Welcome to my Nightmare!!!!
- Thread starter EddieWalker
- Start date
- Views: 60211
OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Just a little update on the overheating issue.
Temps have come back into the low 90's.
I've been starting the dozer at first light and running it until the warning light turns on. Then I turn it off and leave it there.
With the milder temps, I'm able to run it all day without any problems. One thing I was told by a mechanic was to keep the fluid level in the tank on the low side. When the fluid gets hot, it expands and causes everything to run hotter. Now I keep it at the bottom of the site glass. I don't know if it made a difference or not.
My thinking is the weather was just too hot for it to operate!!!
Eddie
Temps have come back into the low 90's.
I've been starting the dozer at first light and running it until the warning light turns on. Then I turn it off and leave it there.
With the milder temps, I'm able to run it all day without any problems. One thing I was told by a mechanic was to keep the fluid level in the tank on the low side. When the fluid gets hot, it expands and causes everything to run hotter. Now I keep it at the bottom of the site glass. I don't know if it made a difference or not.
My thinking is the weather was just too hot for it to operate!!!
Eddie
CurlyDave
Elite Member
Eddie:
What antifreeze mix are you using?
50-50 is the general purpose mix I use in almost everything, but I know that the glycol has a lower heat capacity then pure water.
Being in Texas, I bet you could go to 25% glycol-75% water and still be very safe. This would increase the heat capacity of your coolant and therefore the cooling capacity of the system. Possibly even less glycol would be OK. It sure isn't going to freeze for the next few months.
Just add a few cans of rust inhibitor and water pump lube if you lower the glycol concentration.
What antifreeze mix are you using?
50-50 is the general purpose mix I use in almost everything, but I know that the glycol has a lower heat capacity then pure water.
Being in Texas, I bet you could go to 25% glycol-75% water and still be very safe. This would increase the heat capacity of your coolant and therefore the cooling capacity of the system. Possibly even less glycol would be OK. It sure isn't going to freeze for the next few months.
Just add a few cans of rust inhibitor and water pump lube if you lower the glycol concentration.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Radiator pressure??
RobJ
Elite Member
Not really familar with the hydraulic cooling system on your dozer. It has a water temp, thermostat in that system all by itself? Or is the thermostat in the oil? Less oil in the tank makes NO sense. The bigger the resivoir(sp?) the better, bigger the pool the more cooling you'll get just sitting in the tank.
Only thing I can think is some other restriction on the high pressure side. the restriction causing some higher pressure and raising the temp in an area it shouldn't.
I doubt it it's just to hot, these things run everywhere in the world, somewhere in your manual or in a Case book is a recommended operating temps...high and lows.
Only thing I can think is some other restriction on the high pressure side. the restriction causing some higher pressure and raising the temp in an area it shouldn't.
I doubt it it's just to hot, these things run everywhere in the world, somewhere in your manual or in a Case book is a recommended operating temps...high and lows.
Renze
Elite Member
Is your radiator clean ? some iolder machiner that has allways been run on pure water in the cooling system, form "kettle stone" or calcium layers inside the water canals. The calcium has a high heat exchange resistance.
Specialised companies can chemically clean them.
you can also try a can of Bar's Nural powder. Stuff it into the cooling system, run it hot for a couple of hours, let the engine idle for a few minutes (to let it cool down the hottest parts first, to avoid damage) and pull of a radiator hose so that all water, including dirt and undissolved cleaning powder, rushes out clean in one go. then wait untill the engine is totally cool and pour new water on it. (Or pour in hot water when you dont want to wait for the engine to cool down..)
Your dozer was overhauled wasnt it ?? Leaking engine valves are also a known cause of overheating engines. stuck thermostats can also be a sneaky annoyance.
Specialised companies can chemically clean them.
you can also try a can of Bar's Nural powder. Stuff it into the cooling system, run it hot for a couple of hours, let the engine idle for a few minutes (to let it cool down the hottest parts first, to avoid damage) and pull of a radiator hose so that all water, including dirt and undissolved cleaning powder, rushes out clean in one go. then wait untill the engine is totally cool and pour new water on it. (Or pour in hot water when you dont want to wait for the engine to cool down..)
Your dozer was overhauled wasnt it ?? Leaking engine valves are also a known cause of overheating engines. stuck thermostats can also be a sneaky annoyance.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Hate to say this but a gasket leak can cause overheating.
OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Dave
The radiator is really two radiators. On one side is the water system with small tubes for the water. On the other side is the hydraulic oil radiator with larger tubes. The bottom part of both of them seem to be blocking water from my hose going through them. I've ran it for hours, used every detergant I can think of along with grease removers. It could very well be that it's pluged and not cooling.
The engine temp is fine, so that part of the radiator is working.
Rob,
I agree with you about the more hydraulic oil, the more it should keep it cool. The guy I talked to said that the fluid expands when it gets hot and if there's not enough space in the tank, it causes overheating problems. I don't believe that the fluid expands, but think it's just moving around so much that it needs more room. With the site glass filled to the low spot when I start working, it will rise up the site glass to just about full. The book says to have it half full on the site glass.
There is a crossover of the hoses that holds a thermostat. It's stamped 120 and when I put it in a pot of water with a thermometer, it opened fine at 120 degrees. When it's open, it allows the hydraulic oil to flow to the radiator. When it's closed, the oil just stays in it's loop.
