Married2Allis

Well-known Member
Do radiators have to be full to function at all? I have a leak in the top of my Oliver 1650D rad. It loses about a gallon when I fill it. I am going to solder it but wanted to wait until this fall. Will the coolant still circulate with it being down about a gallon? I watch the temperature like a hawk on this tractor -- have both a mechanical and OEM temp gauge on it. - thanks, Bret
 
It will function some but a gallon is a lot of water to loose from one. To really function right though it needs to build some pressure and it can't with a hole in it. Under the circumstances you have I would only move the tractor around short distances until it was repaired. You just have to ask yourself, what's easier, solder the radiator or rebuild the motor.
 
Being dumb about this. Did not consider that there is pressure too which would blow even more coolant out of the leak. Thanks Stephen.
 
Yep that is one of the drawbacks of a pressurized cooling system so if you have a leak it will leak out a whole lot faster then a non pressurized system.
 
It's not so much that the radiator needs to be full, but the coolant level needs to be at least as high as the top of the water jacket in the head. Once the level falls below the head, (that's where most of the heat is generated), it starts building a steam pocket that pushes the water even lower, causing more overheating, eventually pushing steam into the water pump, then all circulation stops... A chain reaction that gets bad quick!

Being down a gallon is probably below the head, or getting real close.

If you can get to the leak, try some epoxy putty as a temporary fix, and leave the cap loose.

Be careful!
 

The steam can build pressure but the pressure will act equally in all directions. I don't see how it could push water back to the water pump unless the thermostat would some how close off completely.
 
If the coolant level in the engine drops below the sending unit/sensor for the gauge you will not be getting an accurate reading of how hot the engine potentially is.
 

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