Our 863 blew a head gasket and I'm confused. It has 900 hours on it and the only major service was a new timing belt at 700 hours installed by the Bobcat dealer. When I took off the head I found a fiber gasket. I thought all Duetz used a multi layer steel gasket. I ordered a new gasket from Foley engines who I used before and they suggested that I use a fiber gasket again. The gasket is installed following the Workshop manual instructions and the valves are adjusted properly. Now I do not get good compression anywhere. I've even loosened the rockers on one cylinder so that the valves aren't opening and don't get good compression. This engine has always been a good starting engine. Obviously the blown head gasket was a problem - it burned lots of oil but it started right up. Now it won't start or try to start. Triple checked valve adjustment and used a straw to make sure I was TDC on cyl 1 then followed the instructions from both Bobcat and Duetz (they matched). There was carbon build up in a copule cylinders. I ran a wire brush across those before installing. Compression values are something like 100 psi, 100 psi, 200 psi, 300 psi after several cranks of the engine.
Well, 300psi is low and the rest are bad. Did you check the block and head for straightness with a proper straightedge and feeler gauge?
I took the head off after my post. When we replaced the blown gasket it was consuming lots of oil. So there was lots of buildup on a couple of cylinders (at the head). I'm going to clean it up and see if the valves will hold fluid when closed. I'll also do the feeler gauge test and report back before I reassemble. Thanks for looking at the post.