John Deere 35C--cab gets too hot

[digger242j]

This is a machine that I don't own, but I do operate it often.

It has a problem in that the cab becomes uncomfortably hot. The valves to the heater core are turned off in the summer, so that shouldn't be the source of the problem. It gets hot enough that the other day a wrench left on the floor just inside the door became too hot to hold bare-handed, at least for more than a second or two. This isn't a recent development. This machine has always been this way, at least as long as I've known it.

Other than the problem with the cab getting hot, it seems to run perfectly normally. No engine overheating or anything. No apparent flow of hot air from the engine compartment into the cab either, but the metal gets hot.

Which way is the fan supposed to blow? I can see that if it's supposed to blow outward through the rad and oil cooler, you'd get a lot of warm air blowing out the side. The fan sucks inward though, all that warm air ends up inside the body (passing over the muffler too), and I imagine that could be the culprit, but I looked at the fan this morning and it doesn't look like there's a way it could be mounted backward. Could there be a shroud or shield or something missing back there that's supposed to direct the airflow so that it doesn't heat the cab up?

Anybody seen one with a similar issue?

 

[crane operator]

I know that my one crane with pilot hydraulic controls, becomes uncomfortably hot because of the heat of the hydraulic hoses in the armrests. Hydraulic oil can easily run 180+ degrees, and its like sitting inside a radiator with that oil going through both armrests.

 

[John C.]

Does this machine have the control valves mounted under the cab floor plate? I used to hear a lot of complaining on the early small Cats with cabs.

 

[digger242j]

I'll have to check on that. I don't know.

If it's just something that's common to all of them, I can live with it, but man, it's a pain once the weather gets warm. I can't imagine it getting that hot by design.

 

[willie59]

I'm not familiar with the Deere 35C myself, but I'm guessing you're talking about an enclosed cab mini ex that doesn't have AC, no?

 

[digger242j]

I'm talking about an enclosed cab mini ex that doesn't have AC, yes.

 

[crane operator]

Oh- small cab, no AC, I've been a few too many crane cabs that are almost that small, with no AC, and they get hot, hot , hot. Small cab, lots of glass, and I don't know how much of that opens up (just door and front glass?) , but they tend to be like little greenhouses, and just focus the sun and heat.

 

[digger242j]

The door and front glass open, the side windows both slide open, and the back glass opens out a few inches as well. If there's a nice cool breeze blowing it's tolerable. If there's not, it's a sauna.

I run a CAT 303 quite a bit too, which has a cab that's not much different. The back window on that one doesn't open. Even without using the AC in that one, it's gets nowhere near as hot as the Deere.

 

[crane operator]

I wonder if some of the heat reflective/ insulation stuff they put under car hoods would help. The silver faced stuff? Glue it on in the engine bay to the cab walls? If cab isn't insulated it would help keep some of that engine heat away. I know in my crane lower cabs there's just a thin piece of steel between you and the motor, you're like 3" from the exhaust manifold, it really helps.

 

[melli]

This is a machine that I don't own, but I do operate it often.

It has a problem in that the cab becomes uncomfortably hot. The valves to the heater core are turned off in the summer, so that shouldn't be the source of the problem. It gets hot enough that the other day a wrench left on the floor just inside the door became too hot to hold bare-handed, at least for more than a second or two. This isn't a recent development. This machine has always been this way, at least as long as I've known it.

Other than the problem with the cab getting hot, it seems to run perfectly normally. No engine overheating or anything. No apparent flow of hot air from the engine compartment into the cab either, but the metal gets hot.

Which way is the fan supposed to blow? I can see that if it's supposed to blow outward through the rad and oil cooler, you'd get a lot of warm air blowing out the side. The fan sucks inward though, all that warm air ends up inside the body (passing over the muffler too), and I imagine that could be the culprit, but I looked at the fan this morning and it doesn't look like there's a way it could be mounted backward. Could there be a shroud or shield or something missing back there that's supposed to direct the airflow so that it doesn't heat the cab up?

Anybody seen one with a similar issue?

Is there a reflective thermal blanket on firewall between engine and compartment? It almost sounds like yours is missing.
Not sure what a JD looks like in engine bay, but my Bobcat has a 1" thick blanket with tinfoil covering on firewall. Even with that, I notice metal behind seat can get toasty (since it is the only metal separating engine from cab).
My floor doesn't get too hot (isolated from engine by firewall). Plus, it has a thick rubber flooring.
I did get a tad crazy and line interior of cab with tinfoil faced peel-n-stick sound dampener as noise was getting to me. Helped a bit.
One long shot idea...the rads are plugged with fine dirt, restricting airflow (engine fan just ends up circulating hot air in engine bay). Mine are a real pain to clean properly (3 rads sandwiched together). I have to unbolt them from each other, to get some clearance, to hose them clean.

 

[diga]

Hi guys, this is pretty normal for that size digger, I have had a new Takeuchi Tb138fr with factory air (absolutely useless) in summer months here in Australia,I was seeing over 30 deg C in cab with the air running, my next machine was a new Hitachi ZX 38 which was only bearable with air on and cab closed. ENTER the Bobcat E35, well its nearly cold enough to "hang meat" in, obviously other manufacturers don't build the air con units big enough to compensate for engine heat, heat from pilot control hosing and all the glass area, pretty poor when you pay $10,000 extra for air con and heated cab though !!

 

[willie59]

I'm not familiar with the Deere 35, and as others have mentioned things are pretty snug on a mini digger regardless of brand, they're all pretty much 10 lbs of material shoved into a 5 lb sack, And yes, if the control valves are under the cab floor plate, lot of heat comes from that. I've also seen brands that have a cover behind the operators seat which access an additional cover that opens up the inboard side of the engine to access starter/alternator etc. One of those covers missing causes heat problems. Aside from that, does the cab tilt up so you can check for missing mylar insulation panels that might have been there before?

 

[ycs]

I install small universal radiator fan at top of my cab to reduce some of the heat.