8n blowing coolant everywhere.

that8nguy

Member
I have a ford 8n. I live in northern ohio where it is pretty cold right now (20ish and low teens at night), anyway I used my tractor for probably an hour yesterday and all was fine. Started it up today got 5 minutes into running it I noticed steam coming off the exhaust manifold. I thought to my self "that isn't normal" so I look looked under the hood and saw coolant spaying everywhere. I immediately shut it off and looked at the radiator cause I thought I blew a hole in it or something. Looked normal. I hooked up my Oliver 77 and pulled it up to the barn. Looked around and everything looked normal except for the coolant all over the place. I did notice while hooking it up to the other tractor it sounded like the antifreeze was boiling. It has worked perfect for the 3 months I have owned it, never overheated. Does anybody have ANY idea on what happened. Froze water pump? Blown head gasket? I am decently mechanically inclined but can't figure out what happend. Thanks in advance.
 
I have a ford 8n. I live in northern ohio where it is pretty cold right now (20ish and low teens at night), anyway I used my tractor for probably an hour yesterday and all was fine. Started it up today got 5 minutes into running it I noticed steam coming off the exhaust manifold. I thought to my self "that isn't normal" so I look looked under the hood and saw coolant spaying everywhere. I immediately shut it off and looked at the radiator cause I thought I blew a hole in it or something. Looked normal. I hooked up my Oliver 77 and pulled it up to the barn. Looked around and everything looked normal except for the coolant all over the place. I did notice while hooking it up to the other tractor it sounded like the antifreeze was boiling. It has worked perfect for the 3 months I have owned it, never overheated. Does anybody have ANY idea on what happened. Froze water pump? Blown head gasket? I am decently mechanically inclined but can't figure out what happend. Thanks in advance.
Most likely engine or cooling system damage due to inadequate freeze protection.
 
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I have a ford 8n. I live in northern ohio where it is pretty cold right now (20ish and low teens at night), anyway I used my tractor for probably an hour yesterday and all was fine. Started it up today got 5 minutes into running it I noticed steam coming off the exhaust manifold. I thought to my self "that isn't normal" so I look looked under the hood and saw coolant spaying everywhere. I immediately shut it off and looked at the radiator cause I thought I blew a hole in it or something. Looked normal. I hooked up my Oliver 77 and pulled it up to the barn. Looked around and everything looked normal except for the coolant all over the place. I did notice while hooking it up to the other tractor it sounded like the antifreeze was boiling. It has worked perfect for the 3 months I have owned it, never overheated. Does anybody have ANY idea on what happened. Froze water pump? Blown head gasket? I am decently mechanically inclined but can't figure out what happend. Thanks in advance.
Check the coolant mix for freeze point. If it was near the current temp at that time,t probably slushed up and plugged the radiator with crystals. I can't guarantee the result, but getting it warmer and increasing the freeze depth is a likely solution. Probably not damaged. Jim
 
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Let me ask this since I don't see that answered here, knowing how cold it gets where you are did you check the coolant for the temp the coolant was low temp rated for? did you add anything (coolant /water ) since you have owned it? knowing that would help figure out what the apparent issues could be.
 
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How would I be able to tell if It is slushed1 up? Can I just take off the radiator cap and look in the radiator
Maybe, but not likely.

Cooling systems usually slush up in radiator core initially.

Ideally, you can get it inside and warm it up. Having done so, check freeze protection of coolant.

If you cannot get it inside, fill the radiator tank with 100% anti-freeze and put a heat lamp on the radiator core. Put another heat lamp on engine block if possible.

Engine and cooling system may well be OK if the coolant only slushed and did not freeze solid.
 
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No I bought this at an action. Not sure what wad in it. Did not add anything to it. I am draining the coolant out now to replace with better temp rated stuff
 
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Slushed the antifreeze.I had my pickup do that one time years ago. I was driving into a good head wind at about -10or so. 30+head wind temp gauge went full hot. Stopped opened hood didn't find any leaks and by the time I got back in it was close to normal. It had sett all day outside in the wind and when I took off it was not warmed up any. Never bothered again since.I fix antifreeze for about -30 here in MI. It might not have been for that cold quite. Otherwise I would suspect the thermostat stuck. IF not those then fanbelt or water pump.
 
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How would I be able to tell if It is slushed1 up? Can I just take off the radiator cap and look in the radiator
Get an antifreeze tester Antifreeze tester that is from Walmart but auto parts stores have them. Then you can test the freeze protection level is of what you drained out. That will tell you if the weak antifreeze was your problem or if the tractor engine may have some other problem.
 
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I hate to sound harsh, but I think changing the coolant is a waste of time. The first priority is to identify the source of the leak. The best time to have done that was when the tractor was blowing coolant. It would not have done any more damage to run the tractor for another minute or two while you crawled all over it with a flashlight, looking. You probably still should make an attempt. Take the hood off, and run it while trying to replicate the conditions where it failed on you the last time. Knowing where the coolant was coming from is tantamount to identifying the problem, instead of just changing the coolant and praying the problem heals itself.

You can still test the coolant. Next time you're in town stop by the auto parts store and grab a coolant tester. They're less than $5. Just suck up a bit of the coolant you drained and see what it was rated for.
 
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