Milky engine oil

[Slowpoke Slim]

Thanks to everyone for all of the replies. I was already 90 percent in the "no" camp, and this confirms my instinct. As I said in my OP, the price was within the range of fair but not amazing. I primarily wanted a Mahindra of this vintage since I have a loader that I can mount on it...I will just wait for the next one to come along.

The seller is a hobby mechanic who buys and resells tractors as a side business. He said he just got this one just a few days ago and didn't have a chance to do the tune up. He did replace the starter which wasn't working but obviously he hadn't changed the oil. I'm glad he didn't because I'm not sure I would have seen the problem otherwise.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and feedback. There is such a great wealth of knowledge in the forum.

Now I would *really* pass. Sounds like he flips tractors for bux. Ok, that's fine. But sounds like he bought this one then found out it's a turd and not worth his time/effort (means $) to fix. Now he's trying to dump it. Maybe it is a flooded tractor? Either way, it's going to give someone headaches for a long time.

Good luck on your continued search.

 

[rademamj1]

The sad thing is the tractor seller I am sure has already changed the oil, before listing the tractor for sale. I revisited the OP's photos and see its clear oil, not typical old black used oil for this old tractor. I must admit, I focused more on the milky water and failed to note the oil looks quite clean.

 

[emptyjay]

The tractor is now marked as sold so I guess someone else purchased it. Hope it works out for them but I'm glad that you guys helped confirm my decision to pass this time.

 

[crazyal]

Way back when most of us kids had 3-wheelers (back when only Honda made them). The real old ones were called a US90 (James Bond drove one in Diamonds are Forever) and had what people call balloon tires. They were all rubber with a metal insert molded into the wheels to mount on the axles. Anyway there was a neighbor who was skinny as twig who use to drive into the pond and motor around like a paddle wheel. One of the kids who lived a little ways away saw him and decided to see if his bigger ATC with modern steel wheels could do the same. It didn't go well. We were all laughing as he stood on the seat and just the handlebars were above the water. He was lucky and didn't bend a rod as well as his father owned a gas station. I can't remember the number of oil changes it took (but it was a lot) before the oil had just a slight hint of water. My guess is someone got a little too close to a pond or it's from a flood. Or it could be a blown head gasket with some of that magic stuff to plug it up. It's probably had the oil changed once or twice already and the seller was just hoping that someone either didn't look or didn't know any better. Good call on running away. At least with the Honda it has ball/ needle bearings. The bearings on a crankshaft in a diesel engine will not do as well with water.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Water probably antifreeze blown head gasket RUN

 

[finn1]

A simple oil analysis would determine if it’s coolant or just condensation.

My money is on coolant, but you really need the analysis to confirm the presence of glycol if you don’t have the opportunity to observe the tractor for a couple of weeks after an oil change.

You’re probably fortunate that it sold (to someone else).