1705 antifreeze question

[weeder]

Bought a used 1705 in July checked my antifreeze today to see how low my temp on my antifreeze checker said, and it said +10 degrees. And the radiator is full should I run it a bit and recheck or go ahead and drain some out and add more anti-freeze to get it down to -10 or-20 for the winter? I live in central Illinois, and it does get pretty cold sometimes with the wind chill. The tractor will be garage kept but I was worried about out in the weather pushing snow.

 

[Peter 315]

I would just flush and refill with a 50/50 mix. But you could drain some out and add straight antifreeze.

 

[JWR]

All sorts of options.

First, wind chill is one of my pet peeves: We all know it feels colder with wind. Most of the public is misinformed, off quoting all kinds of nonsense about how cold they heard it was, etc. mixing numbers because the TV stations use wind chill and "feels like" to create something that sounds more exciting. It sells TV watching better. I'd be happy if they were prohibited from quoting wind chill numbers and EVERYONE would be better off.

In your case, for the innards of a tractor cooling system, wind chill is irrelevant and has no meaning. No wind inside your radiator. But that said, you guys in central Ill. sometimes (not a lot) get zero and subzero real thermometer temperatures, right? If you can rely on it being in the garage overnight all winter you probably do not need to do anything -- that is unless you think it is going below 10 deg in your garage. Of course Peter is right in suggesting the overall standard recommendation for the entire country -- flush and refill with 50/50 -- which gives you a 34 below freezing point. By the way, once the tractor is warmed up some there is no danger of the coolant freezing, though it possibly could in VERY extreme cold in the radiator because the thermostat might be closed for a while not circulating into the radiator.
I see nothing in the world wrong with removing a quart or so of your coolant and refilling with 100% antifreeze. That will lower your freezing point several degrees and you'd be fine for the winter because of your situation using the garage. You may even have a little heat in the garage in the most severe weather? Obviously draining a lot more and replacing with 100% antifreeze will give you more margin until you reach the 50/50. Watch out as they are selling 50/50 mix in jugs these days.

Probably the practical question is "When was the antifreeze last changed and should it be flushed and refilled anyway?" If it is old (and it probably is because no one is going to flush it and fill it to only have a +10 freezing point) then Peter is right and the best answer is just have it over with -- flush and refill.

But this whole thought process raises what MAY be a more important question: Why did prior owners have the cooling system apart, put in a bunch of water and then only enough antifreeze to give +10 freezing point? I would press that question hard with the previous owner first.

 

[RjCorazza]

I would also just drain and refill to 50/50. In the garage is where a freezing problem may exist. Out plowing snow would be a non issue.

 

[weeder]

All sorts of options.

First, wind chill is one of my pet peeves: We all know it feels colder with wind. Most of the public is misinformed, off quoting all kinds of nonsense about how cold they heard it was, etc. mixing numbers because the TV stations use wind chill and "feels like" to create something that sounds more exciting. It sells TV watching better. I'd be happy if they were prohibited from quoting wind chill numbers and EVERYONE would be better off.

In your case, for the innards of a tractor cooling system, wind chill is irrelevant and has no meaning. No wind inside your radiator. But that said, you guys in central Ill. sometimes (not a lot) get zero and subzero real thermometer temperatures, right? If you can rely on it being in the garage overnight all winter you probably do not need to do anything -- that is unless you think it is going below 10 deg in your garage. Of course Peter is right in suggesting the overall standard recommendation for the entire country -- flush and refill with 50/50 -- which gives you a 34 below freezing point. By the way, once the tractor is warmed up some there is no danger of the coolant freezing, though it possibly could in VERY extreme cold in the radiator because the thermostat might be closed for a while not circulating into the radiator.
I see nothing in the world wrong with removing a quart or so of your coolant and refilling with 100% antifreeze. That will lower your freezing point several degrees and you'd be fine for the winter because of your situation using the garage. You may even have a little heat in the garage in the most severe weather? Obviously draining a lot more and replacing with 100% antifreeze will give you more margin until you reach the 50/50. Watch out as they are selling 50/50 mix in jugs these days.

Probably the practical question is "When was the antifreeze last changed and should it be flushed and refilled anyway?" If it is old (and it probably is because no one is going to flush it and fill it to only have a +10 freezing point) then Peter is right and the best answer is just have it over with -- flush and refill.

But this whole thought process raises what MAY be a more important question: Why did prior owners have the cooling system apart, put in a bunch of water and then only enough antifreeze to give +10 freezing point? I would press that question hard with the previous owner first.

Well, I did contact the old owner on why the antifreeze was +10 degrees and he said that his plastic reserve tank developed a crack and a lot leaked out. So, he bought another plastic tank and just refilled the radiator with water. He also said the tractor was always kept in a heated shed and it does have a block heater on the engine which I noticed when I bought the tractor.

 

[Robin Veerman]

and it does have a block heater on the engine

A block heater isn’t meant to prevent coolant from freezing….

 

[JWR]

and it does have a block heater on the engine

A block heater isn’t meant to prevent coolant from freezing….

Why not? It is meant to make the engine easy to start in very cold weather but a block heater will heat the coolant inside the block which by conduction heats everything it is in contact with. Coolant is prevented from freezing though that may not be the primary intent of the block heater. Coolant far enough away from the block (like out in the radiator) could still potentially freeze if not a high enough % antifreeze of course. I always liked the circulation type heaters that pulse warm coolant through the radiator and the block and the entire circuit. A reason to prefer circulation type over the block heaters.

 

[Dmacleo]

and it does have a block heater on the engine

A block heater isn’t meant to prevent coolant from freezing….

GC series block heater can take coolant from 0 to approx 50 deg in 1 hour. internals of radiator also warmed. GC series radiator is rear of engine (front of steering orbital valve) so easily gains heat from the block itself as well as the coolant warm up circuit of thermostat housing the iseki engines use.
can feel the heat on upper/lower/bypass hose and rad fins by hand after 1 hour plus temp guage is 1/8 way up.
and the point and shoot thermometer also used.

can't leave it plugged in all night as is not temp controlled, either plugged in and on or unplugged and off.

 

[DMW]

Bought a used 1705 in July checked my antifreeze today to see how low my temp on my antifreeze checker said, and it said +10 degrees. And the radiator is full should I run it a bit and recheck or go ahead and drain some out and add more anti-freeze to get it down to -10 or-20 for the winter? I live in central Illinois, and it does get pretty cold sometimes with the wind chill. The tractor will be garage kept but I was worried about out in the weather pushing snow.

Check the owners manual. Probably several years past the recommended change interval. It is the easiest service to do on a GC, and most overlooked.

 

[Langanobob]

As a general principle, when I buy a used machine I go through and change all the fluids. That way there is no question about what or when it was changed. It’s also a ritual that goes toward making a new to me machine my machine.