Stupid front screen on 2182

[taylorjm]

So while mowing the lawn on a nice 70 degree day, I noticed my nice new temperature gauge was slowly creeping up. It hit about 212, and I thought, if this was a car, I wouldn't be concerned....then it crept up a little more. So as I'm racing along trying to get the last row of lawn done, running through my head all the questions I'm going to need answers for. Such as. What temp is the thermostat? How would I know if the thermostat isn't opening? Is the fan a clutch type or direct drive? Figured I'm going to be tearing this thing apart right when summer starts when it's needed most.

Pop the hood. Yeah, it was warm, but the idiot light never came on, which was a bit disturbing. Checked the hoses, all hot and under pressure. Checked the fan. It appeared to be direct, no clutch, so no issues there. Checked and there was coolant in the reservoir tank so I assumed the radiator was full. Then....that stupid little handle in front of the radiator. Oh yea, that stupid screen. Pulled it out and it wasn't caked with grass, but instead looked like a fine layer of dust. Almost like the lint filter in the dryer. When I pulled it out, the entire layer just fell off the screen leaving it clean and clear. So there's this about 12"x12" piece of something on the garage floor that fell off the screen...weird. Oh well.

Decided to start it back up. Started it, could really feel the breeze across the engine bay now. Before I could even take it out of the garage it dropped to about 200. Ran it around the house and it was closer to 190.

That screen and I have this love/hate relationship. I don't know if I love it, or hate it!

[Sam Mac]

Originally Posted by taylorjm

So while mowing the lawn on a nice 70 degree day, I noticed my nice new temperature gauge was slowly creeping up. It hit about 212, and I thought, if this was a car, I wouldn't be concerned....then it crept up a little more. So as I'm racing along trying to get the last row of lawn done, running through my head all the questions I'm going to need answers for. Such as. What temp is the thermostat? How would I know if the thermostat isn't opening? Is the fan a clutch type or direct drive? Figured I'm going to be tearing this thing apart right when summer starts when it's needed most.

Pop the hood. Yeah, it was warm, but the idiot light never came on, which was a bit disturbing. Checked the hoses, all hot and under pressure. Checked the fan. It appeared to be direct, no clutch, so no issues there. Checked and there was coolant in the reservoir tank so I assumed the radiator was full. Then....that stupid little handle in front of the radiator. Oh yea, that stupid screen. Pulled it out and it wasn't caked with grass, but instead looked like a fine layer of dust. Almost like the lint filter in the dryer. When I pulled it out, the entire layer just fell off the screen leaving it clean and clear. So there's this about 12"x12" piece of something on the garage floor that fell off the screen...weird. Oh well.

Decided to start it back up. Started it, could really feel the breeze across the engine bay now. Before I could even take it out of the garage it dropped to about 200. Ran it around the house and it was closer to 190.

That screen and I have this love/hate relationship. I don't know if I love it, or hate it!

And that is why I recommend that any of you running water cooled stuff put a gauge on your tractors. My 2182's and 1782 did the same thing.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by taylorjm

Pop the hood. Yeah, it was warm, but the idiot light never came on, which was a bit disturbing.

Well, yeah it was really warm. It's an engine. They get hot when they run. Way too hot to touch!! DUH!

Originally Posted by taylorjm

Checked the hoses, all hot and under pressure. Checked the fan. It appeared to be direct, no clutch, so no issues there. Checked and there was coolant in the reservoir tank so I assumed the radiator was full.

The hoses are supposed to be hot and under pressure. That's how a cooling system works.

Coolant in the reservoir usually indicates coolant in the radiator. Not always though. It's a good idea to check the radiator level on occasion.... when the motor is cold.

Originally Posted by taylorjm

Then....that stupid little handle in front of the radiator. Oh yea, that stupid screen. Pulled it out and it wasn't caked with grass, but instead looked like a fine layer of dust. Almost like the lint filter in the dryer. When I pulled it out, the entire layer just fell off the screen leaving it clean and clear. So there's this about 12"x12" piece of something on the garage floor that fell off the screen...weird. Oh well.

Decided to start it back up. Started it, could really feel the breeze across the engine bay now. Before I could even take it out of the garage it dropped to about 200. Ran it around the house and it was closer to 190.

You need to remove and clean the screen regularly. It's doing it's job by catching that stuff...

Originally Posted by taylorjm

That screen and I have this love/hate relationship. I don't know if I love it, or hate it!

I don't care if you like it or not, leave it in there!! If you remove it, all that crap will eventually plug up the radiator and then it will get hot!


Tractors don't have a clutch fan. Nothing that moves slow will. The only reason a clutch fan is on a car is because when your traveling at 55 MPH or above, there is enough air flow just from the speed that you don't need a fan. Thus a clutch, so that the engine doesn't have to actually power something it doesn't need.