Hi all! I'm working on a 1850-hour 1979 MF230 with the Perkins diesel and and catching up on a lot of deferred maintenance.
When taking it for a test drive, I noticed that after <90 seconds, the temp gauge is at the top end of the 'green' (though it gets there gradually from the lower end of the gauge.
The rad is clean, and the fan is sucking a lot of air
Here's what I've done:
1. I drained the existing coolant. It was black, full of rust, with some slight oilyness to it. I flushed through the radiator and block until the water was coming out clear.
2. Filled the tractor with water, ran it for a few minutes. Temp gauge acts same as before, drained the water, it was black again, flushed through until clear. rad clears up with a few litres through. Block takes about 10-20 gallons before it runs clear.
3. Repeated #2 twice more (after letting it cool down). Gauge still goes to the hot end quickly, the water still drains black.
I *think* the thermostat is operating properly as the needle doesn't ever go fully into the red, but the temp hovers at the high end of 'normal'.
I assume the water pump is working and water flows through the rad, because the water in the bottom rad hose is warm.
So my questions are:
1. Should I continue to run and flush the tractor until the water comes clear after flushing? This could take a long, long time... I suppose I could bring it up near the house, stick a garden hose with a moderate flow on it, and run the tractor. It looks like just rust water now, so I don't need to worry about the grass...
2. Any thoughts about what could be keeping the temp gauge so high? I don't think it's just a dirty cooling system as despite several flushes it hasn't improved.
When taking it for a test drive, I noticed that after <90 seconds, the temp gauge is at the top end of the 'green' (though it gets there gradually from the lower end of the gauge.
The rad is clean, and the fan is sucking a lot of air
Here's what I've done:
1. I drained the existing coolant. It was black, full of rust, with some slight oilyness to it. I flushed through the radiator and block until the water was coming out clear.
2. Filled the tractor with water, ran it for a few minutes. Temp gauge acts same as before, drained the water, it was black again, flushed through until clear. rad clears up with a few litres through. Block takes about 10-20 gallons before it runs clear.
3. Repeated #2 twice more (after letting it cool down). Gauge still goes to the hot end quickly, the water still drains black.
I *think* the thermostat is operating properly as the needle doesn't ever go fully into the red, but the temp hovers at the high end of 'normal'.
I assume the water pump is working and water flows through the rad, because the water in the bottom rad hose is warm.
So my questions are:
1. Should I continue to run and flush the tractor until the water comes clear after flushing? This could take a long, long time... I suppose I could bring it up near the house, stick a garden hose with a moderate flow on it, and run the tractor. It looks like just rust water now, so I don't need to worry about the grass...
2. Any thoughts about what could be keeping the temp gauge so high? I don't think it's just a dirty cooling system as despite several flushes it hasn't improved.