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Deere 310L losing coolant.

emmett518

emmett518

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Was plowing the driveways, when I heard a beep coming from the control panel. After the third one, I looked, and noticed a warning about very low coolant. Immediately shut down the engine, and noticed the tank was low. I added about a half gallon of coolant. Engine temp was 121, probably due to thermostat issues.

I think I did smell coolant in the summer, so I'm hoping it's a loose hose. I have not seen any drips anywhere, so I'm praying it's not something serious.
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Love the chicken!

I'll check it out. That would be a nice fix. Thank goodness I bought a gallon of coolant to top off the tank.
 
JL Sargent

JL Sargent

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I like to take a bright flashlight and inspect everything. If you've lost a 1/2 gallon over the last 2 years might be nothing. That much over the last month could be serious.
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Sure enough. The upper radiator hose at the radiator end was dripping pretty good. I tightened it up, along with the other one I could see. They were loose. I have to remove the fan guard from the side of the chassis to get at the others.

Hoping this was the issue.
 
S

Shimmy1

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Does the expansion tank have a direct line from the bottom to the radiator, or is it just a burp tank from the filler neck? If it's an actual pressurized tank, filling it will get the system full. If it's just a burp tank, you need to remove the radiator cap and see how much is in there, it will take numerous hot/cold cycles to syphon the radiator full from the burp tank.
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Never thought to check. I'll look. The tank was still halfway between full and empty, so I don't think the radiator got low. Further, filling the tank made the alarm go away.

Thanks for the warning though. I'll check it when it is cold.

Running doing the plowing, the coolant temp never got above 121, so I smell bad thermostats.
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Funny thing is the alarm system beeped once, and then stopped, with the warning displayed on the LCD. I figured it would keep beeping until you silenced it, or fixed the fault.
 
Canadian_digger

Canadian_digger

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emmett518 said:
Never thought to check. I'll look. The tank was still halfway between full and empty, so I don't think the radiator got low. Further, filling the tank made the alarm go away.

Thanks for the warning though. I'll check it when it is cold.

Running doing the plowing, the coolant temp never got above 121, so I smell bad thermostats.
Click to expand...
How do you see engine temp? I have 3 310SL and its just a temp gauge with no numbers. They are Canadian machines and are all tier 3 if that makes any difference.
 
A

AzIron

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Canadian_digger said:
How do you see engine temp? I have 3 310SL and its just a temp gauge with no numbers. They are Canadian machines and are all tier 3 if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...

If you scroll down you get hyd temp in the menu but in my experience until the temperature outside is hot the engine and hydralic temp dont mach even tho they both use the same coolant

Last year deere did away with the heat exchangers for the hydraulic system and went back to a independent cooler in front of the fan because the hydralic oil would run close to 190 in hot climates and in cold climates it would act as an extra cooler if you were not using the hydraulics enough to heat the oil up to match temperature to the coolant
 
Canadian_digger

Canadian_digger

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AzIron said:
If you scroll down you get hyd temp in the menu but in my experience until the temperature outside is hot the engine and hydralic temp dont mach even tho they both use the same coolant

Last year deere did away with the heat exchangers for the hydraulic system and went back to a independent cooler in front of the fan because the hydralic oil would run close to 190 in hot climates and in cold climates it would act as an extra cooler if you were not using the hydraulics enough to heat the oil up to match temperature to the coolant
Click to expand...
That is very interesting about the hydraulic oil is cooled and or heated by the engine coolant. I do notice you really need to idle the engine up to maintain heat in the winter if your not working the machine. Guess this is part of the reason. What year did they make the switch?
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Canadian_digger said:
How do you see engine temp? I have 3 310SL and its just a temp gauge with no numbers. They are Canadian machines and are all tier 3 if that makes any difference.
Click to expand...

I bought a Scangauge, and set coolant temp as one of the four options.
 
A

AzIron

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Canadian_digger said:
That is very interesting about the hydraulic oil is cooled and or heated by the engine coolant. I do notice you really need to idle the engine up to maintain heat in the winter if your not working the machine. Guess this is part of the reason. What year did they make the switch?
Click to expand...
21 model year
 
emmett518

emmett518

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Shimmy1 said:
Does the expansion tank have a direct line from the bottom to the radiator, or is it just a burp tank from the filler neck? If it's an actual pressurized tank, filling it will get the system full. If it's just a burp tank, you need to remove the radiator cap and see how much is in there, it will take numerous hot/cold cycles to syphon the radiator full from the burp tank.
Click to expand...

I did notice that there is actual coolant flow through the overflow tank - a strong, healthy stream coming out of some small diameter hoses. It's as if there is circulation through the tank.

I still have leaks somewhere, as I smell coolant, and am still losing. When it warms up a bit, I'm going to remove the side guards, lock up the loader with the safety, and check every hose.
 
Last edited:
A

AzIron

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Canadian_digger said:
Nope. I save that for myself. Reason I mentioned it was, they are tier 3. I’m pretty sure all American L models would be tier 4. Thinking there might be a difference in the cooling system.
Click to expand...
So your L models dont take def
 
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