head gasket.........(sheesh)

stormpetrel · Jan 3, 2011

normde2001 said:
With the engine completely cold, remove the radiator cap and start it up. check for bubbles in the radiator, (not the bottle), while still cold. Bubbles there = combustion leakage.

I started it, opened the radiator cap, and found............bubbles

At least I know for sure now.........

clemsonfor · Jan 3, 2011

stormpetrel said:
Love it!! You'd do well here in swamp yankee country:thumbsup:

And.......are you SURE I can't use this: $30 Head Gasket Repair? Coolant compatible! Permanent Seal. Easy 3-Steps No flush, leave-it-in. www.Seal-A-Head

I just saw this link at the top of the page and it caught my eye from this post of yours!

normde2001 · Jan 3, 2011

stormpetrel said:
I started it, opened the radiator cap, and found............bubbles

At least I know for sure now.........

Yep, water normally enters the bottle under 12 or so pounds of pressure, but only after warm-up. There may, or may not, be bubbles present. I assume you are sure it's air bubbles and not just movement from water pump action.

stormpetrel · Jan 3, 2011

normde2001 said:
Yep, water normally enters the bottle under 12 or so pounds of pressure, but only after warm-up. There may, or may not, be bubbles present. I assume you are sure it's air bubbles and not just movement from water pump action.

Yeah, they were actual bubbles

. The water bottle bubbles happened at cold startup too.......

Gonna mount a ***************** temp gauge on that puppy, if the idiot light had worked, the idiot (me) would have known and done something sooner. Oh, well, live & learn. I'll never let the radiator get clogged again:thumbsup:

normde2001 · Jan 3, 2011

stormpetrel said:
Yeah, they were actual bubbles. The water bottle bubbles happened at cold startup too.......

Gonna mount a ***************** temp gauge on that puppy, if the idiot light had worked, the idiot (me) would have known and done something sooner. Oh, well, live & learn. I'll never let the radiator get clogged again:thumbsup:

Maybe not, the idiot light does not come on until water temp is a little over 230*.

stormpetrel · Jan 3, 2011

normde2001 said:
Maybe not, the idiot light does not come on until water temp is a little over 230*.

Even so, enough to blow the head gasket!!! If I have a temp gauge, I can shut her down at the first sign of trouble. Now I have to worry about a warped or cracked head......

Interesting note; I tried to buy new head bolts. Can't, cause it has studs!! All the gaskets & parts I needed (including a strainer for the fuel fill) only came to $62!!!

The parts man at Hoye told me the head gasket can blow because of the relatively low torque at the bolts (studs

. He was worried about the possibility of a crack because the engine was not too overheated. He thought it wasn't too easy to warp a Yanmar head; that they could tolerate a good deal of heat.

Opinions??

California · Jan 3, 2011

I would take the head to a specialist cylinder head shop for inspection only. With Magnaflux and dye they can find anything.

I think that light (when it works) is just a boilover warning.

After the cooling system is working properly the tractor should put out full rated power continuously for hours without overheating.

clemsonfor · Jan 3, 2011

stormpetrel said:
Even so, enough to blow the head gasket!!! If I have a temp gauge, I can shut her down at the first sign of trouble. Now I have to worry about a warped or cracked head......

Interesting note; I tried to buy new head bolts. Can't, cause it has studs!! All the gaskets & parts I needed (including a strainer for the fuel fill) only came to $62!!!

The parts man at Hoye told me the head gasket can blow because of the relatively low torque at the bolts (studs. He was worried about the possibility of a crack because the engine was not too overheated. He thought it wasn't too easy to warp a Yanmar head; that they could tolerate a good deal of heat.

Opinions??

To cool a deisel you should idle it back to 1000-1200 rpm untill cool. This is per the manual. Of course you need to remove the fluff and seeds from the front of the radiator at the same time. I pull the trash out of mine at least every half hour if in real seedy/fluffy stuff and less often in shorter non seeded out grass.

stormpetrel · Jan 3, 2011

clemsonfor said:
To cool a deisel you should idle it back to 1000-1200 rpm untill cool. This is per the manual. Of course you need to remove the fluff and seeds from the front of the radiator at the same time. I pull the trash out of mine at least every half hour if in real seedy/fluffy stuff and less often in shorter non seeded out grass.

I'm always very careful to warm up, AND cool down a diesel engine. I get flack from people about leaving the engine running for 10 minutes before I use my tractor/boat. People get huffy when they think it's running for no reason. But I'd never put a full load on a diesel without warming, or shut down without letting her idle.........

Again, it's ironic that the head gasket went AFTER resolving the cooling issue, and after the thing had been running, nice and cool, for hours under load. Oh, well.......

What do folks think about the possibility of a cracked/warped head?

winston1 · Jan 3, 2011

I have had two head gaskets replaced on my ym2002d my a dealer, somewhat through warranty along with other repairs I won't go into. The 2nd time the dealer "said" the head was sent out to head shop. The 3rd time I did it myself. I checked for head warping per Yanmar manual with a straight edge and feeler gages. Checked OK. I visibly looked for cracks which I know there are times they might not be seen with the naked eye. I torqued to the high side and have been running now for 11 months with no problems. My conclusion is the dealer was not torquing tight enough. I used same head bolts, if I had it to do over I probably would use new bolts, although some of mine are studs.