At 1200RPM it pumps out about 4 OZ in 20 minutes. Some times it sounds like it is misfiring a little. The exhaust is smooth and the manifold temps are fairly equal? Valve train or injector? It has a faint sound kind of like bee bee's bouncing around in a can very rapidly. I have heard something similar with a turbo failure but it was louder. It seams exhaust related. Maybe a baffle in the muffler? I pulled the turbo as I feel impeller has excessive side play. The exhaust is not scrubbing but the intake was very questionable. I pulled the intake housing for inspection. Do not see scrub marks but it is very close. Possibly the bottom of the impeller scrubs a bit? Coolant snot is also leaking out behind the fan hub and running down the front ( back? ) of the engine. Water pump? Tomorrow I plan to check for coolant in bottom of oil pan. Get to the leak on the engine and see if it is more than just a leak. If not pressure test the cooler and go from there. This is a parked inside every night only one operator cream puff but it has 3,000 hr. Just seems odd to have all this come up at once. I have wondered about liners, head, injector sleeves, etc. Nothing clicks there for me. I have never had the valve cover off one of these with the turbo boost hose going in the side of it. Your experience and suggestions will be appreciated.
I am not completely familiar with that machine, but unless that is some other place that water and oil are next to each other, like a oil cooler or radiator with oil cooler built in - then the likely problem is a blown head gasket or other head problem or hole in sleeves, (if there are sleeves). A compression test would be a good place to start.
For engine oil in the coolant, John Deere 4024 engines have updated engine oil coolers for this issue. Remove it and pressure test it with about 15 psi of air in a bucket of hot water to test. If the cooler is not your problem a second trouble spot is a freeze plug behind the timing cover becoming dislodged and allowing the oil galley to pump oil into the cooling system. With the coolant drained and the lower radiator hose off you can see part of the plug (unless your timing cover has been updated with a new mounting gasket instead of the dreaded Hylomar). If you can see your plug sometimes you can see the oil coming out when engine is started (remove belt for safety)(also block machine off the ground before starting, this is real important for safety). This engine does not use cylinder liners, it is cast in block design. Also, the head gaskets have been fairly reliable, so I wouldn't pursue that unless it's the last resort. Also pay close attention to the joint between the timing cover and the cylinder head. That area loves to leak coolant externally. Very involved repair that requires a shim and timing cover replacement.
Thanks for the replies! Disconnected the coolant lines from the oil cooler, hooked up and pumped it up to 30 PSI with a radiator tester. It was off about 8 PSI the next morning. As the day warmed up it was back very close to where it started. The update is I did a cranking compression test. They all registered 400 through 440 psi. That was a bit of a challenge as the glow plug hole is between the rocker arms. I could not find a tool on line so started with a gutted glow plug. Then connected it to a tire inflation tool stem, has pipe thread on the end. It only had clearance between the rockers to screw in one cylinder. Cut that in half and shortened it. Then used a piece of brake line flared on both ends and brazed it in. The results were still not adding up for me. Decided to do a leak down test similar some aircraft maintenance test. With the pistons about 80% of the way down on the power stroke block the crank. Put shop air to the cylinder and ball off the supply air. Record the pressure loss over time to find a potential problem. Number 3 was leaking out the exhaust ( It was middle of the road on the compression test ). Messed around with it some but could not change it. Pulled the head and the cylinders look new. It is seeping in the area you speak of. Have not removed it because I did not want to work on it in the machine if I had to pull the engine anyway. Have not purchased a manual yet as hoped not to go this deep. Any information on that timing cover deal will be greatly appreciated.
Engine removal is the easiest way to repair the timing cover. Deere has a specific measuring process for the timing cover at the leak point to determine if the cover is defective or not. Unfortunately that procedure is not in the manual. It is in a Deere Solution (Deere's version of a service bulletin). The old cover uses 55 mm long bolts around the outside edge (water pump + 1 not included) and the new cover uses 50 mm long bolts. In the 20+ covers I have replaced not a single old cover has passed the measurement test. If you were to pursue the cover replacement it gets complicated with the governor linkage and adjustments. In short either have a Deere dealer replace the cover or try to reuse yours with the new gasket and a shim that is "glued" to the head. Also note that timing cover removal requires pan removal because the oil pump pickup is attached to the bottom of the timing cover. Don,t use the the new Deere gasket for the pan, it will leak in about 300 hours. Use (Deere#) PM37512 sealant (it is a caulk gun tube and black in color.
Thanks for the reply. I will make updates.
You must have been talking about this freeze plug. Looks like the cream puff has cooling system maintenance issues. Thank you for all the good information. For anyone else working on Deere's I was able to buy manuals on line, from Deere, for the last two I worked on. The shop manual for this skid steer had no engine information. I gave all the engine information to the lady in the office to purchase an engine manual. She found a link to that on the shop manual and down loaded that for free. Everything else is exactly as mg2163 posted.
It is back running like new. The small hole in the core plug mg mentioned caused that stuff to be the coolant. Maintain your cooling systems.