Changed the head gasket last year after having coolant in the oil. Now the coolant is blowing out the rad cap, when idling. This is with the thermostat in and after working the machine for 1/2 hr. There is a loss of power. Taken the thermostat out and coolant does not blow out the cap until I step on the throttle. Tested the thermostat in boiling water and it does open up............Thanks
Had similar problem. It has a one and half inch radiator neck. I changed the radiator cap with one with a gasket at the top and the correct length and tapped the top of the brass neck down a little so it would be tight and that fixed my problem. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260820080499&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT Similar to this one but I got mine at tractor supply.
Did you have the head surfaced while you had it off? A warped head could have caused both of your problems.
I only had the head checked at a local machine shop, he used a straight edge.....If it indeed warped and I get it resurfaced, do I use a "thicker" head gasket? Thanks for the quick reply.
No you don't need a thicker gasket but if you do take the head off, check the block for warp with good straight edges.
head or block? So a simple straight edge on both the block and head will be sufficient enough to tell me if either is warped? I know the head can be resurfaced but what if the block is warped? Am just confused that before changing the head gasket, the coolant was going into the oil pan and now it is blowing out the rad cap? I could understand the block being warped if the leak was in the same place? Just asking and thanks.
I would suggest two good straight edges, one at each end to check for twist on both the head and block. Then move one of your straight edges over the surface looking for daylight underneath with a trouble light on the other side. If you see a gap, check with a feeler gauge and your head shop will be able to tell you how much is acceptable. I am not suggesting that you have a head gasket problem for sure, it's just one of the things that came to mind when you described the symptoms. Hope you find a quick and cheap solution!
It sounds like you are on the right track with power loss and all but I would put a pressure tester on the radiator and run it to see if the pressure builds too high before I took the engine apart. You may be able to borrow the tester at an auto parts store. Temperature testers got really cheap, I'd check temps too.
get an infrared temp gun. $20 at harbor freight. you will use it for the rest of your life. It will tell you where the overheating problem is at on the block.
The pressure tester is a good investment. Before starting with everthing cold hook up radiator tester and start the engine. If pressure starts building before the water starts to warm up you have problems because heat is what builds pressure in the cooling system so if nothing is warm yet its coming from gasket/crack somewhere
Is the rad. cap in good condition and sealing to rad. neck. If not it can cause the coolant to boil and push out if the system is not pressurized.
That's exactly the point I was trying to make does it have the correct radiator cap? It's a one and half inch long neck!
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580 ck To get back to my issue, not sure if I posted that there is oil in the rad. It blows out the rad cap almost as soon as I start the engine. No coolant in the oil which is what I had before I changed the head gasket. As stated earlier also, machine shop checked the head for warpage. Maybe he did not do a good job checking?
Is the oil in the radiator engine oil or Hydraulic oil?? I might suspect the hydraulic oil cooler in the bottom radiator tank.
oil in coolant The machine came with the rad with the cooler at the bottom of the rad but I replaced it with one with no cooler. I added an external cooler so is not possible for the hydraulic oil to get in the rad. Thanks
580ck I suspect the torque wrench I used when changing the head gasket may have been out of calibration. My question is: Can I just tighten the head bolts to the right specs without changing the head gasket and see if that was the issue or do I need to change the head gasket? Thanks
Check your head bolts with another torque wrench that you know is accurate. Those bolts may be tighter than you think. Did you change the head gasket because of the oil/coolant problem ? Or was there another reason for the gasket change ? Did you do a real through radiator flush after you swapped it for the new one ? The engine block may have retained oil in the water cavity and then contaminated your new radiator.
580ck I put the new/used rad in because the one that was in it was leaking. I changed the head gasket because it was leaking, coolant in the oil. Both were changed last year and had no issues until working the machine this summer. The problem did not start right away but after maybe 40 hours of use. It actually was working well. This time there is oil in the rad, coolant was blowing out the rad cap and that was when it was noticed there is oil in the rad....I did do a flush after finding coolant in the oil. The guy I bought it from says there was work done to one of the cylinders. I had a seized valve and bent rod but I corrected that problem when I changed the head gasket.
Have you followed Steve's recommendation. That is the first thing that should be done.
580ck coolant Upon removing the head bolts, I noticed they were not very tight. Found out my torque wrench is defective. There was coolant all across the head. So I assumed my problem was due to the defective wrench and bought a new one and changed the head gasket. Well seems I am back to square one.......No longer than 3 seconds after firing the machine up, coolant starts squirting out the rad cap. I might be wrong but am not convinced the head is warped, had it checked at a local machine shop. Any other things I should be looking for? FYI, the motor is 188 diesel. Thanks
Sometimes the problem is at the block. Check liner protusion & then place a straight edge across all the liners & see if they are the same height. If there is any difference, it will allow the gasket to leak. To repair properly the block must be decked (machined) & all counterbores for liners checked/machined. BUT, I have had some success where machining was not an option & I have cut some shims to intall under the liner flange of lower cyls to even out the height problem. If the liners are even, it is possible a liner is cracked, allowing compression to escape to cooling system. Never actually seen this myself, but worth looking at.
