Hey Guys, I was using the Cat over the weekend to clear some land and after about an hour and a half, it started making a really loud rattling sound from the engine Bay Area, so I shut off the machine and it had clearly overheated. There was steam coming out of the filler caps and I could hear the coolant boiling, saw bubbles around the filler cap. There was also some fluid dripping down on bottom right side of the engine through the belly pans. Not a ton, but definitely noticeable. I let it cool down for a bit and started it back up. Started fine, idled fine, I let the fans run for a few minutes and it cooled the oil and coolant temps back down. I think that the radiator may just be dirty, the machine itself is dirty from working and needs to be steam cleaned. Question 1 : I’m worried about that terrible rattling/grinding noise that happened when the engine overheated. When it happened, even with my hearing protection on it scared the hell out of me. But the engine started up fine again after cooling and it idled fine. What could that noise have been? Question 2 : Is there a coolant overflow or pressure valve on the bottom of the engine that was releasing pressure when it overheated or do I now have a leak that I need to go find under the engine? Question 3 : Does anybody know of a mobile steam cleaner/ hot pressure washing company I can have come out and clean the radiator? Any other thoughts? Thanks!
By the way, we’re 20 miles west of Richmond Va!
Here's a question for you. After everything cooled down did you check the radiator level and/or try topping off the radiator, even just with water before you started it up again.? If so how many gallons did it take or did water start spewing from somewhere and you have not found out exactly where it is coming from yet.? There is no pressure valve except for the relief valve in the radiator cap AFAIK. (Post a Serial Number to assist in locating accurate information). There may be a small-diameter overflow tube from the top of the radiator that discharges somewhere down below. Basically it will be connected to the tube indicated by the arrow and head downwards towards the bottom of the radiator. The cap on top of Neck Ref #19 is the pressure relief valve.
Thanks for your reply. I actually didn’t check the fluid because it was so hot I didn’t want to open the cap. I did check today and the tank wasn’t that low and is still holding fluid. I maybe filled it back up 1/2 a 3/4 gallon. All other fluids are also topped off. Looking at it again today, the radiator is definitely dirty. I’d say on the back of the radiator, 3/4th of the honeycomb holes are covered in dirt and grime. So shame on me I suppose. What’s the best way to clean that out? Would it be with a hot water pressure wash?
I would have thought hot water pressure wash or steam cleaner makes little difference. Just don't get the business end of the wand too close to the radiator would be my suggestion, they tend to be a bit agressive. Soaking the back side of the radiator with some degreaser from a garden sprayer type device to start loosening the dirt & grease deposits might also be a good thing. At the end of the day to do a thorough cleaning you may well be forced to remove the radiator.
If you were only down a gallon then I'd guess you might be lucky. A slow overheat from a plugged radiator is not as bad for an engine as a fast overheat from coolant loss. 250-270 degrees and a little steaming is nothing for the engine, compared to coolant loss and localized overheating. If the steam down low was not from the radiator over flow, then could it have come from the crankcase vent? The noise could have been exaggerated diesel knock from the extreme temps. Purple power from the automotive section of walmart is a decent and cheap degreaser, dawn dish soap works good too if it's mostly mud and chaff and not so much oil. You'll almost always want something in the water to soak it down, and keep rinsing and soaking. Even set up a sprinkler or mister nozzles for a day ahead of time if it's mostly mud. soak with dawn or degreaser if it's more greasy grimy. A garden hose will work, pressure washer will work faster, hot water will work faster in the garden hose or pressure washer.
Hey guys, quick update here. I had a guy come out and steam clean the radiator and engine bay. It’s not perfect and there were some hard to reach areas, but it is way cleaner. I checked fluids and then ran the machine for 2 hours today pretty hard. Consolidated some dirt and brush piles to be burned. It was also 95 degrees out. The machine did fine and never overheated, but it did get hot. The coolant gauge continually crept up closer and closer to the red zone (no clue how hot that actually is) but when I got there I idled down and it did cool down. Also, I think the water pump is working fine, I took the radiator cap off when I started up and could see fluid flowing/ moving. Being fairly new to this machine am I expecting too much of it and working it too hard? Or do I have another problem?
Replace the coolant regulator. Bob