Installing A Circulating Heater Pump For Easier Start Up

[ampa]

Hi Guys...I have a ISEKI G174...I bought a 1000 watt heater type pump from NAPA yesterday that I want to plumb into the cooling system...it will circulate the w/antifreeze through the engine block and this is what I want it to do...I'll be piping it from the drain plug to this h/pumps input...but not too sure whether to connect the output to the lower hose or to the small bypass hose..I'd prefer this bypass rather than the lower hose as I don't wish to cut that one....just need it to circulate through the engine block....I don't wish to purchase the proper block heater that fits on the engine block by removin' the frost plug above the starter...I like best this one as it is a circulating type...and it will uniformly heat the w/antifreeze in the engine block....just need some advice to which would be the best bet to hookup the output of this heater to...Thanks in Advance AMPA

 

[ampa]

I really need a response to my question soon...if I use the lower hose for a return.... instructions state that I'll need a saddle which is not included...and this would maybe mean cutting into this exspensive hose.....usin' the bypass from the thermostat housing to the waterpump usin the "Y" connector thats included makes more sense....this tractor is really very hard to start in the cold of winter up here in Ontario Canada...I can't use it next winter without a heater of some sort....if I can't I may as well sell it and buy a brand name GT tractor...Thanks any....AMPA

 

[ampa]

Okay I'll ask this question what size is the bypass hose /lower rad hose/block drain side plug....also need to know if they are standard or metric.....seems to me every bolt and nut on these tractors are in metric...this circulating pump/heater uses a 5/8 heater hose and I would believe the adapters are standard pipe thread......it seems to take long to get answers from this here forum....someone from PER sent me a link to this forum cause no one there even knows what an ISEKI looks like....Thanks in advance......take care....AMPA

 

[cowboy357]

Welcome Ampa , Sorry about Your Wait for info , It is Rather Lonelly in this section . . I Wished I could help But I,m not familiar with very many different models . You Might try to post it in the Parts & Repairs section as well, Seems to be a lot more help there untill Someone else comes around here that might Know . Best of luck. Bob

 

[ampa]

Thanks so much Bob for the reply...my questions just got easier....although I got the Repair manual which reads Bolens on the front cover....but gives me the TX and G models....the cooling system section does not mention hose sizes or the drain plug sizes.... to install this heater it needs a continues loop through the engine block only ... like input/ output so for example I want to connect the input of this unit from the exsisting drain plug on the side of this ISEKI G-174 3 cyl. diesel engine to the highest point which would be the small bypass hose.... this heater/pump is setup to take 5/8 heater hose/connectors e.t.c....I don't have the tractor here with me right now, as it's stored in a nieghbours garage and he comes and goes plus the weather here has not been too good for the last few days...once I get the sizes whether they are standard pipe thread or metric....I can gather up the needed materials to get this job finished as I have a lot of rewiring to do as this tractor only had one working light plus I need to rewire the added winch I installed for the front snow blade therefore leaving the hydraulics for the 3 point only....it worked okay for me but I have to install some type of switches so I won't have to monitor the raising and lowering of this 42" snowblade....AMPA

 

[Tul01]

Hi AMPA, I went and looked at our circulating heater. It was installed by our dealer before we even took our tractor home. It is standard 5/8 heater hose, the input comes off the bottom of the rad and the output is into the side of the block. Both attachements look kind of like a "standard" barbed adapter where the hose pushes on an is hose clamped. Sorry if not much help.
Brent

 

[ampa]

Thanks a whole bunch Brent....this is good news to me as I was gonna' install it the other way around...I read the instructions and it states that the output must fit to a higher sourse of entery into the engine...which means the block drain must be higher in height than the lower hose input, makes perfect sense to me, if you don't mind me askin', does this heater pump of yours help any on starting your tractor in cold weather ?...if the answer is NO then I still have the option of returning mine to NAPA for a full refund, I almost forgot to ask, the connection from the lower rad hose is it some kind of a saddle connection, this is mentioned in the instruction booklet of this h/pump, but is not included in the kit, a pic of the lower rad hose connection, I don't really know what they mean by a saddle, this would be very helpful for me to see if this wouldn't be too much trouble for you Brent ...... thanks ever so much once again and take care...AMPA

