Too Hot?

[coosa]

I wonder if I could get you folk's opinion on my latest issue with my tractor? This is the 2210BD that I bought from Fredricks last summer and it blew a head gasket the first time I used it hard. Fredricks took care of it under the warranty, though the warranty is out now. Since getting it back, I've only used it on my 20 acres around my house. I've used it a lot, but none of my jobs have ever lasted more than 2 hours. The temp gauge reaches the halfway point pretty fast if its being worked hard, but it hasn't gone past that since it blew the head gasket.

Today, I took it over to my hunting club and bush hogged 7 deer plots and several miles of roads with the Andy 400. The plots total only about 3 acres, but they are widely scattered and it takes a while to run the roads and get around to them. It should have been a 6 hour job, but it turned into an 8 hour job because the temp gauge kept going up. The first couple of hours it stayed at the halfway mark, but then it started going past it. After about 4 hours, it looked like this:



Do you guys think this is the normal operating temp, or do I have a problem? I shut it down and let it cool at lunch, and then had to run down the highway about a mile. I ran it at 2100 RPM and it stayed at the halfway point. Once I started cutting, it went back to the level in the pic again. I geared it down and cut in 2nd gear and even dropped the RPM to 2200 from the normal 2400, but nothing made it run any cooler. I have a laser thermometer and checked everything with it several times. The outside of the block stayed at 155 or so. The left side of the head ran in the 180s, but the right side near the exhaust manifold was over 200, getting hotter the closer I measured to the manifold. The manifold itself was 250 when I would stop and check, but it would quickly cool to 220 or so. The drive system stayed cool, so there is no problem with it. It was 145 or less everywhere I checked it. The temp stayed about like the pic when I ran it back down the highway to the truck. It took shutting it down for it to cool significantly.

I've read here that some of you never see your tractors even get to the halfway mark of the gauge, but this one has always gotten there when under a load. I am probably a bit paranoid because the temp was about what you see in the pic when the head gasket blew last year. My JD gets to the mid point or just past it quickly when I am running the bush hog, but I can work it all day and it stays there. I think the little Yanmar would have just kept getting hotter and hotter if I hadn't really backed off.

The patches I was cutting were not that high; I made a pic of one so you can see that I wasn't asking the tractor to do all that much. Here's what one looked like:



As you can see, I wasn't mowing it that close either. Since it has a new radiator, water pump, and head gasket, I can't figure out anything that might make it run cooler. The radiator never did get clogged with debris, but I used an air tank to clean it good at lunch anyway.

As far as performance, the little tractor worked fine all day. There were a couple of times that it strained a little in really tall grass, but I geared it down and it handled it fine after that. If I didn't have a temp gauge I wouldn't think there was a thing wrong with it. Maybe its not; it is still a long way from the hot mark. Still, I don't like seeing a machine get hotter and hotter as I work it.

Thanks for any opinions!

 

[clemsonfor]

Just driving at 2200rpm or so is no load really and should not overheat the tractor even at 95f. I will bushhog 3 acres all at once in 95f heat all the time. I don't have a gauge but my light won't go off. What I bet has happened is you radiator screen is covered in fluff or seeds. If you have cleaned the screen off its possible the radiator fins themselves are clogged and causing it to run warmer. I forget the them they say the light will cut on but I think it was in the 220 range. I will have to go look bit if that's the cause even at 200 F your head is way under that. I'll look ot up in a bit and reply back.

Edit : I see you said the rad was not plugged with fluff.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Does your tractor have a thermostat like a car? It could be sticking. Anytime my tractor has run hot, it has been grass seeds and fluff on on the radiator screen.

 

[Jtullis13]

Coosa did you check your air filter? If those get dirty enough it can cause your engine to work harder & raise the temp too. Make sure you have proper water to antifreeze ratio too. Normal operating temp should be between 150-180 degrees. So your temps are within the normal limits. Overheating usually happens at or above 220 degrees. I actually installed an actual gauge so l can see why the temp is when I'm using my 2210d. As for your concern, I don't think there is an issue, maybe a fluke with the head gasket and temp before. Maybe install an actual gauge so can monitor it closer, check your air filter and fluids for correct ratio.

 

[clemsonfor]

I just looked at the service manual on my ym2000 and it says temp light comes on at 212f and off at 197.6f.

 

[winston1]

My old 2002D had the same gauge you have. It ran very close to your picture in hot summer weather. I cleaned radiator with muriatic acid, flushed system, changed timing, etc, etc. Bought a new radiator which only had 2 cores, old one had 3 cores. Installed it, if anything, it ran a little hotter. I was told newer design probably made it have the same efficiency. I put the old one back on. I did the laser checking as you did and my temperatures seemed to be in your range. You can expect the exhaust manifold and surrounding area to be a good bit higher.

I concluded nothing left to do and ran it. Only my opinion but I believe some models cooling system is very marginal in design. It is also my opinion the old Yanmars will not tolerate much overheating without blowing a head gasket. That is my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Gunny]

I never really liked gauges like that, with no real reference numbers to really tell you anything.

I do like manual gauges, temp gauges can be tested before installation with a pan of boiling water and a thermometer. Then you're getting real temp numbers, not a position on a gauge that you really don't know the ranges.

On both of my tractors, I've installed manual oil and temp gauges, but I also left the idiot lights wired in, just in case

 

[Jtullis13]

I agree with Gunny. I installed an actual temp gauge and left my dummy light too

 

[coosa]

Thanks for all the comments and ideas. Fredricks replaced the antifreeze in November, and it probably doesn't have over 20 hours on it. I plan to replace it soon, but really doubt its a problem so soon.

