cooler if you have a turbo. In this case, see if the auxiliary cooler can be detached and moved or swung aside so you can access the main radiator. Many times this can be accomplished WITHOUT unhooking the fluid hoses.

In my case, I had both. The surface junk cleaned off easily with a regular hose. The junk in the corps took an air hose or pressure washer to get out.

Aaron Z

 

[pmsmechanic]

I've had good success using a varsol gun with water to clean radiators. You can't bend the fins unless you rub the tip against them and the water gives the air enough weight to move the garbage out. I do have an industrial style air compressor though. It can keep continuous 90 psi blowing air.

 

[sd455dan]

Hello to all the veteran members here. I discovered your site after finding a link on Bing concerning my 1995 Massey 231 starting to get hot, which it has never done before.

Specifically, I found this link from another TBN Member who also has a Massey 231 who was experiencing almost the same issues as I have now. Here is the link to his thread:

Is my MF 231 running too hot??

FWIW, on my Massey 231 I am seeing the original stock temperature gauge (which is green on one side and red on the other) getting VERY close to the red when I am running the tractor "under a load" as when I am bush hogging or disking fields. The gauge never gets in the red but it is very close. So far, I have flushed the radiator, adding new coolant and water, changed the factory 160 degree thermostat and I just got a new temperature sending unit but have not had a chance to install it yet.
As I said, my issues are almost IDENTICAL to the member in the thread above. As I recall, he ended up solving his problem by changing his temp gauge.

After some heavy use this past weekend I took temperatures of the engine etc. with a quality laser thermometer and here are the temps I got:

Upper radiator hose @ thermostat area: 168 degrees
Lower radiator hose: 105 degrees
Cylinder #1 @ injector: 182 degrees
Cylinder #2 @ injector: 184 degrees
Cylinder #3 @ injector: 185 degrees
Exhaust temp at manifold: 254 degrees

Any input you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

----------
John P.

My advice would be to get the new temp sender installed.

With the measured Temps You have posted,- It appears that the sending unit for temp is bad and an inaccurate signal is being sent to the gauge.

if it will be a while before the new sender can be installed another low tech test would be to put the Radiator cap on loosely and then do some work with the tractor that would normally cause the high reading on the gauge.

If it doesn't overflow or boil any coolant out of the radiator filler neck and the antifreeze mix is circulating and also not much above the T stats opening temp
when measured with the lazer temp reader your tractor is probably cooling just fine.

Hope this is helpful

ps. as others have posted- never hurts to make sure the radiator is clean