Temp gauge on x585

[etcallhome]

Just wondering ,,with outside temps near 95 for last 3 days I was mowing with a x585 with appx 580 hrs. Noticed after mowing for about 4 hrs tractor had a slight miss to the engine. I was guessing this miss was coming from a defective gas cap. When I turned off tractor after leaving it sit and idle about a min. I heard a bleching noise or gurgle type noise from the radiator recover tank.
Today noticed tank needed about a 1/2 pint of antifreeze today . But after mowing about 30-45 min temp gauge was about 1/4 or less from the red line..
After sitting maybe 5 min or less temp about 1/2 way in the gauge.. but after 5-10 mowing back up to the 1/4" away from the red line. Raising the hood ,air coming from under the hood extremely hot... Also all screens are cleaned before starting tractor to start mowing for the week.
Just wondering if this was normal. Never seemed to notice this in past yrs but ,never this hot of weather and never raised the hood while mowing or when I finshed mowing.
Thanks for any and all replies in advance.

 

[Dutch445]

sounds like it's running too hot. are you sure you pulled the screen in front of the radiator,
and not just cleaned the side screens? if so, how about the radiator itself? any chance it is a little plugged up?
also, have you noticed any coolant leaking on the front of the engine? look down in
there and see if you see any evidence on the front, near where the water
pump may be.

 

[Eric Barney]

You need to check the coolant level in the radiator. It is probably low. Check it while it is cold. The gurgling noise you heard was probably a bit of coolant boiling.

 

[etcallhome]

Dutch 445 Both side screens are cleaned then I take the one in front of radiator out and clean . Don't think radiator is clogged ,,not saying it isn't. I haven't noticed any leaks but all the hoses were really hot to top.
Eric Barney Oh it was boiling, but the next morning when I went in, I took the cap off the radiator and antifreeze was maybe 3/8-1/2 from top of neck of radiator. The overflow bottle had maybe a 1/2 " of antifreeze in it so I added some.

 

[Eric Barney]

Cooling systems can be tough to diagnose, especially from a distance. Ambient temperature should not be an issue. (unless it is way over 100F.) A good basic check is to first make sure that the system is full of coolant. Run the engine until it warms up to normal temperature. Make sure that both radiator hoses get hot, and the entire radiator is hot as well. The air being blown through the radiator should be heated by several degrees. If the cooling air is not much warmer than ambient, (indicating lack of heat transfer.) then you either have a coolant flow restriction, or air flow through the radiator core. Likely culprits are: Coolant thermostat failure, plugged rad core tubes, water pump impeller not turning. It is also possible that the system is not holding pressure, (Bad rad cap, or leak.) and the coolant is boiling due to the lack of system pressure.

Hope my cooling system 101 is helpful....

 

[etcallhome]

The owner checked out the tractor yesterday (I wasn't there), rechecked common things we have talked about. He told me he removed radiator cap and then pressed the spring part of cap. seemed OK reinstalled. Then his son took tractor and rode it around his property at full throttle for about 10 min and then left at idle for around 10 min. Nothing gauge stayed at normal level. I'm going to a JD dealer tomorrow evening ,wondering if he might need to buy a radiator cap or just wait and see what happens next week when I mow.

 

[Eric Barney]

The only real way to check a radiator cap is with a pressure tester. They have a valve assembly that allows coolant to be drawn from the expansion tank when the engine cools down, and the coolant contracts. The cap may look good visually, but may not seal internally. If you do not find any other issues, and it still gets hot after a long run. Test, or replace the cap. Good luck.