b2920 running cold

[taos]

I warm up engine aprox 5 minutes ,(at idle)and then mouve it out of garage and run it at fast idle aprox 1 minute , then drive around back to start working and i notice even after running for aprox 15minutes the temp gauge stays cold,I was wondering if anybody else had the same problem (gauge reads low) i'm supecting thermostat, I will check it later with my non contact thermo gun, oh the temp outside is aprox 20 f or -08 celcius

 

[Thomas]

What the rad. mix..50/50?

 

[taos]

yes the coolant mix is 50% antifreeze and 50 %water

 

[MikeInEburg]

This is not unusual at all. Every diesel tractor that I've used remains cold unless you really work it.

 

[nspec]

Two things....one, kubotas are notoriously overcooled. This is so the hydraulic systems will be cooled properly when working in 90 degree temperatures. Two, those temperature gauges aren't highly accurate. Very common to all kubotas for the temperature gauges to show cold unless worked hard, and even then it won't show as warm as you would think.

 

[V1Rotate]

My BX 1500 does the same thing, even after running the mower the temp gauge stays near the bottom (it does move up a little).
I pointed my infrared heat gun/sensor at the thermostat housing and it read about 160. Some parts of the engine block read about 110 and if I recall, the surface temp of the oil filter was about 110 also. The outside air temp was around 45 or 50.
I will not worry anout this for now, but in the spring I will probably change the thermostat and see what happens.

 

[easygo]

When it is far below freezing (0F / -18C) they need about 15-20 min of running at around 1500 rpm to warm the engine properly. In my experience in real cold temps the hydraulic oil does not warm properly until the machine ran about 30 minutes.

 

[skspurling]

My B2620 warms up to just above the cold mark for regular work. When i mow in the summer, it barely gets to half on the hottest days. And that is after a good half hour of hard mowing.

 

[LBrown59]

This is not unusual at all. Every diesel tractor that I've used remains cold unless you really work it.

Two things....one, kubotas are notoriously overcooled. This is so the hydraulic systems will be cooled properly when working in 90 degree temperatures. Two, those temperature gauges aren't highly accurate. Very common to all kubotas for the temperature gauges to show cold unless worked hard, and even then it won't show as warm as you would think.

My BX 1500 does the same thing, even after running the mower the temp gauge stays near the bottom (it does move up a little).
I pointed my infrared heat gun/sensor at the thermostat housing and it read about 160. Some parts of the engine block read about 110 and if I recall, the surface temp of the oil filter was about 110 also. The outside air temp was around 45 or 50.
I will not worry anout this for now, but in the spring I will probably change the thermostat and see what happens.

What bothers me about this is what if the engine is really overheating but the temperature gage is showing normal or cold?

 

[nspec]

Valid point.

 

[B2400]

If they start getting real warm, they will push anti freeze out of the overflow. The B7100's didn't have a water pump, but utilized the "thermo-flow" principle and had a whistle on the overflow tube!. If you worked it till it whistled, you'd just disengage pto's, drop it to mid rpm and let it cool and then return to working her!!

 

[easygo]

What bothers me about this is what if the engine is really overheating but the temperature gage is showing normal or cold?

It is a reasonable point but sometimes people do post questions about overheating. Those cases seem to show the needle getting mighty close to the red. I think gauges are fairly accurate otherwise they would be all over the place, but it is reported consistently on the just above the cold mark. Mine is like that too, unless I mow flat out with the 72" deck on a hot day. Then it goes close to the 1/3 point.

 

[taos]

I checked today the temp of upper rad hose after running( light load )for 1\2 hour 110 f and lower rad hose 60f also remouved rad cap to see circulation in rad ,none I could see, the gauge hardly mouved up but still in the cold area, it was cold out 10 f or -12celcius, and there was little load (i just went and get a bucket full of firewood) but engine ran the whole time at idle for 5minutes then 1400rpm for 5minutes then up to 2000rpm for 2 minutes then back down to idle for 15 more minutes,in the summer no problem temp rises about 1\4 of the way up to a 1/3

 

[easygo]

Idle speed will hardly warm it up at colder temps. Even if you worked it hard and it did warm to 1/4to1/3 and then you put it back down to idle (800-900rpm) in a few minutes you will see the temp gauge dropping back down. That is just what they do when it's chilly out there. When I cut firewood (winter is best for that) I shut the tractor off while dropping and delimbing a few trees. When I restart the tractor 20-40 min later I always let it run for a couple minutes around 1300-1400 rpm to get the thing warmed properly before I start pulling logs.

 

[taos]

I ran the tractor this morning it was warmer outside aprox 28 f or -3celcius ran it for aprox 1 hour ,did some snow remouval , 3" aprox ,and noticed gauge showed aprox 1\4 inch above cold mark, then let it idle for a few minutes and noticed temp dropped to cold, that rad fan realy cools things down, I supose its normal

 

[devildog1]

It's normal , I remember when I had my BX23TLB and I was using a 48" Bush Hog Squealer cutting about 3 acre's and the temps were upper 80's. It ran cool as a cucumber. as did my B3200TLB and now the Grand L, Kubota cooling system does a find job.
DevilDog

 

[V1Rotate]

What about putting a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator during cold weather? Just big enough so the temp runs in the green zone on the gauge.

 

[taos]

The only thing about putting a piece of cardboard in front of rad is the hydrolics get cooled by a heat exchanger in front of rad (must make sure not to block the air flow for exchanger(cooling pipe in front of rad)

 

[BotaBigot]

Is this new condition, if so, needs investigation...if not, normal...temp gauge for relative not absolute temp.

If problem, usually sticking thermostat, but could be temp sending unit...

 

[SandburRanch]

DO NOT put cardboard in front of a radiator. There is no control to regulate the temperature, you're not a good enough guesser as to size of cardboard and you'll eventually regret it. Just don't ask why I had to change the head gasket on a 65 ford pu when the average high ambient temp. was 12°F.

Before doing anything, check temperatures in and out temps. with a temperature sensing device rather than guessing so you know where you are from square one. For all we know your gauge and sending unit may be calibrated celsius. For those with thermostats, install a Stant Super Stat and correct the temperature problem the right way.

Sure we see the big rigs with louvers and tarp material on the grill. Those are people that just don't know how to fix it right.