OK creekbottom
New member
i have a 2004 Mustang 2109 with a Perkins engine that i have used occasionally and intermittently for ranch work. I've had an overheating problem for several years that i am now trying to focus on. Based on research i've done and what i've seen i have a hard time believing that i don't have a blown head gasket or crack somewhere.
The short story is it overheats after an hour or 2 of use and it's particularly worse when running the Bushmaster mower as opposed to something not using aux. hydraulics.
During that hour or 2 it loses a gallon or so of coolant. I have recently observed that it blows coolant out the top of the overflow tank, even when the engine is not over-heated.
it could sit for a month after use, come back and open the radiator cap and there is still pressure in the radiator.
I have tried to purge air by adding coolant with engine running at start-up but it burps the coolant out the radiator fill.
Also, the glow plug/overheat light stays on all the time. When the machine overheats, it does start blinking. Don't know if that is related.
No milky oil, no oil in coolant. Changed water pump and thermostat before i realized it was blowing out overflow cap but that was several years ago. In the last several years i haven't used machine enough to stay focused on fixing this issue. Now is the time.
Using a temp gun i have determined that radiator does drop temp 10 degrees or so.
The spring is in the lower hose.
New radiator cap to specs.
It's getting air into the coolant system somewhere and it's able to keep radiator pressurized for long periods after it's turned off. Any ideas where that air could be coming from if it's not cracked block or head gasket? possible bad o-ring at thermostat?
any help appreciated!
The short story is it overheats after an hour or 2 of use and it's particularly worse when running the Bushmaster mower as opposed to something not using aux. hydraulics.
During that hour or 2 it loses a gallon or so of coolant. I have recently observed that it blows coolant out the top of the overflow tank, even when the engine is not over-heated.
it could sit for a month after use, come back and open the radiator cap and there is still pressure in the radiator.
I have tried to purge air by adding coolant with engine running at start-up but it burps the coolant out the radiator fill.
Also, the glow plug/overheat light stays on all the time. When the machine overheats, it does start blinking. Don't know if that is related.
No milky oil, no oil in coolant. Changed water pump and thermostat before i realized it was blowing out overflow cap but that was several years ago. In the last several years i haven't used machine enough to stay focused on fixing this issue. Now is the time.
Using a temp gun i have determined that radiator does drop temp 10 degrees or so.
The spring is in the lower hose.
New radiator cap to specs.
It's getting air into the coolant system somewhere and it's able to keep radiator pressurized for long periods after it's turned off. Any ideas where that air could be coming from if it's not cracked block or head gasket? possible bad o-ring at thermostat?
any help appreciated!
