Blown head gasket? Can I use it?

[Gittyup]

I may have a blown head gasket. A lot of gurgling in the coolant reservoir and I've had to add about 1/2 gallon of coolant even though the tractor has just been sitting. Temp gauge, until now, has never risen above second dot at center of gauge. Now it goes up pretty high (not to red) and then comes back down, which looks like the thermostat opening. Then is stays down. Oil looks normal and was changed in last 20 hours or so. It's not cloudy, nor increasing in height. radiator hoses are soft, even when warm. There is no fluid leaking, that can be seen anyway. No white smoke. A little black smoke puff on startup is all. Engine sounds strong and normal.

As long as the temperature stays down and everything else is normal (besides the gurgle), is it OK to use the tractor? Or should I just shut it down and take additional troubleshooting steps. Could it be something else?
Appreciate any advice.

 

[VictorW]

Maybe just a late opening/sticking thermostat and you blew out some coolant on the last use. Is the reservoir gurgling even at start up? You lost coolant but not going into the engine oil, or being burnt through the cylinders, or leaking outside of the engine. If the coolant was low, it had to go somewhere and if the thermostat is opening late/sticking, it may just be pushing the coolant out of the reservoir. I would think if cylinder pressure is going into the coolant water jacket because of a crack in the head gasket causing the gurgling, then that crack should also let coolant be sucked into the cylinder. I probably wouldn't use it until you knew what the actual problem is.

 

[Gittyup]

Reservoir gurgle constantly after starting, and continues to gurgle for several seconds after shutdown. Now it's staying hot. So I've shut it down until I can get it to shop.

 

[ArlyA]

Smart move to get it to your repair shop.

 

[JimR]

Sounds like a blown head gasket. There is much more cylinder pressure under fire than on the intake stroke so a gasket can let air out and not suck in coolant on the intake stroke when the valves are open. I've seen this happen on many gas and diesel engines.

 

[DieselBound]

Not a good idea to run this way. Diesels' combustion chambers tend to be fairly small. At some point with excess fluid will result in a hydrolock situation (which tends to produce bent rods).

 

[Looking4new]

Not a good idea to run this way. Diesels' combustion chambers tend to be fairly small. At some point with excess fluid will result in a hydrolock situation (which tends to produce bent rods).

and a bigger headache than a head gasket and way more expensive.

 

[Gittyup]

I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

 

[JimR]

I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

ANY tractor can blow a head gasket. Diesels have a lot of compression and that puts a lot of stress on the head bolts. Just look at how many gas motors blow head gaskets and they have nowhere near the compression of a diesel.

 

[DK35vince]

I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

A common problem ?
I hope not, I don't recall reading about head gasket issues before.