Did the unthinkable today and partially rolled my 580C Backhoe on a small hill/incline. Got it righted and pulled back to flat land, about 5 hours later. Now I'm worried about oil in the cylinders and starting it too soon creating a hydraulic lock and wrecking the engine. How long is a good time to wait for drainage? A day, three days, a week? Assuming oil drains as fast as it entered... I could pull the injectors and turn it over, but would rather not. Any suggestions - thanks in advance. (stupid, stupid driver.......) Murray
If you're in a hurry pull the injectors and crank it. Otherwise wait a couple of days and bar the engine over manually. If it bars over with no tight spots you're good to go.
Grab the fan and belt and see if the engine turns a tiny bit at a time, then turn it over two full revolutions and it will be fine if it doesn't lock up in two turns. That's assuming it didn't leak oil into the intake manifold that will get sucked in. Don't know if those ever came with an oil bath air cleaner or not.
Were you injured ??
Eek! I do some very minor unflat stuff and tipping over makes me very nervous. Nice to see the erops appears to have done it's job well. Hopefully you weren't tossed around too much!
as the engine still running on its side? Or did you get it shut down prior?
I did the exact same thing to my 580C years ago while I had a tree stump hooked to the front bucket with a chain and was backing up on a slight side slope. Didn't feel tippy at all until it was. The pendulum action of the stump on the chain took me right over when I hit a bump. Mine stayed on it's side about 24 hrs or so until I could round up enough chains and chain falls to pull it back over in the woods. In the end the only thing damaged was the battery from the acid leaking out, not even a single broken window. Can't remember how long it was before I tried to start it after we got her back upright, but I agree with willie, I'd wait a day or two and turn it by hand. If you can turn it by hand you should be fine.
I'd still be pulling the injectors or glow plugs even after it sat a while. It takes less than a teaspoon of oil to hydraulic an engine.
If you have oil on top it cannot drain down in the Piston with the "Mexican Hat" type combustion chamber in the piston top which the 580C definitely has, if there is excessive oil in the piston then the possibility of bending a rod is very real. If you are not sure, pull the injectors. Tomes has it exactly right, as tight as those Diesels are on top a small amount of trapped oil will raise the compression dramatically. Even to the point of firing the oil trapped in the piston top.
Aww....that hoe looks like it taking a nap.
Thanks for the replies! (no injuries - I was lucky!) I let it sit for two days while a Cummings Barring tool was being delivered. Yes the engine was running while on its side - lost all hydraulic power while laid over - so couldn't use the hoe to push it even a bit upright. Barred it through 3-4 full 360 degree cranks (no resistance at all) and then tried to start it. Started up right away. Maybe 2-3 minutes of slight blue smoke, and then everything tested out fine. Very lucky. BTW - engine is a Cummings 4-390 (not the original). Only external damage was one smashed window that opened up as it rolled. Again, thanks for the comments.
Good to hear you weren't injured! I was wondering if it was possible, if tipped over, to push yourself back up with the hoe. Also, to your no injury point- I tipped a golf cart a couple weeks ago, similar to your hoe, and luckily only had a couple near broken ankles. So, it sounds like being way closer to the ground was no benefit! Also again- maybe I need to let my hoe take a nap, it blue smokes quite a bit!
How long did it run while on it's side? It wouldn't have any oil pressure.
It ran partially upside down for about a minute - no longer.
I've always wondered about these situations-no oil pressure but you know there was oil everywhere as the oil would be sitting on the back side of the pistons frothing around like nobody's business. I wonder if enough would stay/get in the crank/cam bearings with that happening like a lawn mower that has no oil pump to begin with. Had one generator engine of that style go over 5000 hours before the head was cracked and bore worn slick, no signs of a rod knock or anything like that.
Will know in short time working it to any level.
How did you right it? Did you grab it at the top of the ROPS?