Jinma temperature

[rider10099]

I was out brush hogging today it was hot out about 95. I watched the temperature gauge and it hoovered below 100. When I put my 204 away, I noticed steam coming from the radiator overflow. I allowed it to cool and checked and I was down almost a gallon of coolant - questions:
Should it have gotten that hot because of ambiante temperature?
Screen is clean can;t see any restriction and I kept the bucket up - other problems?
thanks
John

 

[TSMART]

One thing I know about my Jinma, the "screen" is worthless. Take a flashlight and shine it THROUGH the radiator. I bet you find a bunch of microscopic crap stuck in there. If the light doesnt shine through, your radiator cant do its job right. Heck I found a bird nest behind the battery!

Here in Florida I regualrly work my Jinma when it is way hot outside.

I read posts on this forum to blow the radiator out with compressed air, I tried that, but the crap stuck in the radiator wouldnt budge. I waited till the engine cooled down, went at it with a garden hose. All the crud stuck in there sorta melted and came out right away. It did not overheat after that.

I threw my screen away. In its place now is blue fiber mesh AC filter cut to size. That cut the crap way down.

My 224 would gain heat slowly as it was worked. No more. Soon as I see the temp start to rise, even on the hottest of days,I check the radiator, which was full of crap every time.

 

[3RRL]

TSMART is right.
It's pretty normal to have slightly elevated temperatures when working in hot weather. However, brush hogging (in particular) is a major contributor to clogging up the radiator. All those fine particles of shredded grass and brush and dirt are sucked into your radiator fins. I too use a garden hose to wash out the cooling fins.
Another thing to look out for is your air filter will also clog up faster for the same reason when brush hogging which will also lead to overheating. Clean that up too.

 

[greg_g]

If you catch the chaff before it's had a chance to get compacted, compressed air from the backside of the radiator can be effective. After that, it takes water to loosen it up. It's pressure washers that should be avoided, due to the potential damage they can inflict on the flimsy aluminum cooling fins. Through either neglect or inexperience, some folks have put off cleaning till the chaff was virtually cemented in. In those cases, the only fix is to remove the radiator and soak it (or replace it).

I also highly recommend adding your own coolant overflow system. I got one of the cheap $10 kits from JC Whitney - works like a champ. I use a comparatively expensive SCA coolant (Final Charge 50/50), and would rather NOT blow that all over the pasture. I was putting in maybe half a gallon every few weeks, now I barely use that much in a year.

//greg//

 

[jaroban]

Greg I have the same problem with overheating and am interested in the product from JC Withney. Can you elaborate?

 

[RonMar]

You can also get geneic catch tanks at Napa, Checker/Schucks/Kragen auto parts. I found one I really like for under $10 at my local Napa. I detailed my installation over at Johns jinma website. AirfilterCoolantRec

 

[greg_g]

Greg I have the same problem with overheating and am interested in the product from JC Withney. Can you elaborate?

Interdynamics OVERFLOW BOTTLE ANTI-FREEZE & COOLANT : JC Whitney: Auto Parts & Accessories

//greg//

 

[jaroban]

I bought one today at Oreilly auto parts for $9.00. It looks to be the same as Ron mar's photo. I will work on the install this weekend.


Ron
I am interested in the screen material in front of your radiator. That would keep alot of crap out of the fins. Where did you get it ? Is it window screen? Did you make a frame for it? Robby

 

[greg_g]

I am interested in the screen material in front of your radiator. That would keep alot of crap out of the fins. Where did you get it ? Is it window screen? Did you make a frame for it?

I buy a coarse HVAC filter at Walmart - usually green or blue. They're stiff, self-supportable (no frame required), can stand up to a hose/pressure washer/air compressor, are cheap (~$7). One Walmart filter makes enough radiator screen for two chinese tractors (which means a spare screen if you only have one tractor)

//greg//

 

[RonMar]

Ron
I am interested in the screen material in front of your radiator. That would keep alot of crap out of the fins. Where did you get it ? Is it window screen? Did you make a frame for it? Robby

Yep, regular aluminum window screen material wrapped around the stock jinma holed filter plate. The grooves that the filter plate slide into in front of the radiator are sloppy enough that it still slides in with 4 layers of aluminum screen material where it is folded along the sides. This will clog quickly though, so you need to keep an eye on it if doing dusty/debri laden work like brushhogging. If does clean easilly with a brush/wisk broom though. I just went out and looked at mine to remember how I folded it and there was quite a lot of debris on it. I thumped it once with my finger and the vibration was enough to shake off half of what was gathered there.

I stood the stock filter plate upright in the middle of a square sheet of aluminum screen. the square I cut was about 10" wider than the plate and a little more than twice the plate height in length. I folded the screen up the front and back, with the back piece folding over the top toward the front. I folded the back sides around the front. The front part of the screen folds inside the rear piece that leaves those two "ears" pointing inward in front. it pretty much has to be aluminum window screen so the folds you put in it take. I don't think nylon screen will hold an edge. I also folded the screen forward away from the radiator so there would be no chance of hte screen rubbing against the radiator fins and tubes.

