overheating easy

[countrygreg]

Hi,
I have a LB1914 kioti tractor with 280 hrs on it and it keeps overheating very easily. Any suggestions of why it would do this?
Thanks, Greg

 

[mpham]

Check the radiator and prescreen for grass or mouse house. That will cause overheating quick. Could be the thermostat also but havent heard of that much here.

 

[ultrarunner]

Not say this is the case... neighbor had overheating trouble and it was because the brake wasn't fully released.

Assuming the gage reads properly...

Obstruction in the cooling system externally... fins/screen or internally... rust or corrosion.

Loose or broken belt

Low on coolant

Had one that always overheated and it was a bad head gasket... only one time have I found this to be the cause.

 

[countrygreg]

Thanks for responding.

The temperature gauge goes up and down when its overheating. When you shut off the tractor the radiator overflows.

 

[mpham]

With the engine cold take off the radiator cap, make sure the radiator is up to the correct level and start the engine. Any bubbles? Let it warm up with the cap off and keep observing the radiator, if you see bubbles in the fluid it is a good indication there is a head gasket or other problem. If it doesn't bubble but heats up and boils over you probably have a blocked radiator inside or outside or a stuck/lazy thermostat. More than likely with it boiling over on shutdown it is not gauge related.

 

[grsthegreat]

I second the check radiator post. And i mean check inside the fins. Ive seen these things so packed with dirt and dust that there is no airspace within the fins. It will overheat fast that way.

If you work a lot in dirt or do a lot of mowing, this is most likely the culprit.

 

[PoorMansCat]

is it losing coolant? is the radiator full? and is the overflow bottle filled to the correct mark?

 

[Coyote machine]

Assuming it has correct amount of fluid and there is not blockage of the radiator from dirt, etc. the fluctuating gauge is likely bubbles from exhaust gases leaking into the coolant as a result of a blown head gasket and its sending the gauge up and down due to increased temps, then more normal temps etc. One way to verify its NOT the thermostat is to remove it from the equation and see what happens- if it keeps boiling over, or you see a flow of bubbles instead of a stream of coolant like a river, its most likely the head gasket. One last thing - check the radiator cap- sometimes they go bad and cause weird results. Take it off and run the engine to temp and see what happens....post back descriptive results.

 

[PoorMansCat]

Assuming it has correct amount of fluid and there is not blockage of the radiator from dirt, etc. the fluctuating gauge is likely bubbles from exhaust gases leaking into the coolant as a result of a blown head gasket and its sending the gauge up and down due to increased temps, then more normal temps etc. One way to verify its NOT the thermostat is to remove it from the equation and see what happens- if it keeps boiling over, or you see a flow of bubbles instead of a stream of coolant like a river, its most likely the head gasket. One last thing - check the radiator cap- sometimes they go bad and cause weird results. Take it off and run the engine to temp and see what happens....post back descriptive results.

yep... seems you and I were thinking along the same lines. When i posted asking about coolant levels, in the back of my mind, was wondering if this was going to be another case of early head gasket failure.

 

[Coyote machine]

yep... seems you and I were thinking along the same lines. When i posted asking about coolant levels, in the back of my mind, was wondering if this was going to be another case of early head gasket failure.

Seems so, BUT I caution the OP to run the suggested tests to verify cause/effect. Diagnosis form the sky- internet, is not the same as being there!:thumbsup: