Snow L2650 - belt snow/stop on freezing day today.

[SouthernSky]

I was box blading my driveway for the first time in 30 years with this freeze. After about an hour I heard noise from the engine and saw a puff of smoke out the left side and an eerie belt noise.

I shut it down right away and inspected it. I could turn the radiator fan manually so it isn’t a stuck fan. A few minutes later I started the tractor again and couldn’t get the sound or the belt to replicate its previous actions nor could find any obstructions like a stick.

Any thoughts? I don’t have any icy weather experience with the tractor. Water pump? Like I said, it was working for an hour just fine.

 

[RjCorazza]

I'm not a mechanic, and not familiar with your tractor model...
Are you sure the fan should be able to be spun by hand? Non clutched fans are basically an extension of the crankshaft, and would require that you turn the engine over to rotate the fan.

How is the belt condition? Present? Proper tension? Damaged?

 

[BeezFun]

You might have gotten a piece of ice or snow in the engine compartment, and it ended up hitting the fan or a belt. If you put your tractor away with snow on it, the engine heat can melt the snow and it runs down into every nook and cranny until it freezes. Then you start the tractor next time, it melts and could end up anywhere. Ice can also grow on the inside of the wheels until it gets big enough to hit the tie rod or gear case, that can make some crazy noise.

 

[SouthernSky]

I’m thinking something got caught in it and when I killed the engine it fell. The belt is tight but I can move the fan (not the crank) with a little force with the engine off. I checked it out and all seems okay in the shop. I thought for a minute it came from a frozen alternator.

I’ll try it again tomorrow in the snow. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[SouthernSky]

It’s turns out the bearings where the fan bolt passes through front guide to the fan had worn away. The noise was the plastic fan hitting the plastic shroud. $206 for the pats from Coleman’s.

Thanks everyone.