Water temp.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 7, 2009

I have been having some trouble with my 1955 Ford 860 gasser for some time now. The tractor runs great and sounds good, but one thing that has me concerned is the temperature reading. After replacing new parts; Radiator and cap, water pump, hoses, 168 degrees thermostat, temperature gauge, and a belt. I still get a spike in temp up to 23o degrees; it usually lasts for only a minute before the temp drops. It drops to about 180, but it is still enough for me to pucker up. Belt seems tight and even drilled a 1/8 inch (eighth inch) hole in the top of this new thermostat for air trap. The temp gauge usually stays center when I am usually working with it (brush-hogging). It seems like the more I baby it, like just pulling a cart, is when it spikes more. I never had any boil over or air bubbles in my antifreeze. But I feel that 230 degrees is too hot. Is this correct? I do not want to damage anything on this old girl. I posted this about this problem about a year and a 1/2 ago with no luck. I am at a loss with this little problem. Any help with this would be much appreciated.
Jeff N.

garytomaszewski · Apr 7, 2009

Have you tried a pressure guage on the radiator? That could tell you if you are leaking compression into the radiator. I would guess that you may have air trapped in there somewhere that is giving a momentary hot spot.

john in la · Apr 7, 2009

230° is to high.
My first thought was you are missing the fan shroud. These old fords do not cool well if the shroud is missing.

But you say it goes up to 230° and only stays there for a minute then goes back down to 180°.
That would indicate the thermostat was sticking; but since that is new; I feel you might have a partial blockage in the head or block restricting the water from reaching the rear where the temperature gauge hooks to.

Some questions...........
Have you ever taken out the thermostat and checked its operation in a pot of water on the stove???
Have you ever run some kind of cleaner threw the block???
Do you have a fan shroud installed???
Have you ever checked the water temperature in another spot to see if that reads the same as the gauge???

Larry D. · Apr 7, 2009

Are You Absolutely Sure the thermostat is in CORRECTLY,If NOT,It could Make it difficult for the Hot Water in the Block to be monitored accurately enough to keep the water temp from rising abruptly. Larry

Anonymous-0 · Apr 8, 2009

sounds like the thermostat to me, doesnt matter if its new or not. Unless it did the same thing before you did all the work. even then Id stick another one it it. Ive had bad ones before new out of the box that would only stick once in a while but it only takes once to do you in....OCG

MarkB_MI · Apr 8, 2009

Sounds like it could be a blown head gasket. Since you don't have a problem under a heavy load, it sounds like you're getting air pumped into the water jacket, which can vent out when the thermostat is open.

RAW in IA · Apr 8, 2009

If as John says, the guage is hooked up at the back of the head, It sounds like it takes a little time for the thermostat to open, and of course that part of the head would heat up a little more before the coolar collant gets circulated. Stick a thermometer down in the neck of the radiator when it is warming up and see what it does. Possibly just a slow opening thermostat.

teddy52food · Apr 8, 2009

The gauge may be reading high also. 230 degrees & it should be boiling over. Can you get the sending unit out of the block and check it in hot water with a candy thermometer to see how close it is? 180 sounds high with a 165 stat also.

jbp · Apr 8, 2009

Got a 640 that does the same thing,only my guage is not calibrated in degrees, just green and red. About decided its the nature of the beast as it only does that at idle or low speed. It runs in the middle of the guage at any speed above an idle, and never requires any additional coolant in the radiator.Its been like that for nearly 20 years so apparently no harm has occured. Great litle tractors.
Joe

Anonymous-0 · Apr 8, 2009

You probably have a "made in Japan Thermostat". Get a good Stant thermostat, install it properly, and this will probably solve your problem.

buickddeere · Apr 8, 2009

180F is minimum operating temp. 195Fto 210F is ideal is a modern 15psi system with 50/50 coolant.

Bill(Wis) · Apr 8, 2009

If you want, you can check your thermostat real easy by removing it and heading for the kitchen. When you get there, get out the same sauce pan your wife boils eggs in. Put the thermostat in the pan, cover it with water and turn up the heat. Get out your wife's candy thermometer and check how hot the water gets before thermostat opens. Turn off the heat. See what the temp is when it closes. (Might be best if wife is not around when you do this (;>)) (Oh, well, if she's like mine, she'll find out anyway. You can tell be the screaming: "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WITH MY CANDY THERMOMETER...AGAIN".

garytomaszewski · Apr 8, 2009

Nice that you have a wife who can boil eggs and even knows what a candy thermometer is !!!!

Anonymous-0 · Apr 8, 2009

Thanks for all the replys.The thermostat is a stant as is the 4psi rad.I also thought it was a sticky thermostat but this is my 3rd one.Fan shroud is good.The first temp gage I tried was a green to red style with same spike like results.The second one with numbers was from the car parts store.I have never cleaned the system with cleaner or pressure checked.I think this will be next. Thank you all for the help!! Jeff N

Water temp.

Anonymous-0

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garytomaszewski

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john in la

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Larry D.

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Anonymous-0

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MarkB_MI

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RAW in IA

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teddy52food

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jbp

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Bill(Wis)

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