1955 Major diesel thermostat

I just got this tractor it seams to run good but over heats, I checked the thermostat and it was gone. I am running a cleaner through the coolant then will drain and add new coolant and a thermostat, I hear I need the thermostat this might be why it is over heating? your thoughts...

New to Fordson diesels not tractors... Thanks

Might be a silly question but how do you know it is overheating? Is the temperature gauge showing overheating or are you getting
water blowing out of the overflow pipe?

If the gauge is showing hot then you are on the right lines with cleaning out the cooling system. The thermostat will not make a
difference to overheating, it is there to keep the engine around 160 degrees F. I have seen many tractors run without it and not
give problems but if you are in a cold climate it is essential to good running and reduced wear.

If water is blowing out of the overflow it could be a plugged radiator but is more likely a blown head gasket.

These old tractors are one of the best ones ever made, there are many still in work here in England, I run a 1952 version,
petrol/kerosene myself. There were many thousands of tractors built, at one time Ford and BMC made more tractors than all the
other countries of the world put together, including the US. That did not include the same engine that was used in trucks and
industrial applications and boats.

The rest of the tractor is built like a tank and is pretty bullet proof but remember it is 60 years old. Most parts are available
easily over here from aftermarket suppliers, some good others not so good.

Thank you, had a chance to look things over good last night. The gage tells me AND the blowing out the tube also is going on, I figured last night that it was going to be a head gasket because of the bubbling out of the cap and or tube... on the plus side it looks easy to replace... Thanks

I have only recently acquired several Dextas and I am getting used to their quirks and normal operation.

One of these would boil or overflow coolant out the plastic tube and when it cooled it would take about half a quart to fill it back up to the neck. I finally checked the cap and the brass seal under it was cracked. After I replaced it the overflow stopped. My temp gauges do not work so I don't know if it was really over heating. I have since replaced the capillary gauge with an electric gauge and so far everything is okay.
I use a 50/50 ratio of antifreeze to water is this right for these tractors?

One more look at it today and I really believe its a head gasket, It has a lot more power then my 350. I tried it on my bush-hog and has great power just overheats very quick

I have a 1957 that I have had for many years. If the cooling system is rusty, it would be a good time to pull the radiator out and have it professionally cleaned. You may also need to replace the cap also. And by all means, install a thermostat. If the engine does not get to operating temp, it will not run efficiently and start to build soot in the exhaust and sludge in the crank case.

Can you retorque these? I have never done this on a diesel, but have done it successfully on some of my cars after finding out that I was supposed to do this every 35,000 miles. .

The head gasket is not too bad a job to replace, you will possibly find that the new one is a composite type rather than a copper/asbestos one.

One important thing to check, the liners should protrude 0.002" to 0.004" above the surface of the block. This is measured around the edge of the liner. Most later liners had a "fire ring" machined around the top but the early ones had a flat top.

Check the size of your head bolts as there are two different torque settings for the head.