580ck coolant Pulled the injector from the second cylinder from the fan and the coolant stopped blowing out the rad. That cylinder had work done to it before and there are chunks out of the head at that cylinder. Might be a hairline crack in the head? The piston and sleeve were also changed on that cylinder prior to me owning it....
FWIW this is the proper way to check the sleeve protrusion. I learned this in one of Phil's threads. The instrument is called a Uni-Mike Micrometer. Mine is made by Mitutoyo. Phil wanted to buy it form me when I was done with it.. But I have not been able to contact him. I wonder what happened to Phil. I miss seeing new posts from him.
Huh! After all these years I always thought my fingernail was good enough! Good onya Tinkerer!
Thats a good one about the fingernails Alrman ! skidoomanott , What caused the valve to seize ? The head must have had a lot of stress put on it if you had a seized valve that would bent a connecting rod. Those rods are really tough.
I assumed he meant it bent a push rod... Dave
Chunks out of the head ??? It must of had a broken off valve bouncing around in the combustion chamber. That would explain the reason for a new piston and rod. If it were me I would be looking for a replacement head to rebuild. Or better yet a remanufactured head with a warranty. dwloop, I also am sure he meant a pushrod . I took the statement he made for what it meant.
580ck Gonna try and start from the beginning but want to say I appreciate all input. 580ck 188 D motor. When I bought it, the rad was leaking and seemed to not be running on all cylinders. I changed the rad, bought a used one and installed an external cooler to save money. Also installed a mechanical temp gauge. After some use, there was coolant in the oil, blown head gasket. I pulled the head off to change it then noticed the seized valve and bent push rod. It was just floating around. I bought a used rod and some used valves. My friend ground down the valves to resat them. I have a good service manual so we followed the manual when we did any repairs. The bent rod and seized valve were in the cylinder closest to the fan. Also noticed that the second cylinder had damage to the head, score marks. Rather big ones. The guy I bought it from told me that one cylinder had a piston and sleeve changed and by seeing the score marks in the head, it was easy to see that it was cylinder two. Got it back together and no leaks but still not full power. A guy came out to take a look, Phil from this forum and said it looks like my valves need to be adjusted, he was right. Thanks Phil. So now it is running good, full power. That was last year and got to use the machine a bit. Then this year, used it for a bit when all of the sudden the coolant starting shooting out the rad. That happened after using it for an hour or so and only when I parked it and it was idling. So this time there was oil on the inside of the rad cap. Another head gasket. So off it came only to find the bolts were not tightened to spec, defective torque wrench. There was coolant across 3 cylinders when we opened her up. So I assume if I buy a new head gasket and new torque wrench, it should be good to go. Not the case. About 10-15 secs after firing her up, coolant comes out the rad. This time, no oil in the rad cap. So we remove the injector on cylinder two and not coolant coming out the rad. I put the injector back in and coolant starts to blow out the rad. So I now know it is that cylinder that is giving me the problem. Pressure is getting from the cylinder to the cooling system. Everyone says the head is notoriously tough so I want to rule the head out. My question is/are: Is there anything to do to diagnose before I pull the head off? When pulling the head off what should I be looking for. I am not a mechanic and my friend helping me is a "backyard mechanic" and never worked on diesel but is good and getting his hands dirty and trying to figure stuff out. I appreciate all the help here and look forward to some more feedback. Thanks
It looks like you have done a good job already of diagnosing the problem. You removed a fuel injector and the blowby stopped. That narrowed the problem down to one particular area. Never assume anything. The head may still be the problem. The new head gasket may have increased the pressure to where a crack in the head may now be leaking. I know of only three ways combustion gases can get into the coolant. 1 - The new head gasket is leaking. Could be from a warped head after an improper head bolt torquing. Uneven top deck on the block. 2 - Cylinder liner protusion is not the same on all the cylinders. A couple of different situations can cause that. Reread Alrmans post on 9-25-2011 about that. Or the cylinder liner has a crack or hole in it. 3 - The head is cracked and is leaking. It should be checked by Magnafluxing it. Any competent head rebuilder should be able to do it. Before you remove the head again be sure to remove the coolant drain plug from the block. That will ensure that you won't be seeing coolant all over the engine block when the head is removed.. The coolant you may see , then could possibly give an indication where the problem is.
did you fix the problem? I'm having the same issue