Antifreeze

[Chris2]

Help! I own a 49 MT that I previously used 50/50 pre-mixed antifreeze in. After 10 minutes of pushing snow the temp guage indicated it was overheating. This spring I switched to distilled water ... no problems. The owner"s manual recommends methanol which I would prefer to avoid. Does anyone have any other recommendations? Thanks, Chris

 

[MikeinKy]

Water cools better than antifreeze, also those engines had the sensor on the cable in a bad spot, and the guage isn't real accurate. It usually isn't as hot as indicated.

 

[george baker]

i have a 48 m and let me make it clear, i have had little experience with it and the antifreeze. i am still trying to learn about it in all respects. I did grow up on a farm and put antifreeze in many trucks and cars. something must be going on with the cooling system. it does not seem possible that the ability to cool the engine is that much degraded by the use of a traditional antifreeze rather than water. I am interested in your solution (no pun intended) as I just put a 50/50 mix of antifreeze in my M.

 

[bill mart]

What Mike said is true,water does transfer heat better than gycol.In nonfreezing areas this isn't a problem unfortunately for us in colder climates its a nessasary trade off.Also as he said the temp sensor was engineered in a poor location .Check the archives as this topic has come up before.Check the coolant temp with a known good thermometer I think you will find you are not running as hot as you think you are.Bill in western NY.

 

[BushogPapa]

Was the anti-freeze Mixed Before , or did you pour in one, then the other..?
If it was not mixed, it may not mix while in the tractor and then, NOT circulate..causing over-heating.
Thermo-siphon cooling systems need to have the water and anti-freeze Mixed before it is poured in..

Ron..

 

[Butch GA.]

I have a 48 "M" that has a 50/50 mix and I have no problem. like other posters the temp sensor is in a bad spot. make sure your antifreeze is mixed good before putting it in.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Last Spring I replaced a radiator and thermosat in my Oliver 60 and refilled with distilled water intending to run it all year and then flush it before freezing weather. I didn't run it at all for most of the summer and in the fall I warmed it up to change the oil and the thermostat had set up. Nearly overheated while I was changing another tractor's oil. I was told to take the thermostat out and boil it on the stove to see if it opened. It became unstuck on its own. Refilled with 50/50 and haven't had a problem. Try boiling your thermostat.

 

[alabamafrog]

(quoted from post at 06:25:31 10/30/09) Try boiling your thermostat.

That would be a good idea except that the letter series tractors do not have thermostats or water pumps, hence the thermo-siphon references.

One thing to add is IF you are working on a machine with a thermostat and decide it needs to be checked by boiling then you can also put a thermometer in the pot so you can make sure it is opening at the correct temp.

My 51 MT runs a 50/50 mix that I premixed before pouring in and it hasn’t shown any signs of running hot. Back in the day I mowed hay with it all summer and it never ran hot. Seems like if you were pushing snow then that would mean it was cold outside so it surely shouldn’t run hot then. I wonder if it had an air pocket in it or something like that.