7040 running a little hot

Have you blown out the radiator, oil cooler, and AC coil, and is your foam all in place?

If so, check thermostat and then yeah, radiator could need work.

Has two thermostats If one don't open it will run hot under heavy load only

I used to spray the radiator with a mixture of Dawn dishwashing liquid and water in a spray bottle a couple times per year. Spray it liberally and follow with a regular garden hose. The Dawn loosens the grease (and other dirt and hay seeds). It always surprised me how dirty the fins were.

Edited by WF owner - 02 Jun 2023 at 8:26pm

If the top tank is swelled, that's a sure sign that the radiator is getting plugged up internally. Get it rodded out if that's the case.

DSeries4 wrote: Red Bank wrote: I try to keep those coolers blown out but I will do that again. That takes care of what you can see, but what about what you can't see?  I am referring to the crud that can be built up inside the tanks and tubes of the rad.  After almost 50 years of use, it just might need a good boiling out and flow test.  That can be the main reason for engines to run hot.

I agree about the inside of the radiator, I know I need to pull it and take it to the radiator shop, I hate to because I have a feeling they will say it needs to be replaced and the new ones seem to be around $1400

The fact that it puked out coolant and the gauge was in the red zone (I assume) would indicate a certain degree of temp gauge accuracy. On 50 yr old tractors, gauges and sending units are ALWAYS suspect. Do the easiest things first and that would not include pulling out the radiator for an internal roding out. You must have a clean core for the air to go thru and I guarantee it isn't. The A/C condensor must have one wire to a ground disconnected and four bolts removed and cut a couple of zip ties and it will pull out the left side exposing the lower 1/2 of the radiator core. Wire this assembly up out of the way or unbolt the A/C compressor and get the whole system off laying it on the ground near the cab step. Next unbolt the hydraulic cooler up high and wire it up out of the way. Disconnecting one or both hoses gives you even more room to work BUT be careful on those 50 yr old connections you don't ruin something trying to disassemble it. WD40 is your friend here.  Remove all the small screws that hold the plastic fan shroud to the backside of the radiator and lay it back on the front of the engine. Loosen fan belts. Remove the fan and pull it and the shroud out the right side. Be aware that the fan spacer may not want to fall off the water pump hub as it may require some coaxing with a big hammer and WD40 and maybe even some torch heat. Now the radiator core is exposed front and back. It will be especially dirty in all four corners. I always install a 90 degree elbow on my power washer wand tip to be able to hit the radiator squarely on both sides. Slow methodical gentle washing back and forth multiple times is required and washing front to back and back to front is what it takes. That core is 3 inches thick and packed solid in places. I usually figure a couple hrs of just washing to get it CLEAN. You should be able to shine light thru it everywhere when clean and blown out dry. Then, you MUST have all foam rubber padding in place EVERYWHERE to force the cool clean air in thru the grille screen and not suck hot air from around the sides, bottom and top. Hot air doesn't cool very well, like not at all.  The fan blades are best positioned at the half in/half out at the shrouds rear edge. We had some tractors we removed 1/2" off the shroud to expose the fan blades to that magical 50%/50% position. The power washing cannot be too powerful as you'll damage the fins !!! so stay back a bit and have high flow and not too much actual pressure. A garden hose won't get it done but a 2500 psi washer may destroy things.  When done, run the tractor at full throttle for 20 minutes or more. The temp gauge needle should be on the quarter mark. This is 180 degrees. Straight up needle is 210 degrees and I don't like running them any more than that. Good luck. Whilke you're washing you'll notice the exiting water is dirty. When the water is clean, the core is probably clean.