Overheating

John Yetman

New User
I have a TO20 1951 Ferguson. It came with the house and has run good for 7 years but now it starts to overheat after about 30 min of riding it. What should I look at first ??

I thought I would start with replacing the thermostat. I took off the top radiator hose (small hose about 8 inches just under the radiator cap) There was no thermostat ?? Is this where it should be ??
 
Got coolant?
That there would be first. If no coolant, where did it go? That there would be second. Bet ya' can't wait fer third, can ya??
Whoops wife is calling. gotta stop playing fer now. Plugged rad from tall grass/ chafe would be next easy.
bye!
 
It sounds like a bad thermostat. Remove the upper hose and push the old one out replace with new and it should do the trick. You didn't say what you do with the tractor, so also make sure the radiator is free of any debris that could clog the cooling fins. My money would be on the thermostat.

You can check the old one bu putting it in a pot of boiling water and watch the valve open if good not open if bad.

Keep us posted
 
While you have the coolant hoses disconnected from the radiator, good time to do a flow test.

Fill radiator full of water while holding your hand over the lower out flow connection.

When radiator is full of water, remove your hand, watch the flow of water out of the outlet.

Nice even full flow, good,
slow gurgle type flow, your radiator is stopped up inside, will need to be boiled out.

Note to file: you do not want to let the little motor get hot, will harden the oil rings first and motor will start smoking like an old coal fired freight train.

Check thermostat, then radiator flow, then if all good.
Once motor is warm and thermostat is open, with radiator cap off, look down inside of radiator to be sure you have coolant flow, as I have heard of water pump impeller coming off the shaft, not leaking but not pumping water.

Good luck, let us know what you find wrong, again DO NOT LET MOTOR GET HOT!!!!
 
(quoted from post at 19:39:01 07/27/15) I have a TO20 1951 Ferguson. It came with the house and has run good for 7 years but now it starts to overheat after about 30 min of riding it. What should I look at first ??
tart it up cold and go to the front of the radiator and put your hand on the center of the radiator core. If the radiator is free and clear the whole core should get warm when the thermostat opens. Radiators tend to start clogging in the center and work out toward the edges. If after several minutes the center is still cold then move your hand out toward the edges. If you have heat around the edges and a cool or cold center then you need to get that radiator rodded out.
 

I thought I would start with replacing the thermostat so I just took off the top radiator hose (small hose 8 inches just below the radiator cap) and there was no thermostat ?? Is this where it should be ??
 
Yes that's where it should be. Do or did you have any coolant in tha radiator? And if so like another post here you may have a blocked radiator
that may need to be cleaned out.
 
Before you fix anything, let's be sure something is broken.
When you say 'overheating?' is the cap boiling over? Making a mess all over the front of the engine? or are you looking at the gauge?
Does it have 'anti freeze/ summer coolant'? or plain water? That stuff keeps the boiling point under control in 'hard work'.
Got to be sure the fan belt isn't slipping, not just the fan spinning, but the water pump turning steady.
And as ol farm tractors, as Tom H said, clean the radiator inside and out. 60 odd years of hay dust and crud keeps things hot.
 
If all else fails and you don't want to pull the radiator out. Fill it with distilled water and run it hard for a few days and then Drain it completly. Refill with distilled water and again run it hard to get it good and hot and then drain it after it cools again. Do not add the water from the first time. You might notice the water has a creamy color to it. That is lime scale the distilled water is removing from inside the engine and Radiator. Keep doing it till the water is clean when you drain it, then fill with distilled water and antifreeze. If distilled water isn't in the budget, use rain water or water from a pond known not to have limestone in it. I do this with every tractor I own and none of them run hot anymore.
 
Perhaps I missed it but have you checked that the Radiator is not blocked on the outside. Mine ran OK for 65 years before overheating, but when I checked the Radiator Fins I found enough grains and seeds to plant a 1/2 acre.

I borrowed the wife's vacuum cleaner and GENTLY with a thin piece of wire probed between the fins while holding the cleaner nozzle to the other side of the radiator.

As a result I now had to make a makeshift radiator blind to get the engine up to a reasonable working temperature. True, I don't work mine very hard as I'm only a pretend Farmer but the results are worth the effort.
 

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