BX-24 Cooling w/ hood open

[LBrown59]

It could have something to do with the title of this thread?

YA Think !

 

[radioman]

The question could be objectively evaluated with an infrared camera. But I just ain't that curious. I *want* air flowing through the entire engine compartment.

After hard mowing I idle down for 5 minutes, then open the hood after shut down. Lets heat out and reminds me to check the oil next time I start up.

If BX's have a heat management issue, it is the hydraulics. No oil cooler. The hydro consistently runs 90-100 degrees (F) above ambient. Attached image is after trenching (BH) on a 90 degree day.

that is so cool of a pic. perhaps you could take before and after pics of hood closed and opened ?

 

[radioman]

I agree with the thought that an external cooling coil (see the Surplus link) placed on the return line to the tank would go a long way to helping things out.

For about $120 bucks (for the unit, hoses, some 12v computer fans and some couplers), I plan on building one of these at some point to help out this problem. I am not sure how much it will help, but I have burned myself leaning against a ram by accident after heavy use.

good idea. I wonder if we can utilize that excess heat in the wintertime ? having a radiator under the seat or behind the legs hooked up to the power beyond in back of BX24 certainly would help to make no cab more bearable! during the summer, The hoses can be connected back to normal or secondary radiator in another location to put heat in different spot?

Any thoughts on this other then the cons of having two oil radaitors ?

 

[mozark]

The BX2350 suffers from the same problem, mowing hard on a hot day the engine will run +15 to +20 degrees higher than it will on a cool day, verified with an infrared thermometer aimed at thermostat housing. Running with the hood open or by removing the skirt around the engine will lower the engine temperature pretty much back to normal. I'm sorry guys, but a properly designed cooling system (including air circulation) for any engine should not allow the engine temperature to vary that much above the normal operating temperature. The only reason I can see for running with the hood closed is that you lose the pre-filtering of the intake air thru the battery compartment. Myself, I prefer to run without the skirt.

As a test, take your hand and feel the air flow coming out of the vents on the sides, front and bottom of the skirt, then remove the skirt and feel the air flow the fan is actually generating, I know its not very scientific, but it feels like a significant difference. Looks to me that there is a lot of restriction to air flow past the alternator, air filter, fuel injection pump, thermostat/radiator hose when the skirt is on. I am actually considering cutting vents toward the back of the skirt, and maybe the hood, if I can come up with a way of doing it that looks nice, otherwise I'll run without the skirt until the temps cool down.

 

[ampsucker]

that is a good thermal image. very interesting!

although from the scale, it does appear the fluid temp is well below 180. unless the scale is not correct for some reason?

i would think hydraulic fluid in a non pressurized transfer case is much like engine oil. it is designed to get hot enough to drive off any condensation or moisture and shouldn't be allowed to get too hot.

amp

 

[radioman]

The BX2350 suffers from the same problem, mowing hard on a hot day the engine will run +15 to +20 degrees higher than it will on a cool day, verified with an infrared thermometer aimed at thermostat housing. Running with the hood open or by removing the skirt around the engine will lower the engine temperature pretty much back to normal. I'm sorry guys, but a properly designed cooling system (including air circulation) for any engine should not allow the engine temperature to vary that much above the normal operating temperature. The only reason I can see for running with the hood closed is that you lose the pre-filtering of the intake air thru the battery compartment. Myself, I prefer to run without the skirt.

As a test, take your hand and feel the air flow coming out of the vents on the sides, front and bottom of the skirt, then remove the skirt and feel the air flow the fan is actually generating, I know its not very scientific, but it feels like a significant difference. Looks to me that there is a lot of restriction to air flow past the alternator, air filter, fuel injection pump, thermostat/radiator hose when the skirt is on. I am actually considering cutting vents toward the back of the skirt, and maybe the hood, if I can come up with a way of doing it that looks nice, otherwise I'll run without the skirt until the temps cool down.

Which skirt are you referring to ? underneath the hood ?

 

[nostep]

If you wear long sleeves and gloves you won't burn yourself on the hot cylinder

Otherwise, the hydraulics needs a cooler. Opening the hood may not help that much. Those few pics of hydraulics coolers above would be a good idea, but not so good for the winter (if it gets cold by you). Think of an electric fan that you can disable in the winter and a way to keep air from passing over the cooler. Otherwise a cooler on the return side is probably your best bet. The bigger the better too . . .

 

[ampsucker]

radioman, my bx does the same thing when mowing on a hot day.

i have been under the impression from other threads that this is not so much a design flaw as having to do with the placement of the thermostat pickup. i guess you could consider that a design flaw? the point being, other folks have determined (not sure how) that the engine is not actually over heating the coolant, but that the thermostat pickup is registering the hotter fluid near the cylinders that is affected more by working the engine hard.

maybe the water pump doesn't circulate fast enough or the thermostat is of poor design?

i guess the definitive test would be to see if the fluid at the radiator return is also overheated above spec. anybody with a capillary tube thermometer or thermocouple willing to rig up a test unit and compare the two temps?

as for the hydraulic temp being too hot, isn't finding out about this just as easy as sticking a thermocouple down into the fill hole of the HST reservoir to see how hot it's getting when working the BH hard? as far as cooling, doesn't the HST fan provide some cooling of the entire transfer case?

i am liking the idea of rigging up a hydraulic seat heater for this winter. if it wasn't for that pesky risk of 1850 psi ripping through my backside, i would be all for it! as it is, i would think T'ing into the 15 psi radiator cooling system with a shutoff valve would be safer and cheaper than trying to run high pressure hydraulic hose. ;-)

amp

 

[bx24]

If you wear long sleeves and gloves you won't burn yourself on the hot cylinder

Otherwise, the hydraulics needs a cooler. Opening the hood may not help that much. Those few pics of hydraulics coolers above would be a good idea, but not so good for the winter (if it gets cold by you). Think of an electric fan that you can disable in the winter and a way to keep air from passing over the cooler. Otherwise a cooler on the return side is probably your best bet. The bigger the better too . . .

When I get around to building one, I plan to simply "quick hydraulic coupler" the cooler on the return circuit by the BH in the summer, and as you pointed out, probably would not need to use it in the winter. I wonder if this type of cooler would negate any negatives if/when the drive shaft fan blade on the belly was to be damaged (as is very prone for the BX24s to do). I would think cooling the fluid directly would take care of this by default

 

[rdsaustintx]

When I get around to building one, I plan to simply "quick hydraulic coupler" the cooler on the return circuit by the BH

That sounds like a really good idea.