John Deere 1600 overheating

[AlexKentUk1981]

Hi All

first post! I have a JD 1600 (non turbo) wide area mower and after about 30 minutes of use it overheats and looses all the coolant. Fan seems to run fine, any tips on what to look for? I’m going to try a rad flush and blowing the rad through with compressed air but it looks clean. I keep the radiator cowl free of grass cuttings when in use.
Any help much appreciated.

thanks
Alex

 

[Cougsfan]

My first suggestion would be to check the radiator to see if it is clogged. If it just "looks clean" after blowing it off, it still may not be clean. You need to be able to see light through the radiator's core in all areas of the core. That may not be possible to see when it is mounted on the machine with shrouds and guards in place. You may have to pull the radiator to be able to adequately inspect and clean it. If it is overheating as easily as you suggest, I'd suggest that removing, inspecting and cleaning the radiator is in order. Also keep in mind the thermostat may be stuck (remove it and put it in a pan of hot (180 degree) water to see if it opens. Or it may be the interior (coolant side) of the radiator is clogged. The radiator will be unusually heavy when you take it out if that is the case.

Good luck on identifying your problem.

 

[AlexKentUk1981]

Thanks, my next step is a flush and clean to see what comes out. Will replace thermostat whilst doing this.
Thanks for your help

 

[Cougsfan]

I'd suspect the problem is on the air side before I'd suspect the liquid side. But flushing is easier than removing the radiator, so I don't totally disagree. And check the old thermostat in hot water before replacing it so you can rule it out as the problem rather than guessing.