Hi everyone, I have a Case 450 that is having issues. I was running it to clear my road after a heavy snow and it suddenly died and started smoking out of the front near the radiator. Fluids we're good and everything checked out okay prior to starting it up, I made it about a 1/4 mile down the road when it stopped. Upon trying to restart it the lights flickered but it wouldn't turn over. There is the smell of antifreeze but I can't see anything leaking, I'll be able to see better in the morning when I hike back out to examine it again. If any of you here have any suggestions I would really appreciate it.
Seized , or a cylinder full of coolant . If the coolant level is alright when you get back to it try turning it over by hand using the fan . Important not to use the starter as it could cause a broken connecting rod .
Welcome! How about background. how long have you had this Case? how many hours have you put on it? Was the temp and oil pressure normal, or do the gauges work? Is this a key switch shut off, or a pull knob shut off? Check the battery voltage before you get too worried.
If it was smoke coming from the crankcase/breather tube then locked up could indicate a seized or spun main bearing. You can remove the oil filter cut it open and check for bearing material. If you can rotate by hand slightly before it locks up it could be hydro locked. You can remove the injectors to find the problem hole. If a piston grabbed a sleeve you may see aluminum in the filter but not always. Sorry to hear the news. Let us know what you find. But definitely check the easy stuff first
Welcome to HEF, Carrotstick ! Is it a straight 450 with no letter next to the 450 ?
Burnt belt, seized pulley/accessory etc. I'd start there, easiest to check the external stuff first.
Got it with the house I bought a year ago. I've put maybe 12 hours on it since then, the previous owner rehauled it just before turning it over to me though. I go through the same start up sequence everytime and even verified this again so it's not that. I've had the battery charging since last night at around 6pm and the indicator is still in charge mode, so I'm thinking it was really dead. Just thought of this; the temp was in the low teens last night when I was running it and I warmed it up about 45 minutes, would this be an issue?
It's a straight 450, no letters.
Noticed this just now while troubleshooting...thoughts?
So, got the front grill off as well as the sides. Everything checks out okay, but the beads of metal on the radiator and a slow leak out of the bottom hose are worrying me. It tries to turnover but I think the battery is still too low as it seems to struggle. I did find that the exhaust pipe is just loosely placed over the exhaust manifold and is belching white smoke from the "connection" point, which is new. At this point I'm just trying to limp it home so I can get it out of the road and have a friend plow for me. Anyone have an idea?
Was the oil pressure, temp, and voltage normal when it was running? Are the oil and coolant levels normal now? I'd guess a straight 450 has a pull knob to shut off, but don't leave me guessing...??? If the battery was discharged, then it will freeze, and it won't charge up until it thaws out, and may be dead permanently.
If there is coolant in a cylinder any number of good batteries will struggle to turn the motor over .
The gauges aren't registering anything, it's like they aren't even connected, so that's cool...last night, all was good though Oil seems low but not overly so and the radiator has a slow leak. There's a puddle of coolant on the floor of the engine compartment and it's dripping from the bottom hose. It does have a pull knob to shut off.
If there is coolant in a cylinder, I would need to pull the head no?
Like 92U said, I'd start at the fan belt at this point, you should be able to turn the engine if you can grip the belt with one hand and the fan with the other. Turn a bit at a time, let the compression bleed off and turn another bit. If it stops hard at some point, come back and we'll go from there. When you say "it tries to turn over" does it go rrrrrrrrrrrrrrRrRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRrRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRrRrrr... or does it go rrr then just hum? IF it turned over slowly but without stopping until the battery lost power, then you might just need a warm charged battery. The melted solder is interesting. We'll just assume that was from a previous repair at this point. You don't have to pull the head if there is coolant in a cylinder, pulling an injector, or just turning it over by hand slowly will clear it for diagnosing purposes. Unlikely to be overheating or hydrolocked cylinder if the radiator has visible coolant in the top, and the fan belt is intact.
If you need the service manual use the link I'm posting. Thanks to the the good people at Minnpar Parts. https://minnpar.com/manuals3.aspx?FName=CASE (CNH) MANUALS&SFName=CNH (CASE) CRAWLER DOZER MANUALS
At this point it's important to find out whats happened . Turning over the motor by hand is a safe and easy way to check if there is coolant in a cylinder . Push the fan belt tight against the pullys and turn the fan by hand if you can get at the fan . Pulling out the injectors another way , but still needs turning over , by hand I think . If its able to be turned over then use the battery . Worry about what to be done after you check there is coolant in a cylinder or not .