Ask the Mechanic

Steve Thompson, Contributing Columnist

I'm in Texas where summers bring the heat. It was 108ºF today. You don't dare pick up a wrench that is in the sun without wearing a thick pair of gloves. Your tractor, combine or whatever is out there in the field running also feels the heat. It is very important that you keep one eye on the temperature gauge and the other on the crop. Your AC is working overtime, which means the AC condenser is giving off more heat than normal. Any air restriction on all the coolers in front of the radiator must be clean to keep the engine and other components from overheating, including the hydraulic oil cooler, possible turbo after cooler, AC condenser, fuel cooler and finally the radiator. Most tractors have a prescreen in the front that catches much of the material floating around (see photo of Kubota M125X accompanying this article). This tractor offers a pull-out AC condenser with its own screen and another screen for the radiator. The arrangement works very well for quick cleaning of this area. New operators sometimes are not aware of how fast the area in front of the radiator can become clogged with debris, causing heat damage. Heat not only can ruin an engine, but it also can cause heat stroke.

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-- Email Steve Thompson care of askthemechaniccolumn@gmail.com, and be sure to include your contact information and phone number.

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