steve19438

Well-known Member
major bummer.
so I replaced old thermostat with new one. tested new one before installing. let the engine warm up then took the machine for a ride. no problems. started it up next day and it over heated. where to next? the water pump makes some noise but not a whole lot. there appears to be no wobble at the pump pulley. fan belt is tight. is it possible for the pump pulley to spin WITHOUT spinning the impeller?

I tried to detect movement of water in the radiator after the engine reached temp. but it looked like a stagnant pond. I have seen other cases where the water churned like the Colorado river.

I am stumped. any and all suggestions/theories appreciated.

thanks.
 

Water should be seen moving easily , no movement implies the thermostat is closed . Does the new one have a small hole drilled into the flange to let air through ? Some don't and so air is trapped against the thermostat stopping the water from heating it enough to open . BTDT
 
I have seen a water pump that the shaft broke off right at the impeller. Combine worked OK until it had to work....then it overheated. When I took it apart, the impeller was just sitting in its housing. Everything looked ok from outside.
Wayne
 
the hood on this machine does not tilt forward like my others plus I did not have a good light source to backlight the rad. and I do not have pressurized water at out property. next trip I will make sure I have a good light source with me. pressurized air is a problem too.
 
It is possible for the pump to fail to move water, very rare, but a possibility.

And yes you should see water movement in the radiator, and the air coming through the radiator should be hot.

What were the symptoms? Is there a working gauge, and did it show hot? Was there steam, surging water from the radiator? How long did it take to over heat? Idling? Under load?

Might try taking the thermostat out, just as a test to see if it will circulate. Could have a defective thermostat. You did install with the spring down?

Could also be a head gasket, especially if it were blowing the coolant out before it got up to the overheat range. That will usually also show as steam from the exhaust, water condensation under the oil cap.

Let us know...
 
when I first saw the tractor I drove it around the owners three acre property for about 20 min. and noticed no problem with overheating. on delivery day and after taking the tractor off the trailer it sat and idled for about 15-20 minutes while we yakked. about a mile later the radiator cooked over with lots of steam and moisture. I kept going and it settled down and I made it to our property. I let the tractor for a few hours and started it and watched as the temp. gauge went past 160 to 180 then to 200 when I shut it down. water coughed out the rad. after I shut off the engine. next morning I started it again and the temp. gauge did the same thing. I then decided to put a new thermostat in it. after I put in the new thermostat (which I tested) I left the eng. warm up and took it for a short ride. the temp. gauge never went past 180 and I thought problem was solved. next day I ran it again and it overheated. the thermostat sits vertical. as far as water blowing out the radiator I think all the steam came from the water hitting the exhaust manifold. steam out the exhaust? I truthfully do not know. I was too shocked to turn around and look. my wife was following me and she did not mention seeing any.
 
Sense it ran without overheating, then sat overnight, and overheated the next day... Did you check the coolant level the next morning? Is it possible there is a leak, it leaked down overnight and was low the next morning?
 
If oil in radiator of course you would see it right away on top. But coolant in crankcase might not be real obvious unless you notice the level higher.
 
Check the hoses, they look good on the outside but can come apart and close off on the inside causing it to overheat quickly.
 
(quoted from post at 21:18:20 09/16/16) if it is a head gasket wouldn't there be water in the crankcase or radiator?
I just had that problem, blown head gasket, water in the crankcase. Let it sit overnight and slowly open the oil drain plug without removing it completely and if water is present it will come out first.
 
What ENGINE in your 50?

I just had a situation, where the signs and symptoms on my 3 cylinder Perkins A3.152 was leaning towards a blown head gasket....no. The radiator was plugged off(CORES) after 53 years of usage with no flushing.

Tractor would warm up, (185 F) then as the engine started to work,pulling an 8 FT three point hitch cultivator in 3 rd. Low range, the Temp would pass 220 F and relieve out the over flow.

AS the coolant had boiled in the Rad, plus years of crap and corruption,the tubes were calcified off badly.

Only a thought:

Bob...
 
Looks like all the tin will come off sooner or later.
4 suspects in this,
1. thermostat, you did.
2. Clogged radiator- boil out in a local shop.
3. Water pump blades worn out?- buy one in YT shop on here.
4. Blown head gasket.... hummm... 20 minutes? It is water tight till head heats up? And you say water never moves around in there? A gasket would atleast bubble a bit till boiling out.
kinda rare- either warped or not, gasket either has a rip or not... seen aluminum engines act like that, but not these in my book. If it is that, I would talk to the seller- soon. He musta known about this
 
it will be two weeks before I see the 50 again.

course of action planned:

1. loosen oil pan plug and see if any water comes out.

1a. check radiator for clog.

2. remove thermostat and see if there is coolant movement in radiator with no thermostat.

3. if movement of coolant w/o thermostat how much cardboard do I use?

4. have emailed previous owner. awaiting answer. (he seemed like an upstanding citizen)

5. if I can't diagnose the problem have one of my sons friends take one my 35's to the property and bring home the 50 and tear it apart in the garage.

what else?????
 
If there is water movement without a thermostat, and no overheating, could be you got a defective thermostat.

Cardboard not a good idea unless you can constantly adjust it as conditions change.
 
unfortunately I DID NOT LOOK FOR COOLANT Movement before I installed the new thermostat. I did test the new thermostat and it opened as it should. cardboard is always iffy but if I get coolant movement without a thermostat I may go that route. I have done it before. mostly with 8N's.
 

When you tested the thermostat did you suspend it in hot water or place it on the bottom of the pot ?
Direct contact with the heat source can rupture the wax capsule that operates the mechanism .
 
well I heated up a small saucepan full of water and when it bubbled i turned the gas off and I put the old thermostat and the new one in the pot. (not suspended) the new one opened the old one did not.
 
No 1 , save yourself crawling under tractor and just pull dipstick, if water in oil you,ll see it , milky white colour on dipstick.
 
well that's what I thought too but someone suggested I loosen the drain plug. easy enough to do as the drain plug is on the side of the pan not underneath.
 
I think that is a good list except I would be careful about using cardboard. No matter how nice he is, I wouldn't expect too much from item #4.
 
response from previous owner:

hi steve I have never had any over heating problems with the tractor when I
was using it . But it has mostly sat for the last two years,other than just
starting it every so often. I would have though the thermostat would have
ben my first gess to but apparently its not . I have always kept AF in it, I
checked it every fall before winter set in. How ever I have never drained it
or flushed the system never really had any reason to. I would try flushing
the system out first maybe from just siting so much it has some corrosion in
the radiator core. Other than that I would fill with water and leave the
radiator cap off and let run to 180 deg and see if water is cirulating in
the top of the radiator.If it is not circulating there may be a problem
with the water pump other than this I would not know what else to do. .I
cant believe its giving you problems,its never let me down. Hope this may
give you some ideas to try.
 

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