Deep cleaning the radiator stack on a Lxx60 Grand L?

[Fallon]

I was going to post this a week ago after I did the usual service on my L4060, but got lazy & forgot. Finally getting to it today after nearly overheating the tractor (about 85% on the gauge, enough for the warning light to come on, but not in serious danger of overheating). It was 95 or so today & I was towards the end of a mowing job. I was forced to drop it down from Medium low to low high & for a bit even low low to give the cooling system a chance to catch up. Babying it along let it cool down while still working & finishing up the job. Had similar issues last year when it was pushing 100 or so. Being in Colorado we are down on air to run the engine due to the altitude & I'm guessing that extends to less cooling as well.

Interesting warning sign I've found over the years... AC stops blowing cold air & is just pushing warm air around when it gets around 75-85% on the temp gauge. Usually the sign to circle back around to the truck & do field expedient fixes if I don't end up limping it around to finish off the last 15 minutes or what not. Not clear if its a safety mechanism, the AC just complaining about being plugged up, or radiated heat from the coolant radiator overwhelming the AC.

Field expedient fixes:

1. Shutdown machine, pull & clean 2 screens covering radiator & AC (failing to shutdown generally pulls junk off the screens into the radiator)
2. Blow out all 4 radiators, AC components & 2 oil coolers with a mini-leafblower or compressed air if available

Shop fixes:

1. Blow out the full stack with my good compressed air source
2. Hose out the full stack with a garden hose to wash out packed dirt, dust & junk that won't blow out
3. Straighten out any bent fins

The biggest issue I have is with all the radiators & coolers stacked 2-3 deep is getting them all cleaned out, or even seeing how packed the rear ones are. There are only screens on the AC coils & the engine coolant radiator, but not for any of the hydraulic oil coolers. I spray out the radiator from behind through the fan a bit, but it's super awkward & the fan or shroud is mostly blocking things. The shroud doesn't seem to be terribly convenient to remove. What do others do? Bite the bullet & spend a while disassembling the shroud to hose things off from the back?

 

[MHarryE]

You’re right, it is a bear. I’m not sure if it is design location (Japan or Europe) or size/expense of machine but My designed in Europe M7-171 has a hinged stack. Unhook a latch near the bottom each side of the cooling package and the hydraulic oil cooler/ ATTAC can be swung away enough to get a curved end air wand in between to blow dirt each direction. The screens are help, but they are also air restrictors. Japan is mountainous but do they do much tractor work at elevation? People know they run out of breath in the mountains but do they realize how hard it is for engines to breathe and cool? My L6060 plugged frequently but my M7 rarely has a problem.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Radiator genie

 

[Hay Dude]

Typical garden hose sprayer with stream sprayed directly into fins. Flush for a long long time. I’ll easily run strong water stream through radiators for 15+ minutes to deep clean them.

 

[number two]

I seem to recall foaming radiator/condenser cleaner(CRC?)
Just a thought.

 

[Smokeydog]

Radiator genie

Radiator genie. The tools I use several times a year.

 

[crashz]

On jobs where I'm mowing for a full day, I try to stop and blow the radiator clean with my leaf blower (hand held battery powered Milwaukee). Blows the dust and chaff off of everything. I usually take the rig home and clean (including flushing the radiator with the hose) and grease it before putting it away. i try to blow it off before I leave the job too, but mostly so that I'm not covering traffic behind me with chaff.

Last weekend the tractor was filthy from a job that is pretty wet. The field had standing water, so I was cleaning mud and chaff and left it on the trailer to wash the whole lot at once. From the vantage point I was looking at the rad differently and could see a buildup of gunk in the top 2 inches of the radiator fins. It was like dried moss or something. I flushed from both sides, but I'm not sure I got everything. It did not run hot, as temps were in the 70's, but I think occasional PM will include pulling the shroud and air cleaner assembly and manually cleaning the the fins.

 

[SDT]

I was going to post this a week ago after I did the usual service on my L4060, but got lazy & forgot. Finally getting to it today after nearly overheating the tractor (about 85% on the gauge, enough for the warning light to come on, but not in serious danger of overheating). It was 95 or so today & I was towards the end of a mowing job. I was forced to drop it down from Medium low to low high & for a bit even low low to give the cooling system a chance to catch up. Babying it along let it cool down while still working & finishing up the job. Had similar issues last year when it was pushing 100 or so. Being in Colorado we are down on air to run the engine due to the altitude & I'm guessing that extends to less cooling as well.

Interesting warning sign I've found over the years... AC stops blowing cold air & is just pushing warm air around when it gets around 75-85% on the temp gauge. Usually the sign to circle back around to the truck & do field expedient fixes if I don't end up limping it around to finish off the last 15 minutes or what not. Not clear if its a safety mechanism, the AC just complaining about being plugged up, or radiated heat from the coolant radiator overwhelming the AC.

Field expedient fixes:

1. Shutdown machine, pull & clean 2 screens covering radiator & AC (failing to shutdown generally pulls junk off the screens into the radiator)
2. Blow out all 4 radiators, AC components & 2 oil coolers with a mini-leafblower or compressed air if available

Shop fixes:

1. Blow out the full stack with my good compressed air source
2. Hose out the full stack with a garden hose to wash out packed dirt, dust & junk that won't blow out
3. Straighten out any bent fins

The biggest issue I have is with all the radiators & coolers stacked 2-3 deep is getting them all cleaned out, or even seeing how packed the rear ones are. There are only screens on the AC coils & the engine coolant radiator, but not for any of the hydraulic oil coolers. I spray out the radiator from behind through the fan a bit, but it's super awkward & the fan or shroud is mostly blocking things. The shroud doesn't seem to be terribly convenient to remove. What do others do? Bite the bullet & spend a while disassembling the shroud to hose things off from the back?

I always blow out radiators, grills (and everything else) with compressed air after each use and before return to barn.

No exceptions.

Never any issues.

SDT