Oily water/coolant coming out of the breather tube on valve cover

[yippicoyote]

I'm hoping to hear that my head gasket is blown, but I'm afraid it may be worse. I had coolant issues last winter and I replaced a freeze plug that had popped out of head and when I refilled the radiator, oily water came out of the breather tube on top of the valve cover. Do I have a cracked head? If so, can it be repaired, or should I just suck it up and replace it? Can DYI type do this job? HELP!

 

[arrow]

Yes , if it is a cracked head, many times it can be fixed. There is a cracker jack welder/engine builder near me that thinks fixing a cracked head ( or engine block for that matter) is simply a routine welding job with a couple of extra steps. Replacing a head gasket is a rather straight forward job that can be done by a person that has simple hand tool skills. Torque stats and sequence are vital pieces of information you need ahead of time.

 

[Don87]

You had a little more than a 'coolant issue' if it pushed a 'freeze plug' out.

Head and block need check for cracks. You can tear it apart, but it still needs checked by an engine rebuilder/machine shop.

You will need torque specs and lots of tools to do it yourself, but yes...........you can do it yourself. I would suggest looking at 'engine rebuilding videos on you tube or such BEFORE you decide to try it yourself.

 

[Waldershrek]

What kind of coolant issue would push a freeze plug out?

 

[Don87]

What kind of coolant issue would push a freeze plug out?

none. as in no or little antifreeze.

I could expand a little. Sometimes we get leaks, then refill with water(It's the quickest and easiest), and forget later on the check to see if it's good for below zero temps as tractors generally aren't used everyday, and sometimes never used in the winter.

 

[Leejohn]

I know everyone calls them freeze plugs, but they are casting holes that are pluged. When one is popped out about 50% of the time there is something else that might be cracked.

 

[yippicoyote]

Well... I had a slow radiator leak so I kept adding H2O until I lost my anti-freeze. Didn't realize a NC winter would get cold enough to freeze my engine. Yeah, I feel like an idiot.

 

[Don87]

Well... I had a slow radiator leak so I kept adding H2O until I lost my anti-freeze. Didn't realize a NC winter would get cold enough to freeze my engine. Yeah, I feel like an idiot.

Best of luck with the repairs, but as I said, the block needs checked as well as the head. And to do this yourself will require lots of tools: wrenches, sockets, feeler gauges, torque wrenches, ridge reamers, cylinder hones...........lot's of tools.


I'm taking for granted that it's the 135 that this happened to. If it is, there's no sense in half-***ing it, if it's repairable, it's worth rebuilding completely.

And TBN member masseywv had a rebuild thread over in the 'Massey Vintage' section where he did just that....