Coolant temp gauge on JD 5310

bnew17 · Oct 12, 2020

When I bought my tractor last week the seller told me everything was perfect on the tractor Except the piece that controls the Coolant temp sensor needed to be replaced. When i was looking at the tractor he had me put my hand on the side of the motor to feel it was not hot. He then cranked up the tractor and the gauge immediately went far right in the red. He said he had not replaced it yet and had just got the part, which he gave me. I replaced the part today and cranked up the tractor and the gauge went about 3/4. After a few minutes it gradually kept creeping until it got in the red, at which time I cut the tractor off. I dont know anything about tractors, but it seems there must be something else bad, maybe the actual gauge, or the wiring??? I dont think it would be possible for it to register that hot in such short period of time. Thoughts?

Roadworthy · Oct 12, 2020

If the piece you replaced screwed into the block it probably IS the temperature sensor. Its resistance changes with temperature and the change in resistance is read as temperature on the gauge. The sensor could be incorrect for your tractor or the gauge itself could be defective. It is also possible (though unlikely) the voltage supplying the gauge is incorrect. You can purchase and install the correct temperature sensor for your tractor and hope that is the problem - the wrong sensor. From there you can proceed to real troubleshooting but that's pretty slow when shooting messages back and forth.

bnew17 · Oct 12, 2020

The temp sensor he gave me was packaged in a john deere package from a dealer i assume. I guess it is possible they gave him the wrong part. I will double check

TractorGuy · Oct 12, 2020

The instrument panels are known for going bad.

I installed generic gauges on my 4310.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...29514-installed-generic-gauges-4310-long.html

bnew17 · Oct 12, 2020

This is probably a silly question, but when you replace the instrument panel. What happens to the hours? Do they transfer Over so to speak? I hope its not too hard of a fix..I obviously am not experienced enough to do it. I will have to find somebody.

TractorGuy · Oct 12, 2020

The hours on the new panel start at zero. An honest person will note the hours it was replaced somewhere evident.

One reason I decided to adapt generic gauges was to retain my original hours. The other was I didn't want to spend $900 for an instrument panel that was known to be a failure point. Everything on mine still works as it should except the fuel gauge and temp gauge. On mine it had to be an intermittent short to ground somewhere because they both worked sometimes but got to the point they mostly went to full on the fuel gauge and full hot on the temp gauge. I tested the temperature sensor and replaced the fuel tank sending unit so I knew those were good.

Before I decided to fix it I read the temperature at the thermostat housing with an infrared temperature gauge to verify it wasn't overheating. Sometimes as I worked the gauge would come back to normal. The fuel gauge was no big deal but I couldn't bring myself to keep running it without a working temp gauge.

After adapting the generic gauges I unplugged the other sensors so the dash gauges stay on empty and cold. The new gauges are sitting right in my line of sight so I am always conscious of them.

Roadworthy · Oct 13, 2020

I had a Mitsubishi tractor. It had an over temp light which told me it was overheating - nothing more, obviously. I got a mechanical temp gauge like you would for a car. I mounted my new gauge and screwed the sensor in where the indicator light had been. I left everything else alone, just mounted the gauge. I could then observe the temp any time I wanted. Since it was a mechanical gauge it even indicated when the key was off.

bnew17 · Oct 13, 2020

Roadworthy said:
I had a Mitsubishi tractor. It had an over temp light which told me it was overheating - nothing more, obviously. I got a mechanical temp gauge like you would for a car. I mounted my new gauge and screwed the sensor in where the indicator light had been. I left everything else alone, just mounted the gauge. I could then observe the temp any time I wanted. Since it was a mechanical gauge it even indicated when the key was off.

How much did that part cost?

JD5210 · Oct 14, 2020

You might consider getting the tech manuals $29.95 from selectmanuals.com.

If you did not get an owners manual here is an online link and a 540 loader owners manual
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMRE71736_19/
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMW44993_19/

Temperature sender is a variable resistor that responds to changes in coolant temperature. Low coolant temperatures cause high resistance. High temperatures cause low resistance.

Using an ohm meter you can test the sender and using some resistors you can test the gauge. The following is from the tech manual

60ｰC (140ｰF) 134 ｱ 13.5 ohms 90ｰC (194ｰF) 51.2 ｱ 4.3 ohms 100ｰC (212ｰF) 38.5 ｱ 3.0 ohms

If you get a new cluster (which is not cheap) make sure it is setup for 3cyl. Last time I looked it came programmed for 4cyl. You might get the dealership to program it for 3cyl, so you do not need to buy the programming kit. Not hard to put in, just the following the instructions and note there is a simple wiring change at the key that is needed. The new cluster the needles do go all the to the right and back again.

On changing the fuel filter. Follow the manual just add these to steps; 1) Make sure the tank is full; 2) Fill the fuel filter up before putting on. I do this and I have never had to bleed the tractor to get it started.

bnew17 · Oct 14, 2020

JD5210 said:
You might consider getting the tech manuals $29.95 from selectmanuals.com.

If you did not get an owners manual here is an online link and a 540 loader owners manual
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMRE71736_19/
http://manuals.deere.com/omview/OMW44993_19/

Temperature sender is a variable resistor that responds to changes in coolant temperature. Low coolant temperatures cause high resistance. High temperatures cause low resistance.

Using an ohm meter you can test the sender and using some resistors you can test the gauge. The following is from the tech manual

60ｰC (140ｰF) 134 ｱ 13.5 ohms 90ｰC (194ｰF) 51.2 ｱ 4.3 ohms 100ｰC (212ｰF) 38.5 ｱ 3.0 ohms

If you get a new cluster (which is not cheap) make sure it is setup for 3cyl. Last time I looked it came programmed for 4cyl. You might get the dealership to program it for 3cyl, so you do not need to buy the programming kit. Not hard to put in, just the following the instructions and note there is a simple wiring change at the key that is needed. The new cluster the needles do go all the to the right and back again.

On changing the fuel filter. Follow the manual just add these to steps; 1) Make sure the tank is full; 2) Fill the fuel filter up before putting on. I do this and I have never had to bleed the tractor to get it started.