Head gasket replacement on my Kama TS354C

zogman · Jul 31, 2007

Well after months of denial and watching the symptoms hoping they would change or go away I finally did something about it. The head came off and verified our suspicions(I say "our" because you guys helped me diagnose it) .
The symptoms were:
1. spattering water out of the radiator cap overflow line when the temp gage was close but not in the red
2. gradual temperature rising and eventual over-heating.
3. Engine did not run well enough to stay in green RPM zone but would get really close.

I decided to replace the head gasket after removing the rocker arm assembly to do a 50hr head re-torque and finding a broken bracket which turned into a broken rocker arm rod(really bad day)- long story longer, I had to order parts in which Chip was kind enough to dis-assemble one of his tractors to get me the parts I needed in time for my three day weekend. You never know what can happen so I made sure I had plenty of time

Thanks again Chip! Always buy from a good dealer!

So anyway - Chip sends me a new head gasket with the other parts and I get to work. It really wasn't all that hard just really tedious as Chip had said it would be. Sorry WC Rob - no pictures because I had fuel,oil, sweat,tears and no help in 95 degree zero shade heat.

I had to drain the coolant and remove all the small stuff like hood latch, power steering reservoir, petcock turn handle, glow plug wire and thermostat housing.

I removed the muffler but left the intake and exhaust manifolds on the head because they would require a lot of work to re-attach and besides they are pretty good handles to lift the head up off the block. I left all the fuel injection lines on the injectors but disconnected the overpressure line that connects to the fuel tank to free the head up so I could lift it toward the front of the tractor. Once this was done I just removed the head bolts and it was off. The gasket was definitly leaking because I had rust forming on the head of the #4 and #2 cylinder. I cleaned eveything up, removed the old gasket, scraped everything off till it was new, re-assembled and set the valve clearances in 6 hours and that was being really cautious. I looked like **** though!
The great news is the tractor runs better than ever, it jumps to 2300 RPM and stays there witout fluctuating and I ran it for about an hour at all different rpms with no over heating or coolant loss. I could barely get the temp to go above 40 degrees celsius mark on the gauge. I even ran it up the biggest hill I have on my property in 3L several times and it didn't even drop the rpm, that is a definite change.

Thanks for all the help and advice, as you can tell I'm one happy camper!

East Coast Rob

3RRL · Aug 1, 2007

Great write up EC Rob.
Another perfect job done in record breaking time.
I wish you had at least one photo though. Would like to have seen it all apart and then one of you too.

BTDT · Aug 1, 2007

Good job on the repair. How many hours were on the unit?

IH3444 · Aug 1, 2007

After removal of the cylinder head, did you check it for warpage? I believe that a cylinder head flatness should be within 0.005" across the entire length. Always just good to check. Just because it's new, doesn't necessary mean it's flat. I'm sure that the problem was a mistorqued head from the factory, and that you have the problem licked. Sounds like the head has already been seasoned, by running towards the hot zone.

psj12 · Aug 1, 2007

Don't forget to retorque that head while warm after some operating hours.

zogman · Aug 1, 2007

BTDT said:
Good job on the repair. How many hours were on the unit?

The tractor has 129 hours on it and has had the problem since I bought it.

zogman · Aug 1, 2007

3RRL said:
Great write up EC Rob.
Another perfect job done in record breaking time.
I wish you had at least one photo though. Would like to have seen it all apart and then one of you too.

Thanks for the compliment Rob, I wish I could've gotten some pictures for everyone, I know a lot of folks would like to see the insides of the cylinders. I was really dirty and I had no help to take any pics though.

My tractor maintenance is far from perfect, F-16s are a lot easier for me. Wires and electronic components don't weigh that much and there is almost no oil involved!

zogman · Aug 1, 2007

IH3444 said:
After removal of the cylinder head, did you check it for warpage? I believe that a cylinder head flatness should be within 0.005" across the entire length. Always just good to check. Just because it's new, doesn't necessary mean it's flat. I'm sure that the problem was a mistorqued head from the factory, and that you have the problem licked. Sounds like the head has already been seasoned, by running towards the hot zone.

Sorry, I did not check for warpage because I wouldn't know how and I assumed it was the gasket since it was something that had been a problem since new. Any info on how to check would be appreciated!

zogman · Aug 1, 2007

psj12 said:
Don't forget to retorque that head while warm after some operating hours.

How many hours would you think? I would guess 50hrs like the initial re-torque.

schmalts · Aug 2, 2007

zogman said:
Sorry, I did not check for warpage because I wouldn't know how and I assumed it was the gasket since it was something that had been a problem since new. Any info on how to check would be appreciated!

They sell straight edges for this. Basicly lay it on the head surface the long way, and make sure you cannot slide feeler blades of a certain size under the straight edge anywhere and you have a good flat head surface.
A warped head can cause repeat gasket failure. You should be fine, dont worry about it unless the gasket fails again then you need to check it and get it milled if out of spec. Specs depend on how long the head is because that makes a difference on how much warpage the head bolts can make up for with clamp load but most are close to the same spec. Usually what warps a head is severe over heating.