I just put a new air filter on it before making the trip to the club, so that isn't the issue. Radiator fins are clean, and its supposed to be a brand new radiator. the thermostat is also new, but I guess it could still fail.

Coosa did you check your air filter? If those get dirty enough it can cause your engine to work harder & raise the temp too. Make sure you have proper water to antifreeze ratio too. Normal operating temp should be between 150-180 degrees. So your temps are within the normal limits. Overheating usually happens at or above 220 degrees. I actually installed an actual gauge so l can see why the temp is when I'm using my 2210d. As for your concern, I don't think there is an issue, maybe a fluke with the head gasket and temp before. Maybe install an actual gauge so can monitor it closer, check your air filter and fluids for correct ratio.

Installing a better gauge sounds like a good idea. But where on the tractor does that 220 degree limit come into play? Checking it with the laser gives a different reading at every spot on both the head and block. The block outside temp never got near 220 anywhere, but the head did right beside the exhaust manifold.

I'm thinking that the tractor is probably just working in the range its designed to run, but I still don't like the way it gets hotter and hotter as you work it. There should be a temp it gets to and stays there. Maybe not?

Thanks again for all the help. I went to load the tractor on the trailer to leave yesterday and discovered I had lost the drawbar somewhere. So now I gotta take an atv over there and retrace where I've been and try to find it. A good day to all!

 

[Jtullis13]

Your tractor will run hotter by the manifold, that's just the nature of the beast, very hot exhaust coming out. I tend to believe your tractor is operating like it should, but who's to say it's not. Anyways I would still install a gauge. In my manual I believe it says 220 for the light to come on, but I could be wrong. I do know that on Hoye's website it says 220 for the light to come on though. Best bet install a gauge so you can really tell.

 

[normde2001]

My YM2000B never runs above the 1/4 mark in any ambient temp. or hard use, until the rad begins to become filled with chad. When the temp begins to rise is my cue to stop and brush out the rad with my ever-handy whisk broom. Anything even approaching the 1/2 mark is too hot. If no tstat you need to back-flush the system.

 

[Jtullis13]

My 2210d will run about 140 with normal use, when I'm tilling with my 5ft tiller or brush hogging it will run between 160-170 max. Never any problems yet.

 

[Scotty Dive]

That's what I see on my 2020D. About 1/4 on the Yanmar Gauge and ~160 on a hot day working hard on my installed gauge.

 

[coosa]

My YM2000B never runs above the 1/4 mark in any ambient temp. or hard use, until the rad begins to become filled with chad. When the temp begins to rise is my cue to stop and brush out the rad with my ever-handy whisk broom. Anything even approaching the 1/2 mark is too hot. If no tstat you need to back-flush the system.

Thanks for the info, and thanks again to everyone. Everything about the cooling system is essentially brand new, and it ran these temps when I got it from Fredricks. They said they tested it really hard on their dyno when they repaired the head gasket, so I don't know anything to replace on it to cool it down. The radiator is clean as a whistle, so I know a clogged radiator is not the problem. I've read a number of posts here over the past year with folks saying their tractor never gets about the 1/4 mark; this tractor passes that about 3 minutes after starting it.

 

[clemsonfor]

The temp would be right where the temp probe is in the block or water outlet or whatever it's mounted in.

And like I said my factory yanmar manual on my ym2000 says light on at 212f but again that's a ym2000 not a 2010.

 

[clemsonfor]

Thanks for the info, and thanks again to everyone. Everything about the cooling system is essentially brand new, and it ran these temps when I got it from Fredricks. They said they tested it really hard on their dyno when they repaired the head gasket, so I don't know anything to replace on it to cool it down. The radiator is clean as a whistle, so I know a clogged radiator is not the problem. I've read a number of posts here over the past year with folks saying their tractor never gets about the 1/4 mark; this tractor passes that about 3 minutes after starting it.

You can add a product called "water wetter" I think it allows less antifreeze to be used (corrosion protection in it, but have to make sure you use enough antifreeze in winter)and allows it to cool better. Racers and hot rod guys use it.

It like $10 or so a bottle. It's not going to make a huge difference but may 5 degrees cooler?? I don't know.

 

[coosa]

The temp would be right where the temp probe is in the block or water outlet or whatever it's mounted in.

And like I said my factory yanmar manual on my ym2000 says light on at 212f but again that's a ym2000 not a 2010.

I never got a reading above 155 anywhere on the outside of the block. I don't know how much different it would be on the inside, but after running several hours I'd think it they would be close. The JD tech told me that it was permissible for the outside of the transmission to get to 260 when I was having trouble with it. I had a valve hanging up and I measured 301 beside the pto shaft one day. I completely lost brakes when that happened, and it ruined the fluid. Once I replaced the hyd filter and fluid, it did fine and hasn't done it again. I could easily tell I had a big problem when the tractor got that hot; this tractor doesn't feel hot with the gauge where it is.

I'm thinking that if I just had a light that comes on at 212 I'd think my tractor was doing great.

 

[FleetMan]

Clemsonfor mentioned the screen in front of the radiator getting plugged up. That was a problem I had early on. Ever since, I use compressed air to blow the radiator out from the backside and clean the screen after every use. No more overheating from a plugged up radiator screen.

 

[Jtullis13]

Yeah that screen can be a problem.

 

[clemsonfor]

I overheated the first weekend I had my tractor when I was bushhogging overgrown fields. Found that and haven't don't that again, I stop every so often when cutting when seeds and fluff are present.