MF1250 coolant/circulation issue help

[JWR]

that this one? the ZJERYL GULL 18pcs
I have saved in list to purchase

Amazon.com

That looks almost identical to the one I suggested. Different brand. The one I bought bought back in December 2022 had 4 chrome "radiator cap substitutes" in the kit and these now only show 3. A couple of hours ago Amazon said the one I got last December was no longer available and that's why I substituted the one I showed a picture of. So these newer kits lean more toward the "fit inside the radiator neck" style adapters (which no doubt work OK too) but I was real pleased that one of the adapters that screwed on looking like a radiator cap but with a vent on top fit mine.

 

[JWR]

Local Advanced Auto has a tester I'll grab tomorrow. Basically you buy it then get a refund when you bring it back. Theirs is a ridiculous $270 though lol

Dear lord do not spend that kind of money for one.

 

[Egon]

If’n you want to do a pressure test do the cylinder compression.

Otherwise just pull the head for starters. Gasket leak or cracked block leak.

 

[MF231owner]

Dear lord do not spend that kind of money for one.

Got the pressure tester and my radiator has a leak. I noticed some corrosion at the spot but never any moisture but by 5 PSI she was spraying. I'm not super mechanical but I assume this would account for all the symptoms and take care of things?

One dealer told me it was discontinued and he couldn't get one. Another pulled it up by serial number and said MF did offer them and quoted me $820 plus tax.

Anyone have a cheaper source?

 

[MF231owner]

Pic:

 

[Dmacleo]

overheat conceivably could cause hard rotation due to heat expansion, combine with older battery its POSSIBLE the leak is only issue and causing all symptoms but.....
now you have had, for all intents and purposes, a seized engine. keep a very close eye on stuff.

any radiator shops nearby? can take to them to fix/recondition.

 

[MF231owner]

Leak is at the seam where you can see the brass on the edge. Inside doesn't look great.

Radiator repair shop said $60+ for a repair up to $400 for a recore. Not sure I should even try.

 

[JWR]

Yeah, you have sort of a mess there but not terrible, yet anyway. I'd certainly get the radiator repaired if the shop can do it. Probably can. If you end up having to replace the radiator, do some searching on Amazon . Also eBay, etc. For example on Amazon I do not find an immediate replacement for the MF 1250. The companies (for ex. Kumar Bros USA) selling on Amazon for old Fords etc. may very well sell them for your MF 1250 and could be contacted to ask via a Google search on the company name. Another source might be a tractor salvage yard (suggest call Wengers of Myerstown PA and see if they have one OR can give a lead on where to find one. They are VERY good and usually helpful.)

In your travels hunting stuff beware that there was another MF 1250 which was a huge machine (bends in the middle) and NOT a compact so don't get off on a wrong path there.

There are some larger questions. 1) Why was the coolant rising and coming up out of the radiator when the motor ran? That MIGHT be a totally plugged radiator not letting fluid through it. OR it might be compression getting into the coolant from a blown head gasket or even a cracked head or block. One thing at a time -- let's not assume a disaster yet. 2) What was causing the engine not to turn over? Was the battery OK? Could be water lock or some other issue. Until you get a good radiator back on it you cannot run a pressure test to look for blown head gaskets or worse ... so... as EGON said, do a compression test on the cylinders and that can be done in parallel with the radiator chasing. If it needs a head gasket there is no way around that...

How much of this stuff can you do yourself? Competently I must ask? If you are leery of tackling replacing the radiator and running compression tests yourself, I suggest this sequence
1) resolve the radiator issue getting it repaired for $60 or finding a replacement.
2) Find a general tractor repair shop. Even a truck/car general repair shop. Get them to do whatever you are not comfortable doing.
You have the $1000 refund to put towards the work. You MIGHT luck out and not have to put a whole lot more into it.

Did the dealer who sold it to you have any info at all on the tractor ?

 

[MF231owner]

Yeah, you have sort of a mess there but not terrible, yet anyway. I'd certainly get the radiator repaired if the shop can do it. Probably can. If you end up having to replace the radiator, do some searching on Amazon . Also eBay, etc. For example on Amazon I do not find an immediate replacement for the MF 1250. The companies (for ex. Kumar Bros USA) selling on Amazon for old Fords etc. may very well sell them for your MF 1250 and could be contacted to ask via a Google search on the company name. Another source might be a tractor salvage yard (suggest call Wengers of Myerstown PA and see if they have one OR can give a lead on where to find one. They are VERY good and usually helpful.)

In your travels hunting stuff beware that there was another MF 1250 which was a huge machine (bends in the middle) and NOT a compact so don't get off on a wrong path there.

