PTO Butler Question

[Jtuseo]

My thermostat is bad on my E350 Deisel van. I am getting no heat in the van when I turn the heat or the defrost on. I am also getting very little heat when I use my truckmount. My question is would this be a reason why I am getting little heat in the truck mount? Please let me know if you have expirence with PTO"S

 

[bob vawter]

Let's see here .......NY...nope!

Ya froze up...!

 

[Jtuseo]

it didnt freeze up I used the machine today,and it has not been freezeing yet in nyc.

 

[bob vawter]

Can you burp at the HX...?

 

[Kelly]

Just out of curiosity ... how do you know the thermostat is bad? I ask that because its been my experience in the past that thermostats that are defective stick shut and the vehicle over heats.

 

[Brian L]

Is there any coolant in the system

 

[Jim Martin]

could be a plugged heater coil.............

 

[Jtuseo]

As Jim Said it could be a plugged heater coil, If the thermostat is bad it will not over heat your vehicle.My Van is desil so it runs cool anywaY.

DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE HEAT IN THE TRUCK MOUNT??????

 

[Matt King]

You could change the thermostat for good measure.. It really depends on how your cooling/circulating system is plumbed or cast. Generally, if a thermostat is stuck closed, you'd have an overheating problem. Your heater would blow plenty of hot air and you'd have plenty of heat from the Butler. Your engine's water pump would be using its bypass route and just circulate hot coolant through the block,heater core and heat exchanger round and round. This is of course provided you don't have a plugged heater core or another issue causing improper coolant circulation.. If a thermostat is stuck open, the coolant circulates continuously through the block, heat exchanger, heater core AND Radiator so it doesn't have time to 'warm up/get hot' so you then have the opposite problem. The latter may be possible given the fact is is cold outside and it would be instantly noticeable. In the summer it may not be As noticeable. I'd first make sure you have a full coolant system to begin with. Low coolant levels can contribute to this. Also make sure you put a new radiator cap on for good measure. If the cap can't hold enough pressure to the system you loose your ability to raise the boiling point of the coolant which can then contribute to air pockets in the cooling system. That can also cause this type of issue though not as common.

 

[Jtuseo]

iM 99% SURE IT IS BROKEN OPEN. nOW i UNDERSTAND ANTIFREEZE RUNS THOUGH THE HEAT EXCHANGER. i WILL PUT A NEW THERMOSTAT IN THE VAN TOMORROW MORNING.

Thank you

Johnny 9WG

 

[Greenie]

If you are 99% sure it's stuck open then I assume you are 99% sure the coolant is topped off, cause sure sounds like you are low on coolant.

A diesel butler....must be a flame thrower!

 

[Jim Martin]

As Jim Said it could be a plugged heater coil, If the thermostat is bad it will not over heat your vehicle.My Van is desil so it runs cool anywaY.

DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE HEAT IN THE TRUCK MOUNT??????

YES.because it is not circulating.....................................

 

[Jtuseo]

Im not low on coolant, the thermostat is probally broken open.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

John,

Were the symptoms of gradual onset, or sudden?

If it was sudden, then yes go ahead and replace the thermostat as a simple prophylactic/diagnostic measure.

 

[Dan]

So fix what you know is broke and get back to us.

 

[Jtuseo]

I took off the Alternator, the Holente and the brackets to get to the thermostat. I remove the hose and what do you know there is no thermostat in the the van. I slap the new thermostat in the van. Now there is heat. Let there be heat.

 

[John Watson]

John, This must be a used van you purchased,, Now I would wonder, Why in the heck would someone remove the thermostat on this TM?????

Didn't you notice no or low heat before???? especially if you just bought it???? Heat should have been at least 190..

But again I don't understand a lot of things in todays world, WTF is a Holente??? Sounds like something that might be hooked to the thingamajig or the whatcamacallit, if this is so I can better understand why you have a shaft driven rig with no thermostat...

 

[Guest]

If you notice on your rad. hose there is a funny looking alum thingy magiggy on there. There should be a t stat in there. Butler pulls them out of where you put one in for a reason.

Tell us how much longer or colder the machine runs now.


Chad

 

[Greenie]

OMG...Is that Chad?

 

[Matt King]

You were in a constant circulating mode. Butler does place an inline thermostat in the hose, I assume for easier access on pre-2003 vans. On newer vans it serves another purpose as well. It could be the previous owner didn't have an inline thermostat or someone replaced the radiatior hose with a new one not using the thermostat. Maybe the other thermostat housing is there but the thermostat is stuck open. I'd take a look for it.. Either way, glad to hear you're up and running! In the winter time especially, the coolant flow needs to be slowed down a bit to allow it to heat up for your heat exchanger. In the summer it's not as noticeable.

 

[Jtuseo]

I opened up that aluminum thing on the radiator hose there was no thermostat in it. I am not getting good heat. Butler is telling me there is probably air in the radiator line. They also told me there is a bleeder valve on the heat exchanger. I took off the radiator cap from the radiator to see if that will release the air pocket. I will keep it off over night. A local repair shop told me that can let an air pocket out. I also noticed on the Butler schematics plan says that there is a thermostat on the heat exchanger perhaps that is bad. Any thoughts?

 

[Matt King]

Anytime I've had air in the coolant system I don't have any heat coming from the heat exchanger. The water pump won't push the coolant through the system. It's usually followed up by the engine overheating. You can watch the engine temp gage shoot up to 250-260 pretty fast. I'd assume the other thermostat referred to in the schematic refers to a solution temperature control and has nothing to do with the vans cooling system. Make sure the coolant system is 100% full. Radiator, lines and exchanger... Make Sure you have a good radiator cap. They're cheap. Then take a look at your engine temp gage tomorrow when the engine is warmed up. If it's holding proper temperature, see if the heat exchanger is warm/hot as well as the coolant lines running to and from it. Crack open the bleeder screw on the heat exchanger (very carefully) after everything is warm/hot and see if any air 'hisses' out. I'm betting it will followed by some coolant pushing out. Close the bleeder screw (it's handy to have a rag when doing this)... If everything is warm/hot when the engine is up to operating temperature, that's probably all the heat you're gonna get. You may want to get an LP heater for the winter months. I've noticed when the outside temp gets below 50-60 degrees you'll have a noticeable heat loss on a pto. When you get into the 20's and 30's outside it gets even worse. That's with a gasoline engine... A diesel pto would be hard to make heat in a cold climate using a liquid exchanger only. Some strategically placed cardboard in front of the grill or radiator helps in cold weather as well.

 

[Dan]

You need to check and make sure someone didnt put a thermostat back in the thermostat housing at the intake. This should be able to be checked by simply removing the top hose and inspecting for a thermostat in the housing. If you find one you would need to remove it, thats a MAJOR air trap.

As for the thermostat you installed I hope it was a 205 degree one. They are alot harder to find today but worh the effort.

 

[SRI Cleaning]

I have had 2 trucks where the thermostat was either stuck open or leaking. I would replace it for good measure, I think it is something that should be changed at some point regardless.

 

[Greenie]

I have a plethora of questions, but I think John has sold this DIESEL butler by now.

How quick, if ever would a 205 T stat open on a diesel in NY winter temps? I can see that thing running for 1/2 hour and never really getting warmed up enough to open a 205?
Do you even want a diesel to get hot enough to open a 205? Maybe it wouldn't hurt anything, but I'd want to make damn sure.

I know Butler relocates the t stat to allow higher coolant temps, it's a form of tricking the system.