rtv 1100 overheating problem

[Hersheyfarm]

not sure but I think me and kubota just dont get along.

so my 1100 has 17hr on it. was riding through my trails this evening and noticed the temp guage going to red. got to the house and it was steaming from under the bed. looked and the overflow bottles top was off and coolant everywhere underneth. so I filled the botlte up and ran it/drove it a little and all seems ok..but something has to be wrong. i checked the screen and all seems good. no ideal...

 

[JB00]

Seems to me that those little overflow bottles are too small to hold as much coolant as will be burped out during heat expansion. So some is lost due to over flow. Then during cool down what is in the bottle is sucked back in to the system and empties the bottle. I think a larger overflow jug with room to catch all the overflow would be better. In this case it seems to have blown out with great pressure to blow the cap off and all. Maybe a stuck thermostat that opened late. Mine wouldn't build much pressure since the pressure was being relieved through the engine and out the exhaust.

 

[texasjohn]

Dang...strange...reminds me to check my fluid...don't do so very often...haven't overheated ever except for plugged radiator with lots of grass debris and seed fluff. hope you get it figured out.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My RTV900 has never overheated and I have used it to pull a heavy drag over my pasture after disking and sowing grass seed. Running it full throttle in M ranges and it never got into the red. You must have a thermostat problem OR the cooling fan is not kicking on when it should.

 

[texasjohn]

cooling fan is electric, you can hear it running if it's hot and you have the engine off but key still in first position...are you hearing it??

 

[timswi]

not sure but I think me and kubota just dont get along.

so my 1100 has 17hr on it. was riding through my trails this evening and noticed the temp guage going to red. got to the house and it was steaming from under the bed. looked and the overflow bottles top was off and coolant everywhere underneth. so I filled the botlte up and ran it/drove it a little and all seems ok..but something has to be wrong. i checked the screen and all seems good. no ideal...

Sounds like a thermostat to me...Call the dealer, let them deal with it.

 

[timswi]

cooling fan is electric, you can hear it running if it's hot and you have the engine off but key still in first position...are you hearing it??

That's a possibility too..Maybe check the fuses etc.

 

[9973720wb19]

had my RTV 900 for three years, never had a problem. they are good machs. with 17hrs Id be stright back to the dealer -

 

[Hersheyfarm]

The fan does kick on, I'm thinking maybe t-stat too. Talked with my service guy and we will watch it. But last nite I did have some fluffy seeds on screen that I cleaned off, not enough in my opinion to have caused this. But I have fluid marked in bottle and ran it through the woods and down the road a few miles and temps stay at a quarter and just below half.

 

[texasjohn]

when radiator is impaired because of trash/dirt, you KNOW it when you look and wash stuff out....a little stuff on the screen doesn't count....glad you looked.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

Double check the upper cap just behind the cab and make sure the system is bled of air, there is a lot of hose going all the way to the front and you may of had an airlock.
Whenever I flush mine I will run with the upper cap off until the thermostat opens to bleed the air out.

David Kb7uns

 

[Hersheyfarm]

Narrowed my problem out. It's the fan. It only quicks on after I cycle the key on and off.

So I came in from feeding and temp gauge was at 3/4, way to hot IMO. So with bed up I looked at connection, checked fuse..etc all good. So I turned it off before it got too hot then cycled the key on so I could use light and the fan kicked on so. I then started and watched gauge go from 3/4 to a quarter in about 10 seconds. I then ran it to get it hot again and no fan. Tuned it off then started it and fan came on and dropped temp. What the heck? Computer must be bad or something to have to be reset.

 

[texasjohn]

You're on the trail of the problem now....with this, dealer should be able to know where the problem is. I'd be suspicious of the temperature sensor but there may be something else. Am looking forward to a post soon that lets us know what the exact problem was....will be good info for all the rest of us who might run into the same thing.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

So my problem turns out to be the temp sensor that screws into thermostat housing. Its what tells the relay to kick fan on. my fan should kick on right at the halfway mark and if i barely tap it it the fan will kick on, as long as guage is above that. Dealer is sending me one under warranty but I'm looking for one in stock so I have it before the long holiday weekend. part number 1g910-83040. Nobody has this item in stock.

 

[timswi]

So my problem turns out to be the temp sensor that screws into thermostat housing. Its what tells the relay to kick fan on. my fan should kick on right at the halfway mark and if i barely tap it it the fan will kick on, as long as guage is above that. Dealer is sending me one under warranty but I'm looking for one in stock so I have it before the long holiday weekend. part number 1g910-83040. Nobody has this item in stock.

Could you just temporarily hot wire using a switch for the weekend until the part comes in?

 

[DDM84]

1.) For a temporary fix you could run a ground wire to one side of a switch and the temp sender wire to the other side. Flip the switch to run the fan.

2.) Make sure the sender is good and warm before you try to remove it. Being so new it shouldn't be a problem but I've had one crack the housing when I tried to remove it cold. That was on an RTV with a couple thousand hours on it though.

 

[texasjohn]

Great that you found it...and thanks for letting us know the solution...

why, oh why, can't a simple sensor like this be a very common part with all other kinds of Kubota's...including tractors, etc...it would seem to me that the temp needed to start a fan would be the same for many units, why would it be unique, or generally available from auto parts houses :confused3:

So my problem turns out to be the temp sensor that screws into thermostat housing. Its what tells the relay to kick fan on. my fan should kick on right at the halfway mark and if i barely tap it it the fan will kick on, as long as guage is above that. Dealer is sending me one under warranty but I'm looking for one in stock so I have it before the long holiday weekend. part number 1g910-83040. Nobody has this item in stock.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

thanks guys, the wire would for sure work in a pinch. But my dealer had me one in less than 24 hours. so I went and picked it up yesterday and put it in. took maybe 5 minutes.

so my fan kicks on at 1/3 of the temperature mark and off at a quarter, that means my engine has been running pretty hot. These little sensors are absolutely responsible for what temp your machine runs. I'll be keeping an eye on the temp guage from now on. There really should be a warning light when it gets hot.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

1.) For a temporary fix you could run a ground wire to one side of a switch and the temp sender wire to the other side. Flip the switch to run the fan.

2.) Make sure the sender is good and warm before you try to remove it. Being so new it shouldn't be a problem but I've had one crack the housing when I tried to remove it cold. That was on an RTV with a couple thousand hours on it though.

do you work on alot of rtv's? Have you seen many of these sensors fail? In a perfect world there would be an emergency circuit wired in so when the guage hits the red it kicks fan relay on, that and a warning light.

 

[Hersheyfarm]

so I am watching my coolant level, seems it may be dropping dropping. My temp guage doesnt leave 1/4" but my fan does kicks on and off alot. I read posts here and people claim theyre fans rarely kick on. Thats not in my case. No leaks visible anywhere but if it keeps dropping its going to dealer. It dropped a 3/4 inch in 4 hours, but it could have been still not burped from the overheat. so I'll watch it over the weekend. Ive already put 50hr on it in the 2 weeks Ive had it. Changed oil after the overheat, so just got ALL the other filters and fluids to change. Also took off spark arrestor screen, it was half clogged.