Mowing Kubota diesel overheating.

[Flad]

I have not to date ever seen a multi cylinder diesel later model engine after 1960 without a thermostat, back then is when diesels first became the engines of choice in every thing from earth moving, trucking, farming and stationary motors Generators and irrigation pumps , mind you I have replaced thermostats where some goose had removed them in places like the Simpson desert to the high snow country, Even big Air cooled diesels have some sort of thermostatically controlled air baffles /vents or fans to maintain constant running temps .

These days most professional diesel service centers use regular oil sampling mostly for engine warranty reasons, Cat do it some times for free for research on their bigger engines, oil sampling will tell if an engine has been running hot or cold or other issues that might become a problem in the future, the oil tells the story. computers can tell lies.
The very first things to be inspected if an engine has been running hot are you guessed it, the thermostat and radiator or cooling system pressure, simplest bits first.

 

[Alan46]

Hey 4570Man, what do you have against taking the Radiator to a shop ? ️

 

[Sidey]

I’ve got a grasshopper ZT with a Kubota diesel in it. It happens fairly slowly but the temp keeps creeping up. The radiator is clean. The air filter is clean, the fan belt is tight, the fan shroud is in place all but a little bit at the bottom which I don’t think has ever been there. There’s no fan clutch, it’s direct mounted. I’ve taken the thermostat out and ran without it and there’s no change. I put the thermostat in a pot of water and heated it on the stove and the pot was very near boiling before it opened. I honestly thought it would fix the problem taking that out but it didn’t. I might repeat that that test with a thermometer since it was supposed to open at 160 degrees. I’ve taken the side panels and hood off to see if better ventilation would help and it does but not a notable amount. And it blows more heat down my back that way. The radiator is as hot as the block when checked with an infrared thermometer. So it seems to me the radiator is taking heat but not loosing it. I’m pretty much at a loss on this one.

Water Pump possibly not efficient.

 

[RickB]

Hey 4570Man, what do you have against taking the Radiator to a shop ? ️

Or just taking it out and cleaning it and inspecting it well.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ya, I pretty much out. Lead a horse to water and all that...

 

[DutchInNZ]

One of the purposes of the thermostat is to keep the water/engine ect. at the recommended temp. It slows the flow of water through the radiator so that the coolant cools. If it goes thru too fast the coolant will continue to get hotter. You must have a thermostat to slow the water. I ran a dirt track car with a piece of aluminum with a 1/2" hole to slow the flow. It could be your thermostat is sticking too far open.

In line with your comment, when it is cold in your house, you turn the flow in the heating down and when it is warm, you turn it up ?!

If the flow increases, the cooling capacity increases too because of the increased calorific transport. The thermostat serves for one thing only, and that is to decrease the flow when the coolant is too cold and it starts to let more coolant through when the operating temperature is reached. A few degrees over the ideal running temperature and the thermostat opens completely to get maximum cooling. Without a thermostat your engine will likely never reach the right temperature in winter when it is freezing.

A radiator cap has no influence at all on the cooling capacity of a system. It increases the pressure in the system so that the coolant does not boil at the optimum running temperature that is over 98 and up to 105 degrees centigrade, depending on the design of the engine. Only when there is an overheating problem and because of the temperature the pressure gets higher than that, the relief valve opens to protect the system.

That regular high coolant temperature is why one should not try to take the cap off when the engine is hot, because the coolant is over the boiling point 100 Celsius, so hot that at ambient pressure it boils explosively. Just google the pressure/temperature curve of water/steam systems.

 

[Scott Solum]

I am having the same problem, I'm find it to be under powered for the altitude I am at 5200'. The RPM cannot keep the fan spinning fast enough to keep it cool. It actually slows to a very a very slow walk and eventually overheats. A very well built machine with a huge problem.. I am so disappointed the dealer will not help me even though it has less than 20 hours on it.
Good luck, I hope yours is a belt

 

[northcreek2624]

Since no one mentioned it I will. Your lower radiator hose (suction) may be collapsing. Most have a spring reinforcement to prevent this but, some rely on the hose itself and when they get old they can close off from the suction.

