743 Bobcat - Water in oil

[Vividus]

Just got a 743 Bobcat at a auction. 2800 hrs. Looked very clean and well cared for. Starter a little glitchy, but runs very strong, sounds great and good hydraulics. No exterior leaks on engine and looks clean. I have not run it other than getting it home. I then noticed the coolant was down so I filled, next thing I know I have oily/water mud coming out of the oil over flow and dip stick. So I know this probably means $$ and a bad head gacket, head or cracked block. Where should I start and how do I go about deteremining what it is? I am not that familar with Bobcats or diesals. Thank you for any help.

[SSdoxie]

Expect a cracked head. This is an age old failure with lots of history, not just in this Bobcat or Kubota engine but in indrect injection engines in general. Engine cooling system overheats, for whatever reason, the engine gets shut off HOT then the coolant around the combustion chamber in the head starts boiling while the rest of the head starts to cool. Different cooling/contraction rate causes the head to crack.

[wthompson]

If you plan to do the work yourself i would get a service and parts manual from dealer or ebay.Does it have a Kubota diesel ? Sounds like a blown head gasket... hope for the best and expect the worst...

[pedalstomper78]

The best way to find a leaking cooling system is with a cooling system pressure tester. This pressureizes your cooling system the same way that the heat does. Where you hear the "pssssssss" noise, that'll be your leak.

If it's leaking that fast, I'm thinking that you'll be finding a bigger problem though. With some obvious internal issues, get a manual, and start taking some pieces off.