[meets1]

Long story short - 2 new thermostats. Same issue. Always losing antifreeze or adding but no visible leaks when machine in shop. New water pump, old one was bad. 2 new belts now just because. At times we can roll, other times she heats up right away let it sit for 5 minutes were good. Tomorrow I am taking the screens off, re cleaning but could it be head gasket? How do you check that without taking it apart - if you can? Engine is a Kubota V2003T. I have seen online that these engines are known for overheating but still just not sure what to do next?

 

[knox gsl]

Head gasket is my first thought.

 

[Prairie moon]

I've have a kubota diesel that was or at times does the same thing!!! It's only 25hp but I replaced everything you had mentioned except the head gasket. we would always be blowing out the radiator with air. And a gentle rinse of water. Helped some but still would at times. My last ditch attempt I pulled the radiator and it was like it never been cleaned!!! Held a light behind it while looking at it and could hardly see any trace of light!!! After that no issues Now I just pull it out yearly. This summer I added a bottle of water wetter I think it's called as well it says it'll run 20degreese cooler..

 

[ericg]

Here is a link to the service manual for your engine
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/738952/Kubota-V2003-T-B.html
There are sections on troubleshooting in the manual

 

[meets1]

Service manual is fine and all but not real helpful. So now were just done mowing. One a full city block run, we make 4 rounds and were in the red. SO we blew out radiator with air and water. Pretty clean. Tried again, same result. So Monday were taking to a john deere dealership where they are going to run a compression test.....tell us if head gasket is out - if so replace, if test is good, then were pulling radiator out and getting it cleaned. I spoke with a diesel instructor at our local college and he came and looked and he is thinking radiator is clogged. So we'll see.

 

[BigFish]

How do you check that without taking it apart - if you can?

Generally, you have the cooling system pressure tested.
They use a hand pump and an adapter that fits on the radiator filler and pump it up. Any pressure leak-down without external drippage/leaking would more than likely indicate a faulty head gasket.
Most any shop can do it.
As knox said, my money is on a blown head gasket.
Let us know what ya find out.

 

[meets1]

John Deere pressure tested. They used a machine with gauge on it, no hand pump stuff. It was excellent. So I loaded it back up, took radiator out, pressure washer - and did the junk and gunk come out of that thing. Ran it this afternoon - beautiful! Temp gauge was 1/4 in the green and never moved. Stay tuned.

 

[ericg]

Good thing you had it tested rather than jump in and replace the head gasket.

 

[Breezmeister]

Temp gauge was 1/4 in the green and never moved. Stay tuned.

This is good to hear...We have a v1505 that has the same symptoms, it's been nickel and dimeing us to death.

 

[Prairie moon]

Radiator gunked up was my first guess!!! Been there.... Like I said I remove it now yearly. Not sure which way your radiator is positioned not sure if it would matter but on my unit it sits on top of my motor on my ztr so it's more prone to junk to fall into it through the screen on the hood to expose the radiator. so another thing I went ahead and did to prolong it from getting so plugged up too was under that hood where the radiator is I went to my local clothing store an went to the women's plus size isle and got the biggest nylons they had and stretched it over the radiator to prevent any obstacles from lodging into the fins! This has helped but still have to do the pull it out once a year thing.

 

[BigFish]

took radiator out, pressure washer - and did the junk and gunk come out of that thing.

So the rad. was externally clogged up with junk/debris ? Seems ya woulda been able to see that.
At any rate, a lot easier/cheaper fix, no?

 

[meets1]

No, could not really see it. Oil cooler was taken off. Fan cover, fan belt, drained the radiator, then was able to get in there and actually look with a light and blow it out good besides from side to side. The machine ran 8 hours Wednesday without a blip on the temp gauge. It was just in the green, never moved all day and really the guys said it ran awesome. Now it was around 80 but long green grass. Today - so far 4 inches of rain - that is not normal for us much less an all day rain event.

 

[JagT20N]

one thing that will happen if you start to loose a head gasket is when it shuts down it will make a gurggling or moaning sound in the overflow as the cylinder pressure escapes , or if your start loosing coolant with no traces and a puff of white smoke when it starts ( more than normal)