inaccessible hose on Hitachi EX27U

[le.maisonniau]

Hi Guys,
Pulling my hair out here HELP !!

Just spent two weeks (Yep two weeks) stripping down my EX27U to sort out cooling system overheating.
Decided to do a major overhaul (of cooling system) whilst I was at it,

Long story short, all gone OK apart from me having tremendous problems with the bottom hose on the water rad, it is extremely inaccessible,
the rad itself is very difficult to manouvre out of the housing, but I managed it.

I got the bottom hose off by partly lifting rad up and out with all other hoses off, this allowed me to get at jubilee clips and disconnect rad, then it came out.

replacing it was just as bad, I managed to get the bottom hose back on - so I thought and tightened it up with a series of extentions on a screwdriver, I then replaced all the hydro rad after cleaning and repainting every thing, topped up with water, and FFS the bottom hose is leaking.

Can anyone give me a clue as to how to do this and fit it, access is almost non existent, the framing of all the housing is NOT removable !!!
I am going to remove all the hydro rad and associated pipework etc, and the top mounting bracket with rubber bushes that holds the rad(s) in place.

Then I have to sort the hose again --- How ??

[essexpete]

What material is the bottom of the radiator?

[le.maisonniau]

HI essexpete,
Did you mean what the radiator sits on? see pics,
Having scratched my butt for another day, crawled underneath to look for access (there is none, for me!) I have vertigo so cannot spend very long under a machine "focusing" on anything.

I think I have a solution:
I am including some pics taken during rebuild and tidy up, so looking at the 3 box sections where the rad sits on top of, I believe on the RHS there is access under then out again behind the rad, I am hoping this will give me access with a long flexible 1/4" drive with a flexible end and a 9/32" socket (for the jubilee) to the distant end of the bottom hose, i.e it connects to the newly painted Y junction which goes from the new pump and also to (refurbished)cabin heater>
I intend to strip it all down again, remove rad, fix hose to bottom (angled correctly) and then offer it back in again

here are a few pics:

[le.maisonniau]

Hi Guys,
So I managed to get rad(s) out, tighten bottom hose at rad side, place rad back in housing with rad on its shelf and then tilted rad outwards - this gave me access from top of rad to the bottom hose where it fits on the pump end, Voila , I then put it all together again, found a minor leak on the cabin heater, (now fixed) and all is running nicely, I ran the engine with rad cap off until thermostat opened (71c) and let any air bleed out.
Ran engine for 20 mins (it was 36C in my work area ) the gauge rose to 4/10 then back to 3/10 when thermostat opened and maintained 3/10 whilst jiggling rams etc etc.

will finalise re-assembly tomorrow (Fan guards etc.) and put body panels back on.


Final question: under the radiator there are 3 box sections, they were filled in with foam rubber, they were manky so I pulled them out, is it necessary for these holes to be filled for air flow around the rads or something ?? Can I just leave them clear ??

I would not want to leave them open if it messes with the air flow designed

Cheers

[Jeremy Rowland]

Firstly well done on solving the leaks the foam rubber; and please keep in mind this is only a guess but I would say that's more like for sound deadening rather than airflow, just give it a try without the foam rubber but keep your eye on the temp gauge.

Jeremy

[le.maisonniau]

Oops, I went in wrong direction and 'assumed' if it had been put in at the factory, then there must be a reason, so I put new fresh stuff in.
I gave it a heavy test this afternoon, Outside air temps around 39-40C (South west France) tracked it across my field on Hi-Speed (1.5kph) this used to create the most temperature rise in the past, Spun the digger around and at same time lifting booms and buckets etc. and the temp remained constant at 3/10 - so really pleased, over the past 24 hours, the water level in rad has remained constant and overflow bottle no longer empties.
SO a bit chuffed with myself (75 year old fart )

I will keep my eye on temp with rubber in, but from what I see so far, it's going to be OK.

Cheers

[le.maisonniau]

This may be a useful tip for someone who finds them selves doing a job like this on their own,

There are 4 componants to the fan assembly, a fan, two spacing bushes and a belt pulley, all bolted onto the pump by 4 long bolts,
Access is very limited and when tilting the whole lot to position is difficult as the parts kept separating

So a little dab of superglue on rear of pulley, align it with the holes on pump (two short bolts do the trick) and push it in place, then a little dab of superglue on the fan and both bushes with bolts in place to keep the alignment, then when fan is offered up to pulley, it doesn't all fall apart and makes it easier. Simples
The amount of superglue 'should not cause any damage' or affect the fitting