Was plowing the driveways, when I heard a beep coming from the control panel. After the third one, I looked, and noticed a warning about very low coolant. Immediately shut down the engine, and noticed the tank was low. I added about a half gallon of coolant. Engine temp was 121, probably due to thermostat issues. I think I did smell coolant in the summer, so I'm hoping it's a loose hose. I have not seen any drips anywhere, so I'm praying it's not something serious.
Usually its just a hose clamp that needs to be tightened up. With the colder temps the hoses can contract.
Love the chicken! I'll check it out. That would be a nice fix. Thank goodness I bought a gallon of coolant to top off the tank.
I like to take a bright flashlight and inspect everything. If you've lost a 1/2 gallon over the last 2 years might be nothing. That much over the last month could be serious.
Sure enough. The upper radiator hose at the radiator end was dripping pretty good. I tightened it up, along with the other one I could see. They were loose. I have to remove the fan guard from the side of the chassis to get at the others. Hoping this was the issue.
Does the expansion tank have a direct line from the bottom to the radiator, or is it just a burp tank from the filler neck? If it's an actual pressurized tank, filling it will get the system full. If it's just a burp tank, you need to remove the radiator cap and see how much is in there, it will take numerous hot/cold cycles to syphon the radiator full from the burp tank.
Never thought to check. I'll look. The tank was still halfway between full and empty, so I don't think the radiator got low. Further, filling the tank made the alarm go away. Thanks for the warning though. I'll check it when it is cold. Running doing the plowing, the coolant temp never got above 121, so I smell bad thermostats.
Funny thing is the alarm system beeped once, and then stopped, with the warning displayed on the LCD. I figured it would keep beeping until you silenced it, or fixed the fault.
How do you see engine temp? I have 3 310SL and its just a temp gauge with no numbers. They are Canadian machines and are all tier 3 if that makes any difference.
If you scroll down you get hyd temp in the menu but in my experience until the temperature outside is hot the engine and hydralic temp dont mach even tho they both use the same coolant Last year deere did away with the heat exchangers for the hydraulic system and went back to a independent cooler in front of the fan because the hydralic oil would run close to 190 in hot climates and in cold climates it would act as an extra cooler if you were not using the hydraulics enough to heat the oil up to match temperature to the coolant
That is very interesting about the hydraulic oil is cooled and or heated by the engine coolant. I do notice you really need to idle the engine up to maintain heat in the winter if your not working the machine. Guess this is part of the reason. What year did they make the switch?
I bought a Scangauge, and set coolant temp as one of the four options.
21 model year
I did notice that there is actual coolant flow through the overflow tank - a strong, healthy stream coming out of some small diameter hoses. It's as if there is circulation through the tank. I still have leaks somewhere, as I smell coolant, and am still losing. When it warms up a bit, I'm going to remove the side guards, lock up the loader with the safety, and check every hose.
Do they run on maple syrup and Molson?
Nope. I save that for myself. Reason I mentioned it was, they are tier 3. I’m pretty sure all American L models would be tier 4. Thinking there might be a difference in the cooling system.
So your L models dont take def
Normally you can not smell coolant unless it is getting on something very hot. Such as exhaust manifolds Or if it is boiling.
No def no dpf. I could be wrong but I think 2018 was the last year it was available in Canada.
Now that is something I had not known us went to def in 2015 on machines
My 2015 310L uses DEF. I was warned by the Deere mechanic to not mess with that system, as it was the only part of the 310 series that was problematic. He told me to not add a drop to the system, until it needed filling, and then to use a fresh, never-opened, recently purchased, jug to fill to the top.
This sticker is on all three. I have a 2016,2017 and 2018.
Final report. Most of the hose clamps were loose, and leaking. Tightened every one. With effort to break the bolts, got the thermostat cover off, and both thermostats looked good. Thought that I wasted $100 on new ones, and was going to leave the old ones in. Since I bought them, I decided to replace them. Also flushed the coolant, and replaced with new Deere Coolgard. As the guy at the dealership said, it took a bit more than 5 gallons. It's entirely possible that the old coolant was seven years old, so I'm happy I replaced it. Upon starting, the engine reached 158 deg in 10 minutes. I'm not yet convinced that the new t-stats fixed the problem as it's 60 deg F today here in Mass, but it's looking good. It will be nice to have heat again, and I get the engine will be happier too.
Also, the coolant tank is connected directly to the radiator, and not just via an overflow. I quickly added 5 gallons of coolant to the tank, and it filled the entire system.
Good to hear that resolved your heat issue. Coolant leaks are never fun, nor is a lack of heat. When my brother was in high school, he had no heat in his car one winter and would drive around with a blanket in his lap for warmth. I came home from college for Christmas and found out what he was doing. A day of inspecting and wrenching and I found his water pump impeller was eroded away to a flat disc. Swapped it out and got his system bleed. He sorta had heat after that. I ended up back flushing his heater core and filled a bucket with sludge. He got enough heat to defrost windows and stay warm, but it was never right.
Sounds like a good job you didn't. Try putting the old thermostats in a pan of water and slowly bring it to the boil. Do they both open correctly & completely.?