Think its finally time to address this. Hyundai R130 LC-3 with a cummins 4BTA3.9, loosing coolant with a sweet smell to the exhaust. I figure a blown head gasket. Its a farm machine so it doesnt get much use but like i said, time to address the issue. Im thinkning of pulling the head with the engine in the machine. Pretty sure there is room, anyone done this before? Another option is have my neighbor pull the counter weight with one of his machines to give more room to work. This will be my first engine work, anything to be aware of? Watched a bunch of videos and it seems like its just pulling a bunch of stuff off, pulling the head and then replace.
Apart from coolant loss and smelling odd, does it run well? I'd want to be sure that it is head gasket and not drips from a dodgy hose or radiator leak being blown over a hot exhaust. Not familiar with your specific machine, but if it has sufficient space around it to set the timing marks up first and get to everything you need to, it might not be too bad to do on the machine. You'll probably want to keep all items removed in their specific order, so that they go back in the same hole or place. Be careful not to lose any small parts into the gloom as it might be hard to buy odd items. The other thing is to give some thought to why it has head gasket failure. For example, if it was overheating caused by a blocked core in the radiator, you'd want to correct that before cooking it all over again.
It does run well although sometimes hot if i run it for long periods of time. Its been a come and go issue since I bought the machine. Since its not used much, Ive just run it. I did do a coolant pressure test years ago and seem to remember replacing the water pump gasket. Perhaps Ill do another test and see if there are any leaks. I think once I remove the bulkhead engine cover, I should have good access to torque the head bolts and I plan on setting up a temporary work bench to keep parts organized.
You need the service manual for the engine. At the very least for the torque specs.
A Cummins 4BTA3.9. The A in the engine model means the engine after-cooled. Does it have a coolant type after cooler? If so I would remove it and see if it is leaking.