Greetings all! I have a Case skiploader with a stock Cummins 4B, roughly 1985. Due to a hole in the radiator, I overheated the tractor. I had steam coming from the radiator hole and steam/foamy oil from the crankcase vent hole. The crankcase vent hole steam lead me to believe I've likely blown a head gasket. I pulled it apart, cleaned everything up, measured the head flatness the best I could (I'm not sure I trust my straight edge) nothing over .003-.004. Didn't see any obvious problem areas. Reassembled with a Mahle head gasket. Added coolant to the new radiator and I can literally hear coolant dripping into the oil pan. Not just "drip drip" but like you were really slowly pouring out a bottle of water....dribble dribble dribble....dribble dribble... probably moved a gallon of coolant into the pan in 10-15 minutes. I'm shocked at how fast the coolant is getting in. I can't imagine it being the head gasket area, especially with no heat or pressure since I didn't run it. Heck, even a crack seems like it wouldn't leak that quickly, but who knows. Bottom line.. what should I be looking at? I haven't disassembled anything yet simply in case there's something simple I'm missing. I feel like the oil cooler wouldn't let coolant into the motor like I'm seeing. I'm REALLY hoping it's not a cracked block. Any assist appreciated.
Wrong head gasket is my guess. Joe H
I would drop the pan and see if you verify where it’s coming from. Probably should have done a coolant pressure test before tearing apart but since you have the head already back on, no reason why you couldn’t do it now. The kits are very reasonable from HF.
Being that I already know there's a leak, what additional info would a pressure test give me?
It makes it easier to see/ find the leak. There could be more than one.
There are welsh/freeze plugs behind the side plate
That and when you think you’ve found the culprit, you can easily check, without potentially pouring more coolant into the oil pan or oil cooler.
Even if the head was warped, no way it drips that fast. You probably have something cracked. You are gonna pull the head regardless. And send it to a machine shop. If they don’t find a crack, check all the cylinders and see where it’s cracked. If you drop the pan and pressure test, you will see between which cylinders the coolant is dripping and makes diag way easier
Maybe use water with food coloring (dye) in it. It may help to see the source of the leak(s).