 

[Williy]

Company says: Shell Rotella

1. Protection against overheating – Excellent heat transfer properties allow heat to transfer more effectively, protect against freeze and boil-over and help keep engines running cool

willy

 

[eddieirvine]

Belt slipping could be? hard to tell but i sm guessing change it at you might be good, fan can run pretty slow with worn belt and slipping belt

 

[eddieirvine]

Since no one mentioned it I will. Your lower radiator hose (suction) may be collapsing. Most have a spring reinforcement to prevent this but, some rely on the hose itself and when they get old they can close off from the suction.

good point Northcreek

 

[dirttoys]

If the thermostat is out, the radiator is not clogged, and the fan has its blades and spins when running (loose belts), it points to a water pump that the impeller may be slipping or have a shear pin that has been sheared or more likely the belt is broken/missing or too loose.
If the system is at least reasonably clean, the fan turns, and the thermostat is out, it is almost surely the water pump impeller or belt preventing the coolant from circulating.

Dane…

Respectfully disagree, you are correct that a water pump could do it. Given the age, and the feedback that water does flow in and out of block, if I had a single guess it would be plugged radiator. Core/replace, I give it 90% odds of cure.

Best,

ed

 

[dirttoys]

Have you considered a leak either in the head gasket, the seals between a cylindar and the block. Try using a sealer. You might have a leak so small it's undetectable in the exhaust. You've also indicated it seems to gert hotter with time, indicating engine expansion is expanding the leak. engine sealant - Google Search

My night to be a disagreeable turd, sorry. Stop leak in little diesels, with small water jackets should be a last ditch effort. And you should be aware you are taking a better than fair chance of making a small problem a big one.

Best,

ed

 

[4570Man]

Hey 4570Man, what do you have against taking the Radiator to a shop ? ️

I’ll probably take it out and inspect it when I have time but I don’t want to take it to the radiator shop because it would take a lot longer and probably cost as much as just buying an aftermarket one.

 

[5030]

Stop leak should ALWAYS be the last resort.

 

[4570Man]

I really didn’t intend to start a 100 plus post debate about antifreeze. But the engine isn’t reaching the technical overheated definition. It’s maintaining the maximum allowable temperature and has a couple times triggered the over temp light. But it hasn’t a single time boiled out of the radiator. The water pump is 100 percent working. Changing the antifreeze mix to straight water did lower the temperature a little bit. The straight water still didn’t boil out.

 

[5030]

Interesting about getting the rad recored. Never had either rad out of my M9's, ever. One is a 2002 with 2500 hours on it. The other is a 2004 with 6000 plus hours on it. I run Prestone 50-50 pre mix in both. I'd run straight water with Purple Ice if it didn't get below freezing here but it does, so I don't.

I do keep them clean, they get blown out every day when I come in from the field and at least weekly I use a Radiator Genie with water to clean the rad of any accumulated stuff that might be in there.

Of course I wasn't aware you could recore a radiator with sonic welded on plastic tanks top and bottom but then maybe you can. of you can I sure don't know about it.

 

[5030]

The straight water still didn’t boil out.

It won't because the system is pressurized. Just like a pressure canner, the higher the static pressure is, the higher the boiling point becomes.

 

[dirttoys]

Interesting about getting the rad recored. Never had either rad out of my M9's, ever. One is a 2002 with 2500 hours on it. The other is a 2004 with 6000 plus hours on it. I run Prestone 50-50 pre mix in both. I'd run straight water with Purple Ice if it didn't get below freezing here but it does, so I don't.

I do keep them clean, they get blown out every day when I come in from the field and at least weekly I use a Radiator Genie with water to clean the rad of any accumulated stuff that might be in there.

Of course I wasn't aware you could recore a radiator with sonic welded on plastic tanks top and bottom but then maybe you can. of you can I sure don't know about it.

In an effort to be slightly more agreeable Not sure what can or can't be un-soldered cored and sealed back up, that is why I carefully said cored/replaced. All my older/bigger stuff is so over cooled it can probably work with 40-50% plugged radiator and still be fine. The little/newer stuff seems to fight so hard to save a buck and a pound, that everything is on razors edge. That is not a provable fact, just my observation.

Best,

ed

 

[Midniteoyl]

Company says: Shell Rotella

1. Protection against overheating – Excellent heat transfer properties allow heat to transfer more effectively, protect against freeze and boil-over and help keep engines running cool

willy

Who you gonna believe, Willy, the engineers or marketing?