Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas?

   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #81  
Also, if a cooler is installed wrong, such as both inlet and outlet facing down, or the inlet on top and the outlet on bottom, the oil won't fill the cooler and will actually bypass some of the coolers ability to cool. I've seen factory installed coolers installed incorrectly before. The outlet has to be in a position that will cause the cooler to completely fill with oil before oil leaves the cooler.
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #82  
I didn't read all the comments so someone may have mentioned this already, but look at the direction of the radiator fan blades. With the engine running it should be pulling air through the radiator not pushing.

It sounds stupid, but i have been an auto mechanic for 11 years and have seen this happen and seen it stump some good techs.

It causes the same problem in a car. Fans aren't efficient at pushing through a radiator.
The Komatsu D39 dozer I had (about a Cat D5 size) had reversible fan blades.
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #83  
The original purpose of the engine thermostat dates back to 1930's was to allow rapid preheating of the engine, prior to passing the hot fluid through the heater core (then back to the radiator) for warming the car interior during winter time conditions and allow engines to reach optimum conditions. However, most vehicles can run perfectly fine after removal of thermostats. How many thousands of cracked engine heads have occured because the thermostat got stuck and failed to open has never been counted.

I always removed my thermostats on my vehicles, particularly after I experienced a cracked engine head in college due to a stuck thermostat. I did not have the money for a repair, and so i drove for 6 months with oil in my radiator. Every two weeks I drained the oil from my radiator, until i finally replaced the engine head.

Today's automotive thermostats are extremely reliable and not so much a concern as they used to be, but tractors can operate just fine without any thermostat.
 
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   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #84  
While perhaps not "quite" as efficient in pushing as compared to pulling air through a radiator, they can do the job in that position. In automotive service, two other things come into play:

1) If you're traveling at 40 mph, you certainly don't want to try and push air from the engine bay forward. Obviously it's self defeating.

2) Pushing hot engine bay air through a radiator is not going to be as good as pulling cool air from outside of an engine bay.




And this is not totally true either. I've run many engines without a thermostat without overheating. Which way things go will depend on the total design and application.

As usual, the devil is in the details. Have fun and flame on guys! :fiery:
It's still something to look at. Maybe it technically can work, but its not how the tractor was designed and its much less efficient at removing heat.
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #85  
The original purpose of the engine thermostat dates back to 1930's was to allow rapid preheating of the engine, prior to passing the hot fluid through the heater core (then back to the radiator) for warming the car interior during winter time conditions and allow engines to reach optimum conditions. However, most vehicles can run perfectly fine after removal of thermostats. How many thousands of cracked engine heads have occured because the thermostat got stuck and failed to open has never been counted.

I always removed my thermostats on my vehicles, particularly after I experienced a cracked engine head in college due to a stuck thermostat. I did not have the money for a repair, and so i drove for 6 months with oil in my radiator. Every two weeks I drained the oil from my radiator, until i finally replaced the engine head.

Today's automotive thermostats are extremely reliable and not so much a concern as they used to be, but tractors can operate just fine without any thermostat.

That was prior to thermostats they used mechanical shutters to control engine temps, they knew to control the engine temps.
Also they were gasoline engines and not diesels and temperature control is more important with a diesel.
You go ahead and run your tractor without a thermostat or shutters and see how well it works and lasts.
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #86  
The original purpose of the engine thermostat dates back to 1930's was to allow rapid preheating of the engine, prior to passing the hot fluid through the heater core (then back to the radiator) for warming the car interior during winter time conditions and allow engines to reach optimum conditions. However, most vehicles can run perfectly fine after removal of thermostats. How many thousands of cracked engine heads have occured because the thermostat got stuck and failed to open has never been counted.

I always removed my thermostats on my vehicles, particularly after I experienced a cracked engine head in college due to a stuck thermostat. I did not have the money for a repair, and so i drove for 6 months with oil in my radiator. Every two weeks I drained the oil from my radiator, until i finally replaced the engine head.

Today's automotive thermostats are extremely reliable and not so much a concern as they used to be, but tractors can operate just fine without any thermostat.

Where do you get this from? Did you make it up?
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #87  
Where do you get this from? Did you make it up?

Regardless, if the tractor is overheating and nobody including the dealer can figure it out, would it not be a good test to run without the thermostat just to see what happens and gain another data point?

Also, if someone thinks that hot liquids need to remain in a heat exchanger (in this case a radiator) longer to get better cooling, they should reconsider what a previous poster said: that is not the way heat transfer works...

Edit: just an afterthought. I did read all the post over the life of the thread. But do not remember all the details. Was the accuracy of the temperature guage ever verified? I remember the OP saying the tractor is overheating, but do not recall him saying it was boiling over.
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #88  
Regardless, if the tractor is overheating and nobody including the dealer can figure it out, would it not be a good test to run without the thermostat just to see what happens and gain another data point?

Also, if someone thinks that hot liquids need to remain in a heat exchanger (in this case a radiator) longer to get better cooling, they should reconsider what a previous poster said: that is not the way heat transfer works...

The bolded item is totally incorrect.
Any fluid in a heat exchanger needs to flow at a rate to maximize transfer of the liquid or gas.

For the math inclined- Constant volume open thermodynamic system with heat transfer - Simulink

Calculation of Heat Exchanger


Flow rate for any heat exchanger is part of the calculation.


As for moi the Army Power plant program, engineering courses in thermodynamics, taught how flow is regulated to maximize heat transfer from one medium (liquid or gas) to another (the heat exchanger).

However if the individual has their heart set that this is wrong then ok. We won't post this and let other engineers know they have been wrong for over a century.....:D
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #89  
To recap:
1) Size of mower for PTO hp is small. (eg: 10hp/ft, etc)
2) Temps during use are mild (<95^F)
3) Field being mowed is dry and < knee-high.
4) Operating in lowest gear
5) All this with AC on too doesn't mean anything
6) OP should get free replacement by now

..
 
   / Tractor overheats when mowing. No dealer actions fix it. Any ideas? #90  
It's been over a month so maybe the OP has got the tractor over-heating problem fixed.
 

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