# Overheated 2010 J.D. 6230 (not premium, it’s an orchard tractor). What to check for?



## J VanD (Oct 27, 2019)

Hello! Brand new to forum & John Deere tractors in general... last December I bought a 2010 JD 6230 orchard tractor at an auction, had a dear friend of mine who was a retired JD mechanic look it over after getting it home (do a complete service job on it as well). He said it was a great buy, & thought it was cool that a 45 year old female wasn’t afraid of a big tractor. I would ask him this question but he just passed away after getting the covid19 virus. Haven’t used it more than 4-5 hours since then. Yesterday it was at a low idle for a long time (1/2 hour) while I was messing with an implements Scv settings. So I wasn’t on the tractor... when I got on I noticed the temp gauge was pretty high, and just a few seconds before turning off started to flash. I shut down the engine right away and opened the hood and saw maybe a pint of water drain from under the front. The cause was from the fan belt, which had come off due to the tensioner pulleys bearing gave out. Like I said very little fluid came out. After it cooled down I opened the radiator cap and the level was almost normal. 

I ordered the part, and haven’t even tried starting it since. 

my question is what do I do now (after I install the new part of course)? Should I drain the radiator and put all new fluid in it first? Change the oil first?? I know it could of done damage & im hoping to mitigate any further. I don’t know why I didn’t notice a different sound when the belt came off the fan… Maybe because I was debating with my 77-year-old mother who insists on being part of everything even though it’s been years she’s done any farming herself. 

I heard no difference in the motor but I would imagine that it heated up real fast once that part broke and the belt came off. Now I’m scared to death to even start it without first doing everything I can to make sure I don’t do further damage. I could just kill myself because this is my very first John Deere and I’ve always wanted a John Deere tractor. I bought the tractor with 3100 hours on it, and my dear friend who passed away said that it had been taken care of very well and should last year‘s as long as I took care of it. The nearest John Deere dealership is 100 miles away and they charge a hell of a lot to come out and look at something and I know no other mechanics. I’m hoping that someone here on this forum can guide me on what to do next before I start it again.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum! I'd top off your coolant and run it, but is attention to things such as off noises and be prepared to shut it down, but unless you severely overheated it to where oil was bubbling out you head gasket seal, your most likely okay.


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Hello J VanD, welcome to the tractor forum.

The engine didn't get extremely hot if the flasher just started when you were observing the high reading on the temperature gauge. All you have to do is top up the coolant (don't use water) after getting the Idler and belt back in operation. Use the recommended John Deere coolant.

This can also happen if you are working in extremely dirty conditions (dust & chaff), and the radiator becomes covered to the point that air cannot get through. When the temperature flasher comes on, the computer immediately removes the load from the engine.


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## J VanD (Oct 27, 2019)

BigT said:


> Hello J VanD, welcome to the tractor forum.
> 
> The engine didn't get extremely hot if the flasher just started when you were observing the high reading on the temperature gauge. All you have to do is top up the coolant (don't use water) after getting the Idler and belt back in operation. Use the recommended John Deere coolant.
> 
> This can also happen if you are working in extremely dirty conditions (dust & chaff), and the radiator becomes covered to the point that air cannot get through. When the temperature flasher comes on, the computer immediately removes the load from the engine.



The radiator, screen, and everything was pristine, hadn’t run it yet in the field to get dusty, as field prep, planting time hadn’t happened yet, so the only thing I can see that is possible would be the fan belt coming off, right? It seemed like it took a very long time to even register a temperature above a couple bars anytime I ran it, then when this happened it went from 2 bars at a low idle, got off the tractor for probably a 1/2 hour and as I sat in the seat it started flashing hot & I turned it off right away. So I should just top off the coolant and check the oil... no need to flush the radiator and replace all the coolant and all that stuff. I will do that and listen for noises... 

I miss my dear friend, the retired John Deere mechanic who died a miserable lonely death from coved-19. Without a person by his side... a overheated tractor is really nothing when the person that could of fixed it is gone in such a lonely senseless way... Thank you for your advise, and please stay safe out there. At least tractor work has social distancing built right into it.


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your friend Van. That just sucks. Plenty of people getting upset about the attempts to keep people separated right now, to slow the spread down. Really has been a game changer, no doubt. Stay safe out there and good luck with your John Deere!


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

As you stated, "just top off the coolant and check the oil... no need to flush the radiator and replace all the coolant and all that stuff". Keep an eye on it, but everything should be normal.
Down here in Texas, we just opened the beaches and they were swarmed with people yesterday.... wish us luck....


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