Damaged block installing block heater L5240

[BigBoyToys]

Yup, at this point, slow and steady is going to fix the problem. If the block is trash, I'll buy a new block. It's that simple. My only bad habits are Tractors and Hunting.

Tractor has 850 hours on it and I just payed $22,000 for it in August to avoid Tier 4 on the new ones.. Yeah, it's worth it.

Mine as well...archery is one of my addictions!!! When not hunting...on the 3D course.
I bought my B3030 this past Sept. A 2006 with 242 hours on it. I too didn't want to mess with the tier 4 crap and saved some cash to boot! Whatever the repair cost is, it will be MONEY WELL SPENT!

 

[5030]

I'm with you. I don't like that knocking sound of a cold diesel (the engine or my heart!).

If it don't make a knocking sound (thats ignition noise not anything else), something is wrong, like no compression. I didn't know the new units had automatic glow plug control. Mine don't but I rarely pre-heat anyway. They have enough compression to start in 2 turns with good batteries.

Far as engines lasting longer, 96% of owners on here would never accrue the hours I do on a tractor. I typically accure 1000 hours a year and that is all in a heavy use farming scenario...which is all I use mine for anyway.

Last Saturday I started my 105 that had been sitting for 2 months in the unheated barn with no electricity. Was 26 degrees. Pre heated it about 15 seconds, cranked it over maybe 1 turn and it popped right off.

It's all in the start batteries. In my case Group 31's with 1100 CCA.

 

[arkydog]

this is just my thought. once you get time to find out if the hole is below the compression rings and oil ring, dissemble block and take to a machine shop and have them mike the thickness of the damaged wall. if thick enough, have them install an allen head set screw with the same sealer the use to install the factory oil passage drill ports. like an internal oil passage port. think of it this way, those passage port plugs never come out from an engine, why should this one. as for as oil coming out of the exhaust port,that is from the antifreeze leak nearest that piston rings and not the other cylinders.; more concentrated there and under pressure.

 

[pmsmechanic]

this is just my thought. once you get time to find out if the hole is below the compression rings and oil ring, dissemble block and take to a machine shop and have them mike the thickness of the damaged wall. if thick enough, have them install an allen head set screw with the same sealer the use to install the factory oil passage drill ports. like an internal oil passage port. think of it this way, those passage port plugs never come out from an engine, why should this one. as for as oil coming out of the exhaust port,that is from the antifreeze leak nearest that piston rings and not the other cylinders.; more concentrated there and under pressure.

I had this thought also after thinking about the problem for a few days. Why wouldn't threading the hole and installing an allen head screw cure the problem? If there is room in the water jacket then the screw could even have a head on it. A star washer and some red silicone under the head and it wouldn't turn out.

Just make sure that there is nothing protruding into the cylinder wall!

 

[pmsmechanic]

this is just my thought. once you get time to find out if the hole is below the compression rings and oil ring, dissemble block and take to a machine shop and have them mike the thickness of the damaged wall. if thick enough, have them install an allen head set screw with the same sealer the use to install the factory oil passage drill ports. like an internal oil passage port. think of it this way, those passage port plugs never come out from an engine, why should this one. as for as oil coming out of the exhaust port,that is from the antifreeze leak nearest that piston rings and not the other cylinders.; more concentrated there and under pressure.

I had this thought also after thinking about the problem for a few days. Why wouldn't threading the hole and installing an allen head screw cure the problem? If there is room in the water jacket then the screw could even have a head on it. A star washer and some red silicone under the head and it wouldn't turn out.

Just make sure that there is nothing protruding into the cylinder wall!

 

[Botaskinner]

I had this thought also after thinking about the problem for a few days. Why wouldn't threading the hole and installing an allen head screw cure the problem? If there is room in the water jacket then the screw could even have a head on it. A star washer and some red silicone under the head and it wouldn't turn out.

Just make sure that there is nothing protruding into the cylinder wall!

I've been following this thread with interest since it started, and hope for a good outcome.

These comments about an allen head setscrew remind me of a fix my Dad did on his company truck (that's the kind of guy he was...he just got stuff done). Anyway, it was a Chevy Stovebolt 6 cylinder that developed a crack between two cylinders. It was solid metal between them with a water jacket just below the block deck...he drilled and tapped for a #10 machine screw, installed it then trimmed it & filed it flush with a fine file, then drilled a second hole so the next screw bit just a little into the first one. I think there were 3 screws total to bridge the crack. It held just fine for the rest of the time he had the truck.

I believe he used some sort of gasket sealant, this was close to 50 years ago and they have much better stuff out there now...if this hole is below the piston skirt or at least below the oil ring, it will be much more thermally stable than Dad's repair between those two combustion chambers. It should be not much hotter than 212 degrees, right?

Carefully measure the depth of the hole--you might be able to get a depth micrometer to bridge the surface of where the the core plug was, zero it out against the side of the cylinder then determine how far it is to the piston.

Use the finest thread/smallest diameter stainless steel capscrew you can find (socket head would be great), trim to just under the wall thickness, this way you have a head that will prevent the screw from going too deep. Red Loctite 272 is your friend here. It's good to 450 degrees.

It could be a stopgap, or it may last much longer, but you don't have much to lose at this point and at least could buy time if you had to save up for a new engine block.

 

[Ford850]

Here is another person that did basically the same thing , may be worth reading.

Drilled Hole into Engine Block [Archive] - OrangeTractorTalks - Everything Kubota

I think this other thread was missed by many. The same problem as Adiredneck's, and they fixed it with a threaded bolt.

 

[ruffdog]

Most times a permanent "plug" should be made out of the same type metal as the surrounding metal. That way the difference of expansion rates doesn't work to loosen the plug. Most silicone sealers are not good for use submerged in coolant. There were times we would "plug" holes in manufacturing the large OP and Pielstick engines but there was always acceptable proccesses. As I stated before, I would take the time to do a permanent repair instead of a quickie.

 

[BigBoyToys]

There's time when "Yankee Ingenuity" is a good thing...and other times not so much!
I'd be pulling the block and taking it to a good machine shop to fix the hole properly and sleeve the cylinder. While it's out, freshen up the engine as needed and it will last you a lifetime...Once and done!

 

[Ford850]

Since this is a relatively new tractor, I agree it should be done the right way. But the other thread is interesting IMO, and I'm a little surprised a simple fix like that worked.