m jdeere boils water out over flow, yet bottom of tank cool

old diesel · Mar 23, 2015

a friend has a m jdeere with reman engine, runs very well, good compression, very strong and good oil pressure. he cannot use tractor because it runs hot, idle or pulling. the top of the radiator will boil water out, yet the bottom of radiator is cool to the touch also . I have been told it has a air lock , that the antifreeze is to thick and heavy, that its because block has some over bore. any thoughts out there ---thanks for any comments

jCarroll · Mar 23, 2015

My experience is with a 40.
For a test, run straight water in it. Antifreeze "needs" to be
mixed with water before putting in tractor.

Boiling out the overflow is not unusual. Let her go as long as
coolant covers top of radiator tubes.

Is the fan belt right?

Open the drain cock on the block and see if coolant runs out freely.

Carlyle hoffman · Mar 23, 2015

No 1 they run warm any way, no 2 drain and refill with 50-50 but stay down from the top, or fill as MANUAL says . has RAd been flushed and also fins blown clean does Gage reg and do you know Gage is accurate.

BushogPapa · Mar 23, 2015

The Radiator tubes are plugged and it needs "Roded" to open them up.
You might try running White Vinegar as coolant and see if it will clean the interior of the cooling system..
Are you SURE water poured through the cooling system (cold) flows out the bottom of the Radiator, or just runs out the upper tube and out..?
When the engine is getting warm, you should see coolant flowing at the radiator top from the Thermos-Syphone action..
Ron.

Lee B · Mar 23, 2015

He should have mixed his anti-freeze with the water BEFORE he poured both into the cooling system. The anti-freeze is sitting in the bottom region as a slug that won't move out and circulate. It's a good deal heavier than water.

Solution is to drain all coolant into many 5 gallon buckets and mix them into each other. Then put it all back in and problem will go away.

Expect 50/50 mix to run a good deal hotter than just water as anti-freeze does not carry away heat as well as straight water. Might see 215 on the gauge as a result when worked where with just water it runs under 200.

old diesel · Mar 23, 2015

belt tight,
water drains good at bottom of rad,
does not know if gauge is correct,
will try vinegar,

we will flush complete , how much vinegar to use and how long to run?
after that we will premix antifreeze and water , fill tractor and test run
still getting comments about air lock in rad, what does this mean?
will update as we can.

M-MAN · Mar 23, 2015

First off there is no way to air lock an M. There is no water pump or thermostat to block it.

No offence meant but you do not want to put corrosive vinegar in a 60 year old radiator.

It's a Thermosiphon System so it does not work anything like a modern cooling system. You have to have at least two to three inches of air space at the top of the radiator. As long as it's above the flue's a little it's full enough. Drain the 50/50 coolant in a 5 gal bucket, shake it up and pour it back in. Check the belt tension.

Check the timing. SPARK should be centered in the window at full throttle. At low idle TC/DC should be near if the dist advance is ok.

After doing all this fire her up and ignore the temp gauge unless it pushes enough water out the overflow to be below the flues. If it does it's time for a new radiator core.

I'm betting the antifreeze wasn't premixed and that's the problem but if you'll check the other stuff we'll know for sure.

bill mart · Mar 24, 2015

I agree with M-man. Bill M.

farmer steve · Mar 24, 2015

I bet the radiator is plugged. had a allis wd do the same thing. flushed the radiator. All kinds of gunk came out. put it all back together with new antifreeze/water 50/50 and it now runs great and doesn't over heat.

old diesel · Mar 24, 2015

some things done to the m jdeere that run hot today.

drained the rad- antifreeze seemed to be very (green).
broke gen belt --replaced
belt- crank to fan very loose --tighten
timing low-- line not in window--corrected
premixed antifreeze with water before pouring into tractor
field tested in mud- fields very wet, in these conditions tractor
ran much better and probably 10 to 15 degrees cooler, at lest it
did not boil over. thanks for all the tips. sometimes I tend to
look to deep for problems.

Hotflashjr · Mar 25, 2015

Ditto with M-Man, JCarroll and I second Bill Mart.

I want to add that two years ago I put new hoses on my MT and filled with new antifreeze to capacity based on the amount in the owners manual. It took well over a year to stop getting overflow from the tube on rough ground. Any time I was plowing or harrowing I would get some overflow.

m jdeere boils water out over flow, yet bottom of tank cool

old diesel

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jCarroll

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Carlyle hoffman

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BushogPapa

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Lee B

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old diesel

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M-MAN

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bill mart

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old diesel

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