First tractor, did i get burned? ym2000 cracked block....

c low · Sep 12, 2012

Well i bought my first tractor and i think i got burned. I posted a wanted add on some semi-local forums that are fishing and offroad related. A guy responded saying he has a ym2000 tractor with a boxblade,rotary cutter, and a finish mower-that needed work. He sent me some pics of everything and all looked good. He said the tractor ran great and he used it to cut his yard up until about a year ago when the finish mower gave out. I drove over to look at it.(2 hours) It looked good for its age. It was kept in a shed, and he told me that when he moved to that house about 10 years ago the previous owner worked the tractor into the deal for him. He said the previous owner had it roughly another 5 years before that. He brought it out and i looked it over. Eveything worked good, lift,clutch brakes, the engine started right up. He did say it was low on radiator fluid, i figured the old radiator probably has a leak, no big deal. Well i talked him down a little and gave him $2800 cash for the tractor, 4' rotary cutter(good shape), 4' boxblade(good shape), and king kutter finish mower that is in repairable shape(needs spindle and some idler pulleys and a good blasting and painting). We loaded it all on my trailer and off i went.

I got home filled up the radiator and drove the tractor off my trailer. I took it around to my back yard to drop off the finish mower, then i drove back to the front yard to move the next attachment. I hooked up to the rotary cutter and drove it to the back yard and dropped it off. I drove back around to the front yard, hooked up to the boxblade and drove the 300 feet to the back yard again and turned the engine off. I heard water boiling in the radiator. Im now upset.
The next day i take the upper radiator hose off from the radiator.Thinking i need to flush rust and crud out of the system, I undo the cap and backflow the fluid with a garden hose for roughly 10 minutes before the radiator fluid turns somewhat clear. It was a rusty black color! basically black!
I let the tractor run without the upper radiator hose unconnected to the radiator,while topping off radiator with garden hose to keep up to water pump, but water would barely pump flow out.a small stream. If i raised the hose slightly above the normal height of the hose it would not pump out. IS THIS NORMAL?
So by now im thinking that i need a water pump, and that just my fluid looks rusty black. well i reatach the hose and run the tractor for 15 minutes or so leveling a small dirt pile. Water is barley steaming from the overflow tank, but i did have to much water in it to beginn with. BUT, after it cools a bit i open it up and it is already black! Now im thinking im getting oil or smutt in my coolant.

Maybe i need a headgasket and a water pump im thinking?

Well im looking at the motor to see any parts i need while i order stuff and what do you know! I think i see a crack in the block near the starter! it looks like it has been partially jb welded or what not. Its not leaking but im concerned about my block being cracked. How do i know its not cracked on the inside?

Im out of $2800...i Barely even make that in 2 months right now.Im mechanically inclined, self taught. Im wondering if i just slapp more jb weld on it, and replace the head gasket and water pump and hope it doesnt overheat. The engine runs great, but has cracked block/overheating issue. What do i do?

My father is giving me a few acres of land, i bought this to do everything i need to do to prepare in getting bushes gone, yard level, and a foundation set up to build a house. I figured id be better off to do the work myself with this tractor and have something in the end instead of just being out of money for labor gone into the air.

Thanks so much for yalls opinion of what i should do. I have this posted on hoyetractor as well.Sorry for rambling -Chris

California · Sep 12, 2012

I don't know the answer, but have just one suggestion:

Until you get this sorted out be sure to start off using the compression release every time you crank it over. Uncompressible water in the cylinders will break the rings or worse.

BleedingOrange · Sep 12, 2012

Try putting some anti-freeze in the rad, instead of just water. The anti-freeze has some anti-corrsion properties in it that may help loosen up some rust and help you to get all the black crud out of your rad. You got a lot of attachments with the tractor, so I don,t really thing you got burned to bad, but hopefully the crack in the block will not be to costly to fix.

c low · Sep 12, 2012

i just went outside and looked at the cracked area again. near the starter on the block there is a bulge, tube shaped that runs horizontal. this must be a coolant passage way. anywho, along this tubular bulge in front of the freeze plug is where the crack is located. I wouldnt have noticed it because the jb weld is almost the same color as the frame/engine paint. I only noticed it because of small line of rust which is the crack.I will try to get a picture. i do not think the crack affects the inside of the engine. My motor runs great though! No smoke at all coming out of the pipe, no water in the oil. But the oil does look supringly clean for a diesel.

c low · Sep 12, 2012

10-4 on the compression release. I believe i may have 2 problems;1 being my overheating issue caused by a bad water pump and headgasket. and 2, just a crack on the outside of my block. I am waying my options of what do to. I highly doubt i could just find a block or even a running motor. So i figure i either can goober on some more jb weld and replace my water pump and headgasket and install a good temperature guage and hope it runs cool and fluids stay where they belong. Or Get it welded and do the same. I think im going to do this and run it as long as i can. who knows.

Alien · Sep 12, 2012

Do you get frosts in your area or the area where the tractor was? If so, because the tractor didn't have anti freeze in there is every chance that may have caused the block to crack. It may only be cracked externally so your JB weld may do the trick. I have never used the stuff and I have never had frosts where I live now thankfully.

joshuabardwell · Sep 12, 2012

Guido455 said:
You got a lot of attachments with the tractor, so I don,t really thing you got burned to bad, but hopefully the crack in the block will not be to costly to fix.

This is a good point. I would guess you got maybe around $1000 in attachments, depending on condition. On TractorHouse.com, YM-2000s are going for between $3k and $8k, so I think you did all right even if there is a little work to do on the engine.

kenmac · Sep 12, 2012

If plain water has sat in the rad. & engine you may have to have the rad. cleaned out by a rad. shop or a new rad.The block may have to be flushed several times to get the crud out. The cracked block ?? who knows. maybe you could have it welded .If it's cracked in a water jacket. I doubt that jb weld could hold the pressure build up

c low · Sep 12, 2012

OK, i just drained some of the water from the radiator and added roughly 20 oz of antifreeze-one water bottle full(just changed radiator in my dads truck and it was left over new coolant). I think before the radiator was filled with water and the overflow tank was filled up all the way. When the engine heated up and tried to release pressure into the overflow it would spew out. Anyways, i put just 20 oz of coolant in the system and made sure the overflow bottle was at the fill line and not above. I just ran the tractor at about 1500-1700 rpms for roughly 30 minutes while using the boxblade to breakup an old pile of dirt. The tractor seemed to do fine.It did not spew and steam out like before. What mixture do yall reccomend of antifreeze/water? I know antifreeze lowers the boiling point of the water as well.
I am going to order a water tempurature guage, and oil pressure guage, flush the radiator and block with radiator flush from auto store,replace radiator cap, and refill the radiator with (50/50) antifreeze/water mixture and run it as is and keep a careful watch on things.If it actually does overheat after this i will then replace head gasket and water pump, but i dont think i will have to.

We do get freezes in winter time, usually not too many a year. And also, the boxblade and bushog are in great shape, the finish mower needs bearings and a belt.

Thanks again, Chris