There are some larger questions. 1) Why was the coolant rising and coming up out of the radiator when the motor ran? That MIGHT be a totally plugged radiator not letting fluid through it. OR it might be compression getting into the coolant from a blown head gasket or even a cracked head or block. One thing at a time -- let's not assume a disaster yet. 2) What was causing the engine not to turn over? Was the battery OK? Could be water lock or some other issue. Until you get a good radiator back on it you cannot run a pressure test to look for blown head gaskets or worse ... so... as EGON said, do a compression test on the cylinders and that can be done in parallel with the radiator chasing. If it needs a head gasket there is no way around that...

How much of this stuff can you do yourself? Competently I must ask? If you are leery of tackling replacing the radiator and running compression tests yourself, I suggest this sequence
1) resolve the radiator issue getting it repaired for $60 or finding a replacement.
2) Find a general tractor repair shop. Even a truck/car general repair shop. Get them to do whatever you are not comfortable doing.
You have the $1000 refund to put towards the work. You MIGHT luck out and not have to put a whole lot more into it.

Did the dealer who sold it to you have any info at all on the trrecord.

I can swap a radiator easy enough, probably a water pump, but not sure I'm confident enough to try a head gasket. I think I'll run to the radiator shop next week and have them look at it.

The engine not turning over was a single time. For a few hours. It didn't even try to crank when it did that. I was curious if it had a shut of that killed it to stop from damaging itself. I've had it running at least 6-8 times since then.

The tractor was traded in by someone the dealer was familiar with. They had done maintenance on it and even converted the bucket and a set of pallet forks to a John Deere type quick disconnect. I'm really hoping that it isn't major.

I assume if the radiator repair ship takes the job in addition to repairing the leak they'll be able to ensure there's nothing internal clogging things up.

 

[JWR]

Probably a reasonable approach. Might call the refusal of the engine to turn some kind of one-time fluke. Still unexplained. If it is important it will show up again.

Once the radiator issue is taken care of, they (or you) can run the pressure test (cooling system full, engine not running) and see if it will hold pressure for a long time (hour or more at 12 to 15 psi above ambient.) If it holds you know you don't have a blown head gasket, cracked head or related ailments.
Remember there is the unexplained puzzle of the coolant rising up out of the radiator. I'm thinking it will fail the pressure test (with a good radiator in place) -- it would do that of course if you have a blown head gasket. But with luck the entire problem was a badly plugged up radiator. I'd be amazed if that is all it was.
You are thinking the 'radiator shop' may have enough general mechanic knowledge to debug the whole issue?

[I'm sorry I have no idea where you are or what assets are there or your circumstance. Are you in a position to haul the tractor to a shop like the radiator shop? ]

 

[MF231owner]

Probably a reasonable approach. Might call the refusal of the engine to turn some kind of one-time fluke. Still unexplained. If it is important it will show up again.

Once the radiator issue is taken care of, they (or you) can run the pressure test (cooling system full, engine not running) and see if it will hold pressure for a long time (hour or more at 12 to 15 psi above ambient.) If it holds you know you don't have a blown head gasket, cracked head or related ailments.
Remember there is the unexplained puzzle of the coolant rising up out of the radiator. I'm thinking it will fail the pressure test (with a good radiator in place) -- it would do that of course if you have a blown head gasket. But with luck the entire problem was a badly plugged up radiator. I'd be amazed if that is all it was.
You are thinking the 'radiator shop' may have enough general mechanic knowledge to debug the whole issue?

[I'm sorry I have no idea where you are or what assets are there or your circumstance. Are you in a position to haul the tractor to a shop like the radiator shop? ]

One step at a time a guess. I'll try to repair the radiator if not I'll replace it.

If that doesn't solve the issues we can go from there. Anything I can't do I can trailer to have done.

 

[alexpops]

I'm assuming your belt tension is good? My CAT started over heating due to a bad alternator bearing that would loosen the belt as it heated up so the fan & water pump weren't spinning properly due to belt slippage after running a while. As bad as your coolant was, you could have some blocked water jackets too. maybe the prior owner mixed coolant types & that can gum things up when they react to each other or used the wrong coolant type/left flush in the system without draining/rinsing & the metals are being eaten away due to the wrong protection package. I'd change the oil, (check the initial drips from the plug & the drain pan to make sure there's no coolant in the oil), flush & drain the system with a really good rinse, get the rad repaired, check the thermostat/water pump while the rad is out, run the pressure test & run a compression test on each cylinder. (Harbor Freight tester is good enough at this stage) you just want to see similar results across cylinders and have the actual reading close to spec. If no coolant in the oil AND the pressure/compression test is ok, and it does it again with a new rad/thermostat/waterpump (depending on what they look like), & the right type of coolant, you may need to have the engine torn down & rebuilt to clean out all the water passages. Any corrosion visible around the freeze plugs? before finding the leak, did you notice, is she running rougher since you overheated her?

