NTSOG wrote:G'day,
Thankyou all for your replies. I have searched specialist tractor sites, mostly US, where there used to be many air-cooled tractors such as Belarus, Deutz-Fahr and so on. I believe quite a lot of air-cooled tractors were imported into Australia in the 1990s - mine was one of 8 imported for use in vineyards which is why it has such a complex hydraulic system with 12 remotes. They are still being used in Europe, etc. and in other colder climates and are valued because they are very tough, easy to maintain and repair. [My neighbour across the road actually has an old Deutz-Fahr with the same engine, but he doesn't cut hay or cultivate.] I have got some useful information from tractor sites - more than I got from the local Fendt dealership whose mechanics were not able to advise me about max CHT. Neither have I received any advice from Fendt in Germany and the user's manual is pretty basic in fractured English/German. Trucking sites have been useful in learning the use of pyrometers and how air-fuel mix can be adjusted in more sophisticated engines.
The engines runs very well, starts easily even on freezing mornings and, when load is reduced, the cylinder temperature can be seen dropping quickly on both the factory gauge in the instrument panel and on the digital gauges I have attached to the cylinders. My only concern has been to avoid over-heating on hot summer days when running under load. Picking the best transmission [high, medium or low] range and gear for a particular job is critical, but my need is for an accurate temperature gauge that I know gives me a safe, immediate temperature reading so I can back off if needed before damage is done.
I've ordered an ISSPRO pyrometer and will install it as close as I can to No. 4 exhaust outlet. The device is quite expensive, but better than a cooked engine.
I figured there would be some blokes on this site with expertise in relation to engine management.
Straightshooter if you're a 'dumbarse', then you're a member of an illustrious club of which I am also a member - according to my wife.
Jim
I've had nothing to do with diesels, but I built a contraption to give me temps on all four pipes coming out of the head on my race bikes for tuning, in real time on the dash (I also ran an air/fuel gauge on the dash but ended my racing before I did any real work monitoring individual A/F ratios on each cylinder - the day I crashed was the day for testing the setup that let me flick the gauge between A/F ratios on each cylinder). Not interested in actual temperature though, just tuning all four cylinders to be the same. Getting an actual temperature is _very_ dependent on how close you are to the point you want to measure. On the header pipe the temp 200mm down the pipe can be 100C less than at the head. If you have a "do not exceed" spec, and you know precisely where they want that temp, then that's where you need to measure it to be relevant. Mounting it elsewhere will give you different readings. Any scale buildup inside the engine can also affect the reading you get. How you tune a diesel to alter the temperature is not something I've looked at, but I would assume richening the air/fuel ratio?
Does it have an oil cooler? That also sucks heat out of the head and cylinder by reducing oil temp before sending it back into the engine. I ran temp gauges on a race bike for a while to monitor temp of the oil coming out of the engine compared to where it goes back into the engine. I don't recall the difference but it was significant (one of the fittings developed a leak so I removed it and never bothered fitting it again).
We run premium diesel in the Landcruiser and tractor, but whether that has any effect on running temperature I have no idea.