Hola everyone, So my tractor blows tons of smoke out the breather constantly, especially when hot. Probably blowby from bad rings. The water level in the radiator goes down pretty regularly also. This jd 310d doesn't have an overflow container for the cooling system and sometimes I see water overflowing from the tube by the cap when hot, so I figured that was why the water level goes down. However, could it be possible that all this smoke from the breather is actually steam from a blown head gasket? Is that type of thing a symptom of a blown head gasket? The thing works fine otherwise, more or less. Thanks!
Put a hose on the tube by the radiator cap and put it in a bottle of water. With the engine cold start it. If it is blowing bubbles like crazy you have a gasket, head, or cylinder problem.
Follow Tenwheeler's advice. His comment on it being a possible cylinder issue would be liner pitting (if the pitting goes far enough up on the liner) giving you the same results. Very possible with the hrs you have on that unit (over 20,000, correct?).
Do you run water or antifreeze?
Also check this first thing in the morning. Slowly loosen the oil pan drain plug. What is the first thing that comes out?
Hola, thanks for the help. Haven't had a chance to do the bottle test but I opened the cap with the thing accelerated and there are bubbles coming up. I believe that the head gasket is at least somewhat affected if not totally blown. I just started using coolant after taking the radiator to be soldered and the dude said corrosion was starting to be an issue so use coolant. Now I'm wishing I were still using water cuz I think I heard coolant in oil is bad. Water in oil not great but coolant in oil bad. Fact is the thing was behaving well today. Not smoking as badly and didn't lose as much water. Didn't burn much oil either. Some days it burns oil like a weed whacker but today not so much. Worked five hours today digging ditches and ponds. The motor has everything wrong with it but works fine otherwise. My mechanic tells me funny stories about some of the engines he's rebuilt and says I'm thinking about it too much. Says to keep working for the dry season and we'll worry about it when it starts raining. Less thinking, more digging...
Antifreeze in oil is very bad, water isn't a problem as long as it evaporates, glycol doesn't evaporate and gums up the oil, very bad. There are anticorrosives for water used as coolant, that will protect your engine once it's rebuilt. The ethylene glycol is MORE corrosive than pure water, it needs more additives to control the corrosion than straight water, but a diesel engine won't last long with plain water, especially bad water. The other way to look at rebuilding an engine. If it's going to need to be rebuilt, do it sooner rather than later, it's cheaper by far in the long run to rebuild before it damages the crank etc.
Thanks Delmer, we replaced all the crankshaft bearings a few months ago so I hope that's not a stress point. I'm *hoping* to get away with just new rings and a head gasket. Would prefer to avoid talking the block to the machine shop...
I'm not certain which engine the 410D has, maybe a 4239D? But regardless, I wager that engine has replaceable liners, no need for machine shop. But don't listen to your mechanic and wait for the dry season. Fix your problem now. He's not thinking about your wallet. Time is money and so is parts.
Aren't the crank bearings especially susceptible to antifreeze?
Wow honestly dont know where to begin...rebuild the sucker BEFORE you throw a rod, break a crank, or warp the block with over heating. Then it is an easier job....just replace whole engine lol.
If antifreeze/water comes out you could drop the engine oil pan and pressurize the cooling system to see which cylinder the coolant is coming. You might be able to tell if it is the liner or the cylinder head gasket as well. Definitely take care of it now. It will become a bigger expense later.