 

[jgmo]

I've been a mechanic for decades. I know you're not me but I would measure the radiator and try to find something that will fit.
Height-width-depth and spout location.
Amazon sells them that way.

It will take some brain power but you can do it. That little tractor doesn't need anything fancy.

Here's a bit of info you should apply....

Water boils @ 212°f AT SEA LEVEL. (14.7 psi atmospheric pressure)

BUT
for every 1lb of pressure ABOVE 14.7 psi, the boiling point rises by about 3°f.

SO
A sealed system with a 10 psi pressure cap won't boil until the temperature reaches approximately 242°f.

This helps keep the coolant from pushing out the overflow....especially ABOVE sea level.

SO
A good pressure cap, of the specified rating for your engine, is an
essential component for pretty much ALL cooling systems.

My pressure tester kit includes adapters for checking pressure caps. An OFTEN OVERLOOKED, IGNORED point of diagnosis.

Also, based on what you've described, this thing NEEDS a thorough flushing and a 50/50 mix of LOW SILICATE antifreeze for diesel engine application.

I would also replace the waterpump but you do you.

Good luck.

 

[Joe Batt]

My MF1250 often will not start when I'm under the sheet metal, because of a bad ground that loosens up over time and must get knocked loose when I take the side panels off. It can be very confusing to have wo problems.

I had a leak when the engine warmed up. I thought it was a leak in the radiator. I took it all apart, cleaned everything out, put it back together. No more leak. The leak was apparently a loose hose. I did look for a radiator replacement and had the same experience that you did.

 

[bgr]

If you want to test for a head gasket leak, there is a tool called Bloc- Check. It has an adapter which goes in the radiator neck and holds some test fluid. You squeeze a bulb on top to pull gasses(not fluid) from the radiator through it. (Make sure radiator coolant level is low enough that coolant does not get sucked in.) The fluid will change from blue to yellow if combustion gases are present.
As a mechanic, I have used this a lot on gasoline engines. I expect that it works on diesel also. A local repair shop may have one or the Mac or Snap on dealer will know who bought one. Your radiator shop may have one or know who does. (Amazon $36. Amazon.com)

You can use an infra red thermometer (Amazon - $28. Etekcity) to test circulation through the radiator. Top hose should be near gauge temp when engine is warmed up. Bottom hose should be about 20-25 degrees cooler if engine is warmed up, thermo open, and running at high idle. if the thermostat is not open, radiator needs to be cleaned out, or water pump is not working, the bottom hose will be much colder. If there is almost no temp change between top and bottom hoses, radiator needs to be cleaned or recored. Your brass radiator is a good one to rebuild.

Engine not turning over is a bad indication if it is actually due to water in cylinder. In that case engine should have turned slightly and stopped. No crank at all might be something different.

 

[ttouring]

2 ways to check for blown headmaster. 1 test the coolant for exhaust gasses. 2 check cooling system pressure build up by a cooling system pressure tester. Just put tester onto radiator and do not pump it up , just start the engine and watch the gauge if pressure starts to build most likely a headgasket.. check for exhaust in the radiator with a chemical tester. The last one leaves no doubt. I'm not sure where you are but most parts houses has the necessary tools to do either one . They them for rent . I use Oreillys Auto Parts.

 

[DutchInNZ]

You may have two issues.

Is it steam or is it smoke that comes out, and from where? If the cooling system is tight, steam can only escape from the cap/overflow; smoke can come from anyplace and would come from something burning or smoldering..

Overflowing in general is caused by a blocked radiator or, less likely, some other place like a bend in a hose after the radiator; the pump works well, the flow through the radiator is restricted, so the coolant flows over if the thermostat is open. I would check that first, especially as the water after flushing still is coming out dirty; that might indicate a blocking. But even when it comes out clean, dirt can be lodged anyplace, especially in the narrow tubes of the radiator. Also, 20 minutes of running before the steaming starts points at a restricted flow.

The not turning over: did the starter run and then the engine blocked, or did the starter not run? In the latter case I would say a contact somewhere that is loose but just hangs on and got disturbed by chance. If the engine itself blocked, you may have a water block, but then again, you would not be able to start it afterwards again at all as that water does not disappear from the cylinder on its own. Also, I would not worry too much about the head gasket(s), because you would see a hell of a lot of bubbling when the cap is off.

 

[MF231owner]

Took longer that I wanted because there aren't too many radiator shops locally that deal with repairs but I found one that called me today and said that the core is ruptured and a repair wouldn't hold. So it'll be recored and hopefully ready at the end of this coming week.

I honestly don't know if it was smoke or steam as I never saw it come from the source.

As far as how it was preforming the tractor was great in the few hours I used it. Even brush hogging 10 acres using a 6' brush hog that is really too big for it. It had no signs engine trouble.