Renze,
Can a problem with the engine cause the hydraulics to overheat? Or are you thinking it's the engine tempature?
My dozer is hydrostatic drive. I have three hyrdulic pumps that connect to my bell houseing that the engine drives. One pump is for the blade, the other two pumps are for the drive motors. What's overheating is the hydrualic oil for the dirve motors.
It seems to be related to outside temps. If it's in the upper 90's then the light will turn on after a few hours. If it's in the low 90's or below, it runs all day.
I spent last summer building my house, and have never ran the dozer in the heat of summer before, so it might be an inherant problem that I never noticed before, or it has something to do with the new motor. I heard that it could be caused by all the extra power I have now and the hyrdraulic pumps can't handle it, resulting in them overheating. Makes sense to some degree, but if that was it, why did it take a hundred hours to start?
Egon,
Which gasket do you think could cause this?
I have some small leaks in my hoses, but it's a lifetime battle tracking them down. I have all new O rings and there's nothing obvious leaking, so I'm not sure if this might be it or not. If it is, I don't understand how a small leak can cause the overheating when it's real hot outside, but not when it's just mild out.
For now, I'm running it early in the morning when it's hot out and doing other projects during the day. If it's mild out, I can run it longer.
Thanks,
Eddie
The radiator is really two radiators. On one side is the water system with small tubes for the water. On the other side is the hydraulic oil radiator with larger tubes. The bottom part of both of them seem to be blocking water from my hose going through them. I've ran it for hours, used every detergant I can think of along with grease removers. It could very well be that it's pluged and not cooling.
The engine temp is fine, so that part of the radiator is working.
Rob,
I agree with you about the more hydraulic oil, the more it should keep it cool. The guy I talked to said that the fluid expands when it gets hot and if there's not enough space in the tank, it causes overheating problems. I don't believe that the fluid expands, but think it's just moving around so much that it needs more room. With the site glass filled to the low spot when I start working, it will rise up the site glass to just about full. The book says to have it half full on the site glass.
There is a crossover of the hoses that holds a thermostat. It's stamped 120 and when I put it in a pot of water with a thermometer, it opened fine at 120 degrees. When it's open, it allows the hydraulic oil to flow to the radiator. When it's closed, the oil just stays in it's loop.
Renze,
Can a problem with the engine cause the hydraulics to overheat? Or are you thinking it's the engine tempature?
My dozer is hydrostatic drive. I have three hyrdulic pumps that connect to my bell houseing that the engine drives. One pump is for the blade, the other two pumps are for the drive motors. What's overheating is the hydrualic oil for the dirve motors.
It seems to be related to outside temps. If it's in the upper 90's then the light will turn on after a few hours. If it's in the low 90's or below, it runs all day.
I spent last summer building my house, and have never ran the dozer in the heat of summer before, so it might be an inherant problem that I never noticed before, or it has something to do with the new motor. I heard that it could be caused by all the extra power I have now and the hyrdraulic pumps can't handle it, resulting in them overheating. Makes sense to some degree, but if that was it, why did it take a hundred hours to start?
Egon,
Which gasket do you think could cause this?
I have some small leaks in my hoses, but it's a lifetime battle tracking them down. I have all new O rings and there's nothing obvious leaking, so I'm not sure if this might be it or not. If it is, I don't understand how a small leak can cause the overheating when it's real hot outside, but not when it's just mild out.
For now, I'm running it early in the morning when it's hot out and doing other projects during the day. If it's mild out, I can run it longer.
Thanks,
Eddie
Eddie,
It sounds like you have some reduced cooling ability in the radiator due to clogged fins. (Right?) If so, you have a few options. Keep on the way you are and hope you don't cook stuff in the trans too badly. Replace the radiator with a new one. Take the radiator to a radiator shop that has the ability to completely clean it. Keep spraying foaming engine degreaser on hope you eventually get it clean.
I would bite the bullet and take it to a shop to have it cleaned and flushed.
jb
It sounds like you have some reduced cooling ability in the radiator due to clogged fins. (Right?) If so, you have a few options. Keep on the way you are and hope you don't cook stuff in the trans too badly. Replace the radiator with a new one. Take the radiator to a radiator shop that has the ability to completely clean it. Keep spraying foaming engine degreaser on hope you eventually get it clean.
I would bite the bullet and take it to a shop to have it cleaned and flushed.
jb
OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Hey John,
I don't disagree with you, but I'm also not conviced it's as simple as the radiator fins. When I started the rebuild, the bottom of the shroud was totally full of sand and dirt. It was right up to the top of the shroud and the bottom third of the radiator was blocked. Not just reduced, but so blocked that I had to use a small garden shovel to scoop out the majority of the material. After I got it mostly out, I was able to finish it up with the hose.
My mental block stems from the fact that I never had this proble, before cleaing out the shroud, nor did it come up for almost a hundred hours on the rebuild. Then one day, it's getting hot.
Eddie
I don't disagree with you, but I'm also not conviced it's as simple as the radiator fins. When I started the rebuild, the bottom of the shroud was totally full of sand and dirt. It was right up to the top of the shroud and the bottom third of the radiator was blocked. Not just reduced, but so blocked that I had to use a small garden shovel to scoop out the majority of the material. After I got it mostly out, I was able to finish it up with the hose.
My mental block stems from the fact that I never had this proble, before cleaing out the shroud, nor did it come up for almost a hundred hours on the rebuild. Then one day, it's getting hot.
Eddie
