Heater Core

[Bud605]

I posted in a different area a month or so ago the the heater in my tractor will not blow warm air. I was told to check coolent level, which i knew was ok, but rechecked and is still ok. Along with checking for shut off valve, which i have traced and retraced heater lines and can not find one. Well until it goes up the cab post anyway. I have felt the lines after tractor has been running for a while and they are warmish but not hot like i would assume them to be.

How do i access the heater core, Im assuming it is in the roof. Near as i can see i need to take headliner down, or does the canopy lift up like on 30-60 series John Deere tractors?

I have a pretty sever hand injury and pulling down head liner would be pretty difficult right now.

Any other suggestions? L3540 is my tractor btw....

 

[SidecarFlip]

DO NOT remove the headliner under any. circumstance. You cannot access the heater core from the headliner The components are only accessible from the top and roof removal is required Easiest way to determine which screws (in the perimeter of the headliner attach the roof, is to remove one. If it's short, it only secures the headliner, if it's long, it passes through the ROPS structure and secures the roof via RivNuts. The roof securing screws will be every other screw. If the first one is short, replace it and go to the next and then skip every other one and tale out all the long ones.

Remove all of them and then get a buddy to help you pull the roof. It's not heavy but it's cumbersome and required 2 people to get it off. I put a ladder on each side and work off the ladders. Once you remove the roof, inspect the sealing gasket on the roof channel. If it's cracked or getting dried out, replace it. Your dealer can order a new one. The replacement gasket comes wit an adhesive backing and too long so you will have to cut it to size after you remove the old one and scrape off the old adhesive from the channel.

I suspect either of 2 things. One, your heater core is loaded with chaff from a leaking gasket or the water valve is faulty. Both are next to each other and cleaning the core will involve removing it by removing the coolant pipes and cleaning it under a stream of water with dish soap.

Observe the operation of the water valve by operating the temperature control. In cold, it should be closed and in hot, completely open and it's 100% mechanical.

I also suspect if your water valve is operating correctly, then the core is loaded with chaff and the ac HX will also be loaded as well and will need cleaned but you cannot remove it without breaking the refrigerant lines but you can take all the screws out of the top cover and lift it far enough to access the ac heat exchanger and you can then soak it down with a soap and water solution (I use Simple Green) and hose it down carefully with a small stream of water. The accumulated gunk will flow out the condensate drains under the tractor. When the soap and rinse water is clear, you've cleaned the ac HX as well.

There are no controls anywhere but under the roof. The heater hoses run up the right side cab pillar, the ac lines up the left pillar.

I clean mine every other year. Once you do it, it's pretty easy, hard part is getting the roof off.

You also need to look at the gasket that seals the filter element to the roof and replace that foam gasket if it looks at all flattened. I use a weatherstrip bulb gasket on mine.

The above only applies to the earlier units with the heat and ac in the roof. The newer models have the works under the seat and require seat removal and panel removal to access them.

Last time I bought a roof gasket (2 years ago) it was 100 bucks at my dealer. Don't try to cheap out with some box store gasket. The OEM gasket is a specific thickness and designed to fit correctly.

It's a preventative maintenance job you will have to do, probably more than once, depending on how long you keep the tractor.

 

[lugbolt]

take the roof off. 2 screws, one in each of the door frames, are to be left in. They are the shorter screws. Remove all of the others, leave the short ones in.

When roof is off you access the heater core via removal of the top of the a/c and heater box assembly. You're gonna have to pull the linkages off in order to get the top of the box off. Once off you can see the heater and evaporator cores.

 

[SidecarFlip]

it's a bit more involved that that LB. Especially with the hold down screws, as well as the heater core. I've had mine apart a couple times now, pretty much every second year. You cannot remove the top cover without breaking the refrigerant lines. You can however, remove the heater core but you have to break the hoses from the aluminum feed pipes to remove it. In order not to break the refrigerant lines, again, I remove all the top cover screws, unplug the Molex connectors and lift the edge of the top cover up enough to access the ac hx. Lots simpler than breaking the lines or risking compromising the ac hx, which happens to be fairly fragile and quite expensive to replace.

With that I'll diigress. Obviously you know better even though I've did it numerous times now.

Carry on. I'm done commenting.

 

[lugbolt]

I was going off of L3540C experience

you can't take the whole box lid off but you can get it pulled up far enough to get to the stuff in there. i Shoulda mentioned that.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I will add that, when propping the cover up (I can get mine up about 6" and use a short wooden stick to keep it up), cleaning the squirrel cage blower fan is also a good idea. it's right there in your face at that point. The entire top cover is not removable unless you break both the heater core lines (easy) and the refrigerant lines (not so easy) and breaking the ac lines will require a purge and recharge of the system (also not so easy).

You don't want to prop the upper cover up when it's cold out either because it will be brittle from the cold and will probably break and that is a very expensive mistake to make.

The major reason for core contamination (heater and ac) is incoming ambient air leaking past the roof seal or past the removeable cabin filter seal which is why it's of utmost importance to inspect both the roof perimeter seal and the filter perimeter seal for viability and replace them if there is even the slightest chance of outside (non filtered air ingress. I tend to run my climate control in recirc mode all the time, ac or heat, which reduces the chance of any ingress of dust or stuff getting on the heat exchangers. I operate my tractors in dusty, chaff conditions quite a lot (bailing hay).

So long as you approach the task carefully and slowly, it's not difficult other than standing on a ladder to access the components.

 

[whitetiger]

it's a bit more involved that that LB. Especially with the hold down screws, as well as the heater core. I've had mine apart a couple times now, pretty much every second year. You cannot remove the top cover without breaking the refrigerant lines. You can however, remove the heater core but you have to break the hoses from the aluminum feed pipes to remove it. In order not to break the refrigerant lines, again, I remove all the top cover screws, unplug the Molex connectors and lift the edge of the top cover up enough to access the ac hx. Lots simpler than breaking the lines or risking compromising the ac hx, which happens to be fairly fragile and quite expensive to replace.

With that I'll diigress. Obviously you know better even though I've did it numerous times now.

Carry on. I'm done commenting.

As usual, you are on here posting a bunch of incorrect and misleading information. To start with, you claim to have a M9000, the OP is asking about a L3540. Just because they are both orange, you seem to incorrectly assume they are the same, they are not.
You were corrected and still continue to spread your same ole crap, do you have a problem with the TRUTH??????? You seem to enjoy misleading people looking for help, as you post incorrect information as often or more than you post correct information.