IH 3500A problems with coolant leaking around injector

[dodgeram945]

I recently purchased a IH 3500A for moving snow. I started it up the other day and it has coolant running out around the #3 injector. The engine is a d239. I'm not sure what to check out on it. If anyone has experienced this problem before please respond. I don't know if this tractor is worth putting much money into or not. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Eagleview]

I am not at all familiar with this engine , but it sounds like it has either Copper injector tubes like an early GM 2 stroke or "O" rings that seal the pre combustion chambers like a CAT engine . Either way I wouldn't think it was a major problem and would be fixable .

 

[AKfish]

I don't know this particular engine either. And I'm not a professional diesel mechanic... So, my advice is really cheap...

But, my greasy fingernails and bloody knuckles tell me whenever you have coolant coming up from the cylinder into the injector port - you've probably got a problem with either the head gasket, the cylinder head or the block.

If it's the cylinder head or the block - that's expensive.

The head gasket would be the least of your problems - moneywise.

However, all 3 potential problems will require the head to come off to diagnose.

Best of luck.

AKfish

 

[art]

They can be changed out without removing the head! There is a sleeve that it drops into.

 

[AKfish]

How does the coolant come into contact with the injector?

Is the sleeve that the injector fits into surrounded by coolant flow?

Injectors can be "indirect" or "direct" - they spray fuel/air mix into a secondary chamber that's connected to the main combustion chamber or the fuel/air mix is injected directly into the combustion chamber. No idea what this particular engine is --

However, coolant seeping up around the injector says to me that either the head gasket is leaking or the head is cracked, or the block is cracked (dry sleeve cylinder engine type), or the cylinder sleeve is pitted through or cracked (wet sleeve cylinder engine type). No idea is this particular engine is a dry sleeve or wet sleeve motor --

AKfish

 

[art]

How does the coolant come into contact with the injector?

Is the sleeve that the injector fits into surrounded by coolant flow?


However, coolant seeping up around the injector says to me that either the head gasket is leaking or the head is cracked, or the block is cracked (dry sleeve cylinder engine type), or the cylinder sleeve is pitted through or cracked (wet sleeve cylinder engine type). No idea is this particular engine is a dry sleeve or wet sleeve motor --

AKfish

The head has a sleeve installed that is replaceable that goes around the injector when it's installed.

Why would a leaky head gasket cause antifreeze to come out of an injector hole? It would come out the exhausts. Even a cracked head would be hard to believe as they normally leak to the heat when they crack, this to is into the cylinder area.

 

[AKfish]

Why would a leaky head gasket cause antifreeze to come out of an injector hole? It would come out the exhausts. Even a cracked head would be hard to believe as they normally leak to the heat when they crack, this to is into the cylinder area.

I agree... Yes, it would come out the exhaust, too. But that's hard to detect unless you pull the exhaust pipe at the manifold or drop the exhaust manifold.

If the head gasket fails between the head and cylinder it can allow coolant to seep into the cylinder - and then you can get water in the cylinder - and under pressure would/could leak around the injector (and past the exhaust valve).

Coolant can leak down the valve guides into the cylinder - if the head is cracked/gasket shot - and if there's enough fluid in the cylinder, it would push up into the injector when compressed.

I've seen engines that have "cratered" with broken pistons, rods and crankshafts when the cylinder is so full of coolant that there's no room for the piston to move (hydra-locked) and liquid doesn't compress - so, something has to give and it's either the piston, rod or crankshaft or ALL of them.

AKfish

 

[art]

For those times you brought up they are all doing it because the engine was freshly started not coming from a running engine! Oil pressure with a leaky oil cooler while running will load the cooling system 60psi vs 12psi. After the engine is turned off it is possible that the radiator pressure will push coolent into the cylinder area with a blown head gasket but most head gaskets blow outside on the 239 engine in the rear. When they do blow to the inside, it normally is from an overheating problem and they don't go way as they have cracked something!

 

[AKfish]

For those times you brought up they are all doing it because the engine was freshly started not coming from a running engine! Oil pressure with a leaky oil cooler while running will load the cooling system 60psi vs 12psi. After the engine is turned off it is possible that the radiator pressure will push coolent into the cylinder area with a blown head gasket but most head gaskets blow outside on the 239 engine in the rear. When they do blow to the inside, it normally is from an overheating problem and they don't go way as they have cracked something!

Yup, a freshly started engine.

(Don't know about having a leaky oil cooler and what that's gonna do..) Ok.... you know this engine - 239 - and you've seen how things "go to h@ll" if/when it does.

If he's got coolant mixed in with the oil/crankcase - and the OP hasn't said if he does (it SURE sounds like it)- but we all know when that happens; that ain't good...

So, that still leaves me with the question - how do you get anti-freeze bubbling up into the injector - without an overheating problem and something cracked and a blown gasket? What else can cause that..?

Thanks.

AKfish

 

[dodgeram945]

The coolant seems to run out by the injector even when the engine isn't running. It doesn't appear to be in the oil and I also heard that it could possibly be a cracked injector sleeve. I don't know how to verify if it is the sleeve or not, but was wondering how to replace the sleeve without removing the head like was suggested by art.