 

[Tul01]

I wil have a look tomorrow and try to get a couple of pics. It is fantastic. It makes all the difference. We used to have an air cooled tractor with multiple block heaters and it was always a struggle when it got below -30C. I have the recirc heater on one of those timers where it turns cycles on/off every 3hrs. I unplug it if we are not likely to need it but otherwise I leave it plugged in. I will even leave it plugged in as it gets warmer even though our Montana starts fine and runs well in the cold. Everything just warms up so much quicker I change to light oil for the winter and regular 15w40 for the summer.

Brent

 

[Egon]

[I still have the option of returning mine to NAPA for a full refund, /QUOTE]

It would be much easier to return the circulating heater and install a regular block heater or a lower rad hose in line heater. They will both do the job you require.

 

[ampa]

Hi Egon, yes this is what I was thinkin' but these ISEKI's have shallow blocks so if the block heater I get don't fit, I will have a frost plug to install if I could find one, and the lower rad hose is a bit iffy as well then I'd have a lower rad hose to replace, and at a $100 a shot I can't afford to do this if it don't work, Brent has one and his works okay, I don't intend to butcher the lower rad hose anyhow, someone from here made one up from two automotive type rad hose for the proper bends, there's always a way, I really like the idea of this circulating type heater, as Brent states, his works fine, anyhow thanks kindly for your input I know for the price of this one I could probley buy three block heaters, I guess one could say, a trial and error type installation for me this time round,. take care AMPA

 

[Egon]

In colder climates on larger engines the circulating heaters are quite prevalent. However they usually use fuel for heat and have a small 12 or 24 volt electrical pump run off a battery for circulation.

 

[ampa]

Hi Brent, I removed the whole front end of my tractor, what was odd, I was lookin' for the engine block drain, the only plug I found was a braided hose coming off the side of the block, looked to be around 1/4" then it connects to the bottom of the rad just slightly above where the lower hose fits into the rad, I have no idea why this smaller hose is fed into a spigit, like whats the reason, isit supposed to aid cooling or what ?, anyhow also both hoses are different sizes, like molded this lower is larger to fit waterpump, the other end is smaller to fit rad, same with the top hose, to the thermostat housing is also about the same size as the lower hose that fits the water pump, and then the same size to fit the top rad connection, now I can understand why these hoses cost a $100 each, some or some way I'll have to make something up to tap into the lower portion, without cutting the original exspensive lower hose the top hose can stay original, I still can't figure out that braided hose from the fitting on the left side of the block to the little connection to the bottom of the rad tank, maybe someone can exsplain why it;s there and it;s purpose, anyhow, I want to install this heater/pump to the lower hose and then into the block where this 1/4" braided hose if it must be here the only way to use it is to put in a "Y" connector, this gonna' be a nightmare, but I'll figure out something, the fan belt looks a little bit fraid, is this an A width belt or smaller ?, I may as well change it while it's all apart, anyhow can someone come to my rescue, I really need some assistance, thanks in advance......AMPA

 

[ampa]

Come on guys, I really don't know why this blockdrain connects to the bottom of the rad tank, unless it's there to easily disconnect from the 1/8 in. spigot via the spring clip that holds it on, if this is true then all I need to do is plug the spigot on the bottom rad tank, and use this for the return into the engine block, but if it has a purpose of cooling the engine then I'll need to install a "Y" connector, the repair manual mentions nothing except a block drain on the left side of the engine, any help on this issue much appreiciated, Thanks in advance..........AMPA

 

[Tul01]

