Hey guys, So I've been running this 580K for a little over a month and it's been overheating, and getting worse. I've noticed a coolant leak under the lower hose. The hoses seem to be fine and are not collapsing. I ordered a new thermostat but have not put it in yet. I'm trying to find a place to have the radiator roded and tested. Other than that, is there any known issues I need to be aware of?
Air flow through the radiator can often be restricted by grass & dust being trapped in between the radiator/oil cooler/air con cores. Unfortunately, this can only really be cleaned out by separating the coolers from each other.
Right, I have to blow out my tractor radiator at least one a year. That was the first thing I tried, I blew it out with high pressure air. A lot of crap seemed to come out. It really didn't make a difference though.
Like I said, you can't do the cleaning job properly till the cores are separated - when you remove the radiator, it maybe more obvious.
That's the plan. I'm gonna go ahead and order new hoses tomorrow. Then I can thoroughly clean it out. I was thinking about seeing if the auto store rents a pressure tester too. That'll tell me if the leak is in the radiator.
Yes, it's very obvious if you look at the pictures. I assume it hasn't been taken apart since the factory assembled it!! While I'm in there now, new question.... to swap out the serpentine belt, I'm assuming the hydro pump has to be unbolted, but are the shafts connected too? Or can I just back the bolts out and slide it forward to separate them enough to slide the belt in?
Check out this clog! Best I've ever seen!!
That will do it. Wow that is bad. I would remove it, clean as much crap off as I could then send to radiator shop and have it cleaned and checked.
Yea, that's the plan. You ever replaced a serpentine belt on a 580k?
No I have not but a quick search found this old thread. HeavyEquipmentForums
Wow! Pain in the butt it looks like!! I better do it while the radiators out though. Thanks for finding that!
That looks like it will hose off with a garden hose, it may take a while, might want to soap it up with dawn dish soap and let it sit then come back to it. I don't think a radiator shop is needed unless you can see lots of scale in the tubes from the top of the radiator, or there's lots of debris in the drained coolant. It's obviously plugged on the outside, wash it clean and it won't overheat until it plugs again.
There's lots of buildup, and the owner wants it done so why not. I got them clean. Just scraped the excess off and then just hit them with the hose.