Too good to be True

[msjanket]

I spoke too soon. No sooner do I get my 1502, I look under the hood, take out the dipstick and gasp for breath. The crankcase was filled with horrendous sludge, looked like Bunker C oil. Thick, heavy, disgusting. I had run the tractor around my place a couple times, got the oil a bit looser, and then took out the dipstick. Ugh!! So, I drained it, changed the filter, and put in new oil. I did that 4 times, running the tractor around the place for around 15 minutes. One of the areas I went up was a reasonably steep hill. At first, after the first transfusion, I went up real slick, no hesitation at all. The fourth time I changed the oil and was going up the hill again, POOF!! Tons of smoke came out, grayish in color and the tractor got wheezy and I shut 'er off. Waited a bit, started it up again on the level ground. Very hesitant to start, but I got it going. Ran it around some more, tried another slightly shorter hill, still fairly steep, and POOF!, out comes the heavy smoke.

What do I do here? I thought about soaking the engine in either diesel or kerosene, then draining completely and replacing with oil. I'm sure this engine is sludged up real bad inside. Good idea, bad idea?

As far as the tractor purchase is concerned, the seller is off to vacation with his family the coming week, so I'm writing him a letter telling him what happened. No guarantee on the unit, just want him to know what happened and appeal to his decency.

Any feelings one way or another out your way? Just curious what you folks would do in the same situation. I payed very reasonable money but would rather this did not happen. The guy seemed decent and square and he mentioned that his dad, the original owner, had it in the barn for a long, long time without running it. Like I said, it is balky to get started now, wonder what that's all about.

Would greatly appreciate your thoughts,

thanks

 

[WKTEDDYBEAR]

any whiteish, brownish or yellowish sludge especially in oil fill cap?

 

[Yandaddy1110]

Not long ago I picked up an Iseki/Bolens H1502 for a friend of mine. Soon after he started using it , he says"Dude, this thing has a bad head gasket", then it was "Dude