Need diesel engine help

[Hleeh2o]

I have a t1600 with a small diesel engine. I am losing oil out ot the breather hose that comes out of the valve cover. Losing about 2 to 3 drops per second. All the parts are installed correctly. Is this normal? Is there a fix? Thanks

 

[Egon]

How is the compression?

 

[Hleeh2o]

Haven't checked that, but it runs fine. It has plenty of power, no other problems.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Egon is trying to point you in the right direction.

All crankcase discharge comes from the combustion process. It's blow-by.

But, if it runs fine, as you say, then don't worry about it. Just make sure that you keep the oil level checked.

 

[kuboman]

I have a t1600 with a small diesel engine. I am losing oil out ot the breather hose that comes out of the valve cover. Losing about 2 to 3 drops per second. All the parts are installed correctly. Is this normal? Is there a fix? Thanks

That is a lot of oil. Is there a lot of vapor coming out the tube too? If not I would suspect the splash baffle is missing or out of place. Check the vapor and let us know.

 

[Hleeh2o]

Yes , there is vapor coming from tube. The splash baffles and metal mesh element are present. I've noticed other mowers have evidence of oil leaking, but not as much.

 

[Egon]

First question shoulda been, Does the motor use oil?

What about valve seals?

 

[Hleeh2o]

First question shoulda been, Does the motor use oil?

What about valve seals?

No oil smoke from exhaust. That's why I'm perplexed. It runs great, just loses oil from the vent. I was told not to worry about it, but I can't stand oil leaks.

 

[kuboman]

Yes , there is vapor coming from tube. The splash baffles and metal mesh element are present. I've noticed other mowers have evidence of oil leaking, but not as much.

You need to clarify the amount of vapor. Vapor can indicate worn rings hence blowby hence blow by pushing oil out the breather.

 

[Hleeh2o]

It has a moderate amount of vapor. I ran the engine without the valve cover for a minute or so, and just noticed the normal amount of oil circulating. Is there that much pressure in crank case to cause this problem? Thanks for your help.

 

[kuboman]

Everything sounds normal. Try a different brand of oil. Shell rotella t is a good choice.

 

[Farmerford]

Two or three drops per second is about one quart per hour. I assume the breather tube vents into the air, like the draft tube on cars from the 1950's. It's hard to believe it was designed that way, so something must be wrong. You have checked the baffles, etc. and they seem okay. Are you sure the oil level is correct; any chance someone substituted the wrong dipstick?

I agree with Bigfoot and others; it is almost certainly blowby of combustion gases, probably past the rings. How many hours on the engine? How long has it been happening?

 

[kuboman]

I have seen some engines do similar when they don't agree with the brand of oil. Another trick is to stuff steel wool into the breather baffle. Make sure there is no way it can work its way into the engine. Some engines just have a poorly designed breather set up.

 

[kuboman]

Just hit me to ask, what kind of use has it had? Lots of short runs? Also are you sure it is oil. Maybe it is sucking antifreeze.

 

[Hleeh2o]

It has about 600 hours. I have tried steel wool. When I changed the oil, I put in 2 quarts and the level on the dipstick was correct. Im sure it's oil, at least it tastes like it. I appreciate everyone's responses, this is a great forum. I just got the mower and the previous owner took pretty good care of it.

 

[Egon]

Perhaps it started life being run at constant pto rpm as it is a mower. This may have resulted in some cylinder glazing which leads to a little more blowby???

 

[MHarryE]

Like someone said, 2 to 3 drops ER second equals about a quart an hour. Can you confirm it is using that much? Many small diesels have a lot of blow-by. I have a Shibaura that keeps the mosquitoes at bay with its smoke from the breather tube but uses only a quart every 30 hours or so, something I can put up with. Neither of my Kubotas, however, have smoked like that. Instead they blast the mosquitoes with their dense smoke from the exhaust st start-up or throttle-up. I wouldn't worry until confirming it is a problem. As for the dripping, I have seen machines in Europe with cans wired under the end of the draft tube to catch oil drips because they can stop you for polluting the environment. If you want to see real dripping there should be a picture attached here that shows the ground under our 856 used to power a silage blower.