960 getting pressure in radiator

doorman · Feb 25, 2018

Just traded for a 960. p.o. says the engine is putting pressure in radiator. He suspected a bad head gasket. If I pull the plugs and put a pressure tester on rad.
will it push pressure out affected plug hole? Thanks for any help.

Larry NCKS · Feb 25, 2018

If you can pressurize the radiator; it may, or it may not. Some leaks will only go one way with the engine at certain temperature. It would also not be safe to pressurize the radiator to the extreme that compression pressure will push from the other direction.

da.bees · Feb 25, 2018

There is chemical which is added to coolant then run to see if it change's color in presence of combustion gas. Before digging very deep,test the cap. Pressure on a normal system can build high enough to blow a hose off if cap mal-functions.

MarkB_MI · Feb 26, 2018

Put your pressure tester on the radiator and fire up the engine. If the head gasket is blown, the pressure will immediately take off. Be ready to quickly shut the engine down, as you can over-pressurize the cooling system.

sotxbill · Feb 26, 2018

Use the old tried and true test.

fill radiator to neck.. while idling. if it keeps blowing bubbles out, its got a compression leak. May be necessary to keep adding a bit of water as the tractor idles to keep it at neck... sometimes when you rev up the engine, you will see lots of bubbles come out about 3 to 5 seconds later, as they work their way to the radiator.

If it bubbles , its leaking....

charlie n · Feb 26, 2018

My 601 did the same thing last summer. Gauge stayed on cold and after 5 minutes started puking out the tube. Was told the head gasket was bad and sending pressure to the radiator. I'd did what soxsbil said only I left the cap off. Heat gauge stared to move and no more blow off. Went and bought a new cap.Problem solved.Maybe you'll get lucky too.

doorman · Feb 26, 2018

Thanks for all the replies. Will check it out more in depth as weather permits.

sotxbill · Feb 26, 2018

(quoted from post at 11:55:32 02/26/18)

Use the old tried and true test.

fill radiator to neck.. while idling. if it keeps blowing bubbles out, its got a compression leak. May be necessary to keep adding a bit of water as the tractor idles to keep it at neck... sometimes when you rev up the engine, you will see lots of bubbles come out about 3 to 5 seconds later, as they work their way to the radiator.

If it bubbles , its leaking....

Sorry, This is done with the radiator cap OFF.. and watching the neck, as it idles.. Wnnt to make that clear...

960 getting pressure in radiator

doorman

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Larry NCKS

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da.bees

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MarkB_MI

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sotxbill

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charlie n

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doorman

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sotxbill

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