I had this screen lying around the barn when I bought the place. If I was doing it from scratch, I would give Gregs generic furnace filter medial a try as I bet it is slower to clogg with all the passage surface area. A flat screen has far less surface area. I would probably also cut out most of the inner area of the stock plate to enhance airflow. This holed plate can provide a little protection from sticks/branches that might find their way up under the hood. I pushed a cedar branch up under the hood and straight into the alternator pully/fan. It jammed in there just right and straightened out all the pully blower fins before jamming and throwing the belt. I didn't see it and the alternator light comming on was my first clue that something was amiss... The stock plate might keep something like that from damaging the radiator, but it does block a considerable ammount of airflow.

 

[robert421960]

One thing I know about my Jinma, the "screen" is worthless. Take a flashlight and shine it THROUGH the radiator. I bet you find a bunch of microscopic crap stuck in there. If the light doesnt shine through, your radiator cant do its job right. Heck I found a bird nest behind the battery!

Here in Florida I regualrly work my Jinma when it is way hot outside.

I read posts on this forum to blow the radiator out with compressed air, I tried that, but the crap stuck in the radiator wouldnt budge. I waited till the engine cooled down, went at it with a garden hose. All the crud stuck in there sorta melted and came out right away. It did not overheat after that.

I threw my screen away. In its place now is blue fiber mesh AC filter cut to size. That cut the crap way down.

My 224 would gain heat slowly as it was worked. No more. Soon as I see the temp start to rise, even on the hottest of days,I check the radiator, which was full of crap every time.

the screen works well for me
it keeps all the big stuff off the radiator
i think they are a good screen
just like the one on the kubota at work

 

[jswisc]

I finally moved my battery location from in front of the radiator to the front of the tractor where weights would be placed. I have a Jinma 204 with 450 hrs. Yesterday was the first time brushhogging since the change. What a difference. Ran 5 degrees cooler the whole time. In the past the temp seemed to build like others have said and then the tractor would burp antifreeze. Yesterday nothing. Temp was steady and no burps. Ouside temps were mid 90's so it was a good test.

 

[greg_g]

I finally moved my battery location ....

Two other things you can do to help even more: adjust the fan shroud, remote the air intake.
I've seen some Jinmas where there was a gap between the fan and the shroud. It should be adjusted to where at least the leading edges of the fan blades are INSIDE the shroud circumference. The shroud itself has some lateral adjustment, the radiator can be moved fore and aft slightly on its mounts.

Having the air filter housing up front blocks some airflow too, but more disruptive is the vacuum. It creates a turbulence in front of the radiator that can affect air flow. I bought five feet of 2" ag type suction hose (so it wouldn't collapse from suction). I cut off 3 feet and put one end over the filter housing air intake (you might have to rotate the housing on its bracket to accomplish this). Then ran the other end through a fuel tank holding strap. It then sucked in fresh air from down around my left shin. But in the winter time, this can cause the engine to run too cold. So then I replace the 3' section with the 2' section, and run it on the other side of the engine - over the exhaust manifold.

//greg//

 

[jaroban]

Looked at John痴 site there was an insert about nylon and duct tape. I did just that. We will see, I have a full weekend of brush cutting .I also installed an overflow for the radiator. I will put her to the test. Thanks for all the input , Robby

 

[jaroban]

I put it to the test. I installed an overflow and some window screen on the front of the rock gaurd. I brush cut for at least 8 hours.The outside temp was 98f and the motor stayed around 80c . I would call that good. Thanks for all the input, Robby

 

[RonMar]

I put it to the test. I installed an overflow and some window screen on the front of the rock gaurd. I brush cut for at least 8 hours.The outside temp was 98f and the motor stayed around 80c . I would call that good. Thanks for all the input, Robby

The window screen will still pass some fine dust thru to the radiator. To deal with this I made up a air blow gun extension using a piece of aluminum arrow shafting. If you don't shoot, you can get single arows at places like wallmart. Most mass produced aluminum arrows have a forged end that the knock glues to back by the feathers/fletching. If you break off the plastic knock with a pair of pliars, you are left with a smooth rounded point. Just above this point on the side of the shaft I drill a 1/8" diameter holein the side perpendicular to the shaft. I also shave off the feathers with a razor blade. I cut off the other end of the shaft long enough to easilly reach diagonally across the face of the radiator. The arrow I chose was large enough to just slip over a 4" screw in aluminum blowgun extension pipe. I epoxied these 2 pipes together. This gives me a 24+" blowgun that shoots at a 90 degree angle and has a smooth pointed tip.

At the top rear corners of the radiator on my Jinma where the shroud is connected are small gaps just large enough to insert this blowgun pipe into. From these 2 holes I can reach the entire rear face of the radiator with the tip of hte pipe, and blow air forward thru the air passages. Even with 2+ layers of screen, I still manage to blow out quite a bit of dust from the air passages at maintenance time.