Blown head gasket? Can I use it?

Gittyup · Mar 25, 2017

I may have a blown head gasket. A lot of gurgling in the coolant reservoir and I've had to add about 1/2 gallon of coolant even though the tractor has just been sitting. Temp gauge, until now, has never risen above second dot at center of gauge. Now it goes up pretty high (not to red) and then comes back down, which looks like the thermostat opening. Then is stays down. Oil looks normal and was changed in last 20 hours or so. It's not cloudy, nor increasing in height. radiator hoses are soft, even when warm. There is no fluid leaking, that can be seen anyway. No white smoke. A little black smoke puff on startup is all. Engine sounds strong and normal.

As long as the temperature stays down and everything else is normal (besides the gurgle), is it OK to use the tractor? Or should I just shut it down and take additional troubleshooting steps. Could it be something else?
Appreciate any advice.

VictorW · Mar 25, 2017

Maybe just a late opening/sticking thermostat and you blew out some coolant on the last use. Is the reservoir gurgling even at start up? You lost coolant but not going into the engine oil, or being burnt through the cylinders, or leaking outside of the engine. If the coolant was low, it had to go somewhere and if the thermostat is opening late/sticking, it may just be pushing the coolant out of the reservoir. I would think if cylinder pressure is going into the coolant water jacket because of a crack in the head gasket causing the gurgling, then that crack should also let coolant be sucked into the cylinder. I probably wouldn't use it until you knew what the actual problem is.

Gittyup · Mar 25, 2017

Reservoir gurgle constantly after starting, and continues to gurgle for several seconds after shutdown. Now it's staying hot. So I've shut it down until I can get it to shop.

ArlyA · Mar 25, 2017

Smart move to get it to your repair shop.

JimR · Mar 27, 2017

Sounds like a blown head gasket. There is much more cylinder pressure under fire than on the intake stroke so a gasket can let air out and not suck in coolant on the intake stroke when the valves are open. I've seen this happen on many gas and diesel engines.

DieselBound · Mar 27, 2017

Not a good idea to run this way. Diesels' combustion chambers tend to be fairly small. At some point with excess fluid will result in a hydrolock situation (which tends to produce bent rods).

Looking4new · Mar 28, 2017

DieselBound said:
Not a good idea to run this way. Diesels' combustion chambers tend to be fairly small. At some point with excess fluid will result in a hydrolock situation (which tends to produce bent rods).

and a bigger headache than a head gasket and way more expensive.

Gittyup · Mar 29, 2017

I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

JimR · Mar 29, 2017

Gittyup said:
I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

ANY tractor can blow a head gasket. Diesels have a lot of compression and that puts a lot of stress on the head bolts. Just look at how many gas motors blow head gaskets and they have nowhere near the compression of a diesel.

DK35vince · Mar 29, 2017

Gittyup said:
I dropped off the tractor with the dealer today. I ran it just enough to get the backhoe off and load it on/off the trailer. It just started puffing white smoke as I rode it onto the trailer bed. Pretty crappy that the gasket doesn't last longer (<700 hours). This appears to be a common problem with these tractors. While I've loved the tractor, not sure I'd buy Kioti again.

A common problem ?
I hope not, I don't recall reading about head gasket issues before.

Gittyup · Mar 29, 2017

If a car blew a head gasket with no more use that my tractor, or even twice that, it would be a piece of junk. My car has more than 5,000 hours on it. No blown head gasket. No injector failure. No failure of anykind.

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark · Mar 29, 2017

Even driving it on and off the trailer was probably too much. Good way to trash your bearings.

Gittyup · Mar 29, 2017

Look it up. It is common, by my standards, and shown to be a marginal design. For years, I stood by Kioti. Defended them; Championed them. Convince others to buy. But this is unacceptable. I will now recommend against them. I've had too many problems. This head gasket is the last straw for me. Had it been 1000 hours or more, I probably could accept it as "things fail". Too many things have failed. I'm done with them.

ritcheyvs · Mar 29, 2017

Gittyup: What other problems have you had? Could any of them (like overheating) contributed to the gasket failure? I blew a head gasket on my Yanmar (Diesel) boat engine some years back. That head was slightly warped (which caused the gasket failure) so I had the head "planed" before reasembling. Hopefully, your dealer will check the head and block for flatness when it's apart and cleaned up.

RickB · Mar 30, 2017

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark said:
Even driving it on and off the trailer was probably too much. Good way to trash your bearings.

Please give details. The OP has no contamination of his engine oil supply.

Gittyup · Mar 30, 2017

Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

DK35vince · Mar 30, 2017

Gittyup said:
Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

Wow
That is a fair amount of issues.
My 2001 DK 35 never gives me any issues. (2000+ hours)
I did have the cracked fuel filter bowl 10 years ago. The updated (white) version seems fine.

JimR · Mar 30, 2017

Gittyup said:
Until now, I never had any overheating issues. Tractor always ran between the dots. Other failures:

Injector pump. Loader failure. Remote detent failure. Cracked fuel bowl. Loader float failure. 4WD lever knob. Bent tie rod.

All design flaws using weak or inappropriate materials, and not a result of workmanship.

I had a tractor once that had 10 times more issues than what you have had. Blown head gasket, broken front spindle, broken rear axle, split banjo housing and a lot more. I think it is in a junkyard somewhere now. The brand was a Ford.

TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark · Mar 30, 2017

RickB said:
Please give details. The OP has no contamination of his engine oil supply.

Dipsticks don't always show coolant in the oil.

Gittyup · Mar 30, 2017

I just online priced a JD 2038R. Real nice tractor, with the typical JD advancements. But, ouch! It's expensive. Don't know what I'm going to do when I get my tractor back. I'd like to sell it. But, notwithstanding the expensive repairs every few hundred hours, it is paid for. What's next? Front axle? Clutch? PTO? I'm afraid to wait to find out.