Also got smoke in my breather

[Don_Tomaso]

I got a problem almost like Pauly on my Jinma 254. Smokes a lot from the breather tube and the smoke contains engine coolant (ethylene glycol). And yes i am loosing coolant, but nothing in the engine oil, i'ts nice and clear. No pressure build up in the radiator and no oil in engine coolant. No loss of power or anything and the temperature is steady. The tractor has 140 hrs on it. My dealer is talking about that he will change the head gasket, but he is confused since the engine oil is ok. Any idea's of what it could be? Thanks

 

[Don_Tomaso]

I got a problem almost like Pauly on my Jinma 254. Smokes a lot from the breather tube and the smoke contains engine coolant (ethylene glycol). And yes i am loosing coolant, but nothing in the engine oil, i'ts nice and clear. No pressure build up in the radiator and no oil in engine coolant. No loss of power or anything and the temperature is steady. The tractor has 140 hrs on it. My dealer is talking about that he will change the head gasket, but he is confused since the engine oil is ok. Any idea's of what it could be? Thanks

 

[greg_g]

I'm still waiting to hear from Pauly, but the same question applies; have you ever cleaned it? The smell you're identifying as "coolant" might actually be nothing more than that emulsified mush that builds up inside the breather.

//greg//

 

[greg_g]

I'm still waiting to hear from Pauly, but the same question applies; have you ever cleaned it? The smell you're identifying as "coolant" might actually be nothing more than that emulsified mush that builds up inside the breather.

//greg//

 

[CajunFrog]

Coolant could be leaking into a combustion chamber of one of the cylinders.......bad head gasket! Some coolant vapor could show up as blow by at the breather vent. The danger of this is that if it leaks while the tractor is setting up you could damage the engine by trying to start it with coolant in the cylinder....known as "hydraulic lock". Been there, done that!You will know this because the starter will stall even with a fully charged battery. Easy to spot on a gasoline engine. If you are using the compression release every time you start you may never see it. When you remove the head on an engine with this problem you will instantly know which cylinder.....it will be whistle clean....no carbon!
K

 

[CajunFrog]

Coolant could be leaking into a combustion chamber of one of the cylinders.......bad head gasket! Some coolant vapor could show up as blow by at the breather vent. The danger of this is that if it leaks while the tractor is setting up you could damage the engine by trying to start it with coolant in the cylinder....known as "hydraulic lock". Been there, done that!You will know this because the starter will stall even with a fully charged battery. Easy to spot on a gasoline engine. If you are using the compression release every time you start you may never see it. When you remove the head on an engine with this problem you will instantly know which cylinder.....it will be whistle clean....no carbon!
K

 

[JohnS]

Warning!!! Pure theory follows.... OK mostly theory: /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The breather is connected to the crankcase, and if you are getting water/coolant out the breather, it has to be leaking into the oil. While I have never watched my breather carefully, I would expect some steam from condensation, especially after long periods of non-use. Blowby should be mostly exhaust type gases, and contain little or no moisture. If this has been happening, for a while, and you do not have tell-tale signs of water in the oil, most likely only a small amount is leaking into the oil. Small enough amount to boil out of the oil, through the breather. Possibly the leak only occurs when the engine goes through a cold to hot and/or hot to cold cycle. As mentioned, if water is getting into the combustion chamber, it will be noticably cleaner. If this was a gas engine, you could probably tell from the spark plug. I am not sure if it would apply to the injector tip, since the Y385 is a indirect injected engine. Barring any common or known issues with the Y385, the head gasket would be be the first thing to inspect. You would then have a good view of the chambers and how they have been running.

 

[JohnS]

Warning!!! Pure theory follows.... OK mostly theory: /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The breather is connected to the crankcase, and if you are getting water/coolant out the breather, it has to be leaking into the oil. While I have never watched my breather carefully, I would expect some steam from condensation, especially after long periods of non-use. Blowby should be mostly exhaust type gases, and contain little or no moisture. If this has been happening, for a while, and you do not have tell-tale signs of water in the oil, most likely only a small amount is leaking into the oil. Small enough amount to boil out of the oil, through the breather. Possibly the leak only occurs when the engine goes through a cold to hot and/or hot to cold cycle. As mentioned, if water is getting into the combustion chamber, it will be noticably cleaner. If this was a gas engine, you could probably tell from the spark plug. I am not sure if it would apply to the injector tip, since the Y385 is a indirect injected engine. Barring any common or known issues with the Y385, the head gasket would be be the first thing to inspect. You would then have a good view of the chambers and how they have been running.

 

[tat2z1969]

John is right it could be just enough to steam and not show up on a dip stick. I would drain the oil out and leave the drain plug out and if you don't have one go to a place like Auto Zone and for free they will loan you a Rad pressure tester. Put it on the rad and pump it up to about 18 pounds and leave it over night with a clean container under your oil drain outlet. If you are getting coolant it should show up in the container by the next day.
If none shows up, I would say you have a head gasket leak into a cylinder or one of the freeze out plugs in the head under the valve cover is seeping.
You could try to retorque the head.
I have seen this before, if the above does not work if it were mine I would go to a drug store and buy a bottle of sodium silicate, drain and flush out any anti freeze, fill with clean water add the sodium silicate(also called water glass)run the tractor for 2 hours, drain and leave rad cap and any block petcocks open over night, refill and run it.

 

[tat2z1969]

John is right it could be just enough to steam and not show up on a dip stick. I would drain the oil out and leave the drain plug out and if you don't have one go to a place like Auto Zone and for free they will loan you a Rad pressure tester. Put it on the rad and pump it up to about 18 pounds and leave it over night with a clean container under your oil drain outlet. If you are getting coolant it should show up in the container by the next day.
If none shows up, I would say you have a head gasket leak into a cylinder or one of the freeze out plugs in the head under the valve cover is seeping.
You could try to retorque the head.
I have seen this before, if the above does not work if it were mine I would go to a drug store and buy a bottle of sodium silicate, drain and flush out any anti freeze, fill with clean water add the sodium silicate(also called water glass)run the tractor for 2 hours, drain and leave rad cap and any block petcocks open over night, refill and run it.