John Deere 3010 Water Pump Test

[kinglouie]

Hi everyone. Thanks for all the great help in my project getting a 3010 up and running. My current issue involves the water pump. I suspect it's not working. The coolant never seems to be circulating, for one. But how can I test it for sure. It has the rubber hose going into the water pump and a steel line coming out and into the thermostat housing. If it's working then should water shoot out at pretty high pressure out of the steel line at the thermostat if I unhook it?

That's really my only question so if anyone has an answer to that it would be greatly appreciated.

After this issue I'll get that whole cooling system cleaned out because it's full of sludge. If anyone wants to weigh in on some advice on a good practice to clean out this system or a good product I'd be glad to hear it.

And also, it turns out that this tractor has a structural issue. You see it bends and breaks the hydraulic pump mount when the pump hits the axle mount. The side rails were modified to fit a front end loader EZ Load sort of thing. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about fixing that situation but I'm pretty sure it will involve getting proper JD tapered bolts. If anyone has a quick word of advice regarding this issue I'd be happy to receive it.

Thanks fellas,
Jay

 

[JD Dave]

Why do you not think the water pump is not working? Does the engine overheat? Has the cooling system been flushed and the coolant replaced? Did you replace the thermostat? Did you shake the fan to determine if the water pump bearing is loose?
Regarding the "structural issue". Nothing should interfere with or touch the front pump mounting. Send us some pictures of what's going on there.

 

[kinglouie]

Why do you not think the water pump is not working? Does the engine overheat? Has the cooling system been flushed and the coolant replaced? Did you replace the thermostat? Did you shake the fan to determine if the water pump bearing is loose?
Regarding the "structural issue". Nothing should interfere with or touch the front pump mounting. Send us some pictures of what's going on there.

Hi there. Thanks for the reply. I don't know if the engine would overheat if I left it running or did some work with it. The temp gauge doesn't work. The thermostat is currently out of it. When I shook the fan there was a little bit of wobble but it didn't feel more than maybe a 16th of an inch max. But nothing in the radiator seems to ever move. Shouldn't it circulate? It stays cool, while the coolant in the engine warms up too.

 

[Janicholson]

Hi there. Thanks for the reply. I don't know if the engine would overheat if I left it running or did some work with it. The temp gauge doesn't work. The thermostat is currently out of it. When I shook the fan there was a little bit of wobble but it didn't feel more than maybe a 16th of an inch max. But nothing in the radiator seems to ever move. Shouldn't it circulate? It stays cool, while the coolant in the engine warms up too.

The flow (without a thermostat) should be vigorous, so the pump may actually have a failed impeller or fin erosion or some other issue is causing no flow. The tapered bolt heads are mandatory. Jim.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Might end up with some new frames for those tapered bolts if the holes are wallowed out as well.

The 16th of an inch wiggle in the water pump might be enough for pump impeller to contact the backing plate when you press them together they need to be set at the right gap. You should also be hard on water pump belts if that’s the case.

 

[kinglouie]

Might end up with some new frames for those tapered bolts if the holes are wallowed out as well.

The 16th of an inch wiggle in the water pump might be enough for pump impeller to contact the backing plate when you press them together they need to be set at the right gap. You should also be hard on water pump belts if that’s the case.

Well like Janicholson said above, I should have vigorous circulation if the pump was working. I have one on a 4010 and according to the internet and me eyeing it up it'll bolt on the 3010 so I figure I'll just try bolting that different pump on and see if that circulation starts going. I'll be happy if it works and gets me out of worrying about gaps and such.

As far as the tapered bolts and frames goes, I'll start on that problem right away too. I'm going to get some pictures tomorrow to give you guys a better idea, as suggested by JD Dave above. Probably, I'll end up starting a new thread for that issue once I really get rolling on solving it but I'll post a couple here to get started.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[kinglouie]

Well I put the water pump from the 4020 on the 3010 and there's still absolutely no movement of fluid. So I guess I'll be looking for a new one.

The pump I took off is pictured below and if you look close you can see the large space between the impellers and the casing. The second image is that one off the 4020 and although rusty it turned really easy, has no slop in it and impellers that pretty much meet up with the casing. Still nothing though.

Thanks for all the advice and wisdom!

 

[Janicholson]

Look as well for ruptured hose interior they can totally block flow. Jim

 

[kinglouie]

Look as well for ruptured hose interior they can totally block flow. Jim

Oh really? Do you mean the rubber top and bottom rad hoses can blow up on the inside and cause a complete blockage?

I have the thermostat out and I even took the top rad hose off at the thermostat housing as well as the metal tube that runs to the pump from the thermostat housing and nothing gets pumped out. The water just runs out until the level drops to the level of the opening in the thermostat housing.

 

[Janicholson]

Oh really? Do you mean the rubber top and bottom rad hoses can blow up on the inside and cause a complete blockage?

I have the thermostat out and I even took the top rad hose off at the thermostat housing as well as the metal tube that runs to the pump from the thermostat housing and nothing gets pumped out. The water just runs out until the level drops to the level of the opening in the thermostat housing.

Could be the bottom hose1 Jim

 

[kinglouie]

Could be the bottom hose1 Jim

Good morning, Jim, and happy Saturday! There doesn't appear to be and issue with the bottom hose. I took it off and looked yesterday. I'll be putting a new pump on this morning. I made a new thread about it. I'm confused about a hole on the new pump with no threads.

 

[kinglouie]

Could be the bottom hose1 Jim

I guess maybe. Now that I've replaced the pump and it still doesn't seem to pump. I made a new thread about it. I hope one or more of you guys have an idea.

 

[used red MN]

The design of an engine coolant system is “closed loop” what goes out must be replaced with something going in. So more clearly it must be able to flow out of the radiator through the lower hose and into the pump. Not sure of the operational history of this tractor but it is possible that the radiator’s internal tubes are plugged. Here is a “down and dirty” method to check radiator flow. You will need caps to close off the radiators top and bottom neck or some willing assistants with hands. Disconnect the radiator hoses, block the necks and fill the radiator with water to the top. Now watch in the fill hole as you open the bottom neck. The water should drop out of the radiator fairly quickly and flow out of the bottom neck with some force. If the water slowly drains out of the top tank then the radiator is plugged. The open radiator should flow enough to keep up with a garden hose.

 

[kinglouie]

The design of an engine coolant system is “closed loop” what goes out must be replaced with something going in. So more clearly it must be able to flow out of the radiator through the lower hose and into the pump. Not sure of the operational history of this tractor but it is possible that the radiator’s internal tubes are plugged. Here is a “down and dirty” method to check radiator flow. You will need caps to close off the radiators top and bottom neck or some willing assistants with hands. Disconnect the radiator hoses, block the necks and fill the radiator with water to the top. Now watch in the fill hole as you open the bottom neck. The water should drop out of the radiator fairly quickly and flow out of the bottom neck with some force. If the water slowly drains out of the top tank then the radiator is plugged. The open radiator should flow enough to keep up with a garden hose.

Exactly! My theory too. I think my pump can't get sourced with fluid enough so it causes cavitation. That might explain why the impellers on the pump that came off were so worn back. There's a picture of them in a previous post. I figure if I get that rad cleaned out the flow will allow the pump to do it's job. Thanks for the input and advice and information. I'm going to make some rad opening plugs and figure out cleaning out the sludge in that rad. You should have seen the greasy crap that was in that cooling system. I wonder if at some point someone put some leak sealing treatment stuff in it and that's what it eventually turned into.