Hi AMPA, sorry for the delay I got into a bunch of overtime at work and this morning was my first day off. I took 3 pictures, the first 2 are of where the bottom hose goes into the rad. It is just plumbed in with a brass fitting. The third pic is where the top hose comes out of the heater and goes into the block. The height differential between the 2 would prob be 6". Hope this helps a bit. I see I forgot to take a picture of the overall heater, you can see the top of it in the third pic. It is just bolted vertically beside the block with a piece of plumbers pipe strap. If you need I could try for a couple more photos. Again sorry for the delay.
Brent

 

[ampa]

Thanks ever so much Brent, the engine of your ISEKI is a way different than the engine on my G-174, it would seem like the ISEKI Company, goofed on mine and put the oil filter in the way of the engine drain plug, I went yesterday to a place called FluidLine and I was able to look at every brass connecter they had in bins setup in their show room and they had 100's, so I told the sales guy that I needed to look over and choose a number of brass fittings and if I needed help on finding certain connections to mounting this h/pump of mine, he told me just to look over his stock, and if I needed his help for anything that wasn't displayed was no problem as this is what he was there for, so after spending $ 80 I figured I had everything I needed to install this h/pump of mine but forgot all about the rad connection and went back in and the boss served, and he gave me what I needed no charge, which was a bonus, anyhow I brought all these fittings back home and started to install the first fittings to the block drain, this is where it gets nearly impossible, the fittings except for the 90 degree elbow fit okay, but on the other connections seems the oilfilter was in the way, yours mounts to the side of the block mine has the oilpump externally, I ended up usin' the stainless steel connector that came with the h/pump, with this fitting connected I was able to just clear room for the oilfilter, only because the rubber 5/8 heater hose was soft enough to give a little, but still I might have to add plastic elbows as it's a bit kinked, anyhow I was goin' to take the rad plug out and put a brass fitting for the input and the output of the h/pump into the engine block drain, but after readin' the h/pump instrutions this is *** backwards, now I must take the block drain for the heaterpumps input, and run the output of this heater pump to the cylinder head water jackets, the only thing I can see here is they must mean the small bypass hose from the thermostat housin' that connects to the waterpump, or I could maybe remove the temp sensor switch and put in a brass fitting with two openings, the nicest thing is that all these connections are standard pipe threads and not metric, one other thing was the engine block drain plug had a 1/4 in. braided rubber hose comming from it and connecting to the bottom rad tank, I have no idea what this is for, but I put in the supplied plastic "Y" connector, and connected the 5/8 heater hose to one end and reduced the other end to recieve the 1/4 in. with doing this adds bulkyness to the setup and my h/pump bein' 2 or 3 times larger, has me intalling it outside the engine compartment, which is infront of and below the grill, anyhow when I get finnished and it works proper, anyone that needs to install one can by usin' my work around on this same hard to work on G-174 ISEKI tractor, the pump instruction also mention that the output from the h/pump must be as short as possible so maybe I will have to keep this heater pump inside the engine compartment, but where??? I'll keep you up to date Brent on my progress, I know this is long and winded but I needed to explain my mistakes and many problems ....take care.......Ampa

 

[Tul01]

I know the fun(frustration) your having. The shame of half of these projects is you only do it once. It would be so much simpler once all the kinks are worked out the third or fourth time.

Brent

 

[ampa]

Hi again Brent.....I know it's been quite awhile and I'm not too sure I got back to you....anyhow everything worked out fine...I also installed my mini gauges in the dash... so when I plug in the block heater the new temp gauge shows the exact temp....which means I'm good to go this comming winter...also repainted the tractor a John Green color and rewired the whole 12 volt system including a new ignition switch to one instead of the two....thanks kindly for your support take care....Ampa

 

[yomax4]

The Lower Rad hose is not the end of the world. Easy to install , Inexpensive and plug it in for an hour in -15 weather, It will start right up. If, You have a good battery and glow plugs.

Good Luck!!