MF1250 coolant/circulation issue help

[MF231owner]

A couple weeks ago I bought the compact MF1250 that was a trade in at a local dealer.

First few hours using it I noticed it was running warm so I kept an eye on it. When done I blew debris from the radiator screen.

Second few hours the meter showed cooler than the first time so I thought a was good. Then I noticed a whisp of steam or smoke so I shut it down. Water was steadily dripping from the radiator over flow tube. I'm guessing it was hotter than it showed because it wouldn't even attempt to turn over even after sitting 30min and me filling up the radiator (took 3/4 gallon). It did crank and start about 2 hours later.

Today I made sure it was full of coolant and used I for maybe 20 minutes before seeing another whiff of steam/smoke right as I was parking it.

Now I've got the sheet metal off it watching it run and basically it seems like once it warms up and builds pressure it starts sending the fluid out of the over flow. I don't think its circulating right. I can say the coolant/water looks nasty so I'm going to drain it out and flush it a time or two.

Thoughts?

 

[JWR]

Suggest you buy or borrow a pressure test rig for the radiator. Around $50 on Amazon with adapters for wide variety of radiator necks. See if the cooling system will hold pressure (can be cool for this test.) If not, you probably have a blown head gasket. Don't bother draining and flushing.

You have a huge issue in that it will not turn over after one of these incidents. My first guess is that symptom is a water lock in one or more cylinders due to the blown head gasket. With some luck that is all it is. Having bought it that recently the dealer should fix it. Even with no written guarantee the dealer owes you a fix in my view. Very worst case a shared cost of repairs.

 

[MF231owner]

Suggest you buy or borrow a pressure test rig for the radiator. Around $50 on Amazon with adapters for wide variety of radiator necks. See if the cooling system will hold pressure (can be cool for this test.) If not, you probably have a blown head gasket. Don't bother draining and flushing.

You have a huge issue in that it will not turn over after one of these incidents. My first guess is that symptom is a water lock in one or more cylinders due to the blown head gasket. With some luck that is all it is. Having bought it that recently the dealer should fix it. Even with no written guarantee the dealer owes you a fix in my view. Very worst case a shared cost of repairs.

It did the no crank once. Dealer is sending me $1k partial refund to correct whatever is going on.

 

[Dmacleo]

pull the dipstick and oil fill cover. examine both of them for any grey/white coloring.

 

[MF231owner]

Could I have gotten lucky and it was something simple with the fluid? Drained and refilled with water with the intent of just flushing it. I've been letting it running for 15+ minutes fluctuating between 1k-1.5k RPM with no over flow, no smoke/steam, and the temp guage steady between the T and E.

 

[MF231owner]

Maybe I spoke too soon. Shut it off and a little smoke came from the engine.

 

[Dmacleo]

Maybe I spoke too soon. Shut it off and a little smoke came from the engine.

pull the dipstick and oil fill cover. examine both of them for any grey/white coloring.

 

[MF231owner]

pull the dipstick and oil fill cover. examine both of them for any grey/white coloring.

I'll need to double check with the manual but I believe the fill tube and dipstick tube are the same on this model. It's jet black so probably needs replaced. But I believe that's a good thing in my case because white and frothy would point to a head gasket problem right?

 

[Dmacleo]

correct.
another way to tell is run up to thermostat opening and watch recovery tank for bubbling. prob need ot be around 2K rpm to see, is hard to tell that way due to setup probably but its another tool to use.

 

[MF231owner]

Drained the water and it was still really dirty. Almost tea like.