Hello. Our ranch has an older cat d5b 25x series dozer. The last couple of days after running it about 45 minutes, the temp. Gauge gets in the red and i can smell coolant. I just washed the outside of the radiator and started it and it slowly climbed to the red in about 45 minutes at half throttle, and the tractor in neutral. Does anyone know if this tractor has a fan clutch, as it seems very little air is coming through the front of the radiator with the motor at about half throttle. Thanks for your input !!
So it gets hot after 45 minutes in neutral, and doesn't seem to have much air moving. I'd always check the radiator first, look through it with a light on one side, and see how plugged it is. Washing the outside is very difficult if you can't see what you're doing. Next, is the belt tight? Has anything changed on it recently? Does it use coolant? how long has it been doing this? If the coolant is low then that's a whole different direction...
First off a whole s/n would help get information as there is a break in the 25X at the 01814 point. So that number and below is one and anything above that is different. That said I don't think any thing of that vintage ever had a fan clutch, just straight belt driven fan drive. So two things I would be checking if I felt the air flow was low would be: First how good are the belts and are they adjusted right. Check the bottom of the groves the belts run in, if shiny right to the bottom the belts are worn and need replacing. Second, you said you washed the out side of radiator, was there a good flow of water through all areas of the core? I can't look to see if there is an oil cooler in front of in back of the radiator as I don't have the full S/N. And just one more off top of my head. Does this machine have a reversible fan? If it does make sure all blades are locked in the same direction. Also are there any other things going on with this machine?
Guess I need to learn to type faster!
THE MACHINE HAS A THERASTAT AND HAVE SEEN THE BOLT BREAK ON WATER PUMP EMPELLER AND ONE TIME I BLOWED MY RADIATOR OUT AND IT MADE IT LEAK WAS THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED AND THEN THERE WAS THE TIME THE HARMON BALANCER CAME APART AND WAS NOT TURING FAN FAST ENOUGHT. BY KNOW I HAVE OWNED ONE SINCE 1982 AN STILL LOVE IT 17000 HRS LATER
Thanks for your reply. I checked the fan belts and they were loose. Alternator i had replaced a few years back had loosened. Its doing good now. Gotta check more often.
Thanks for all the replies, and info. My fanbelts were loose. An alternator i had replaced a few years ago, had slackened. The belts appear in good shape, and i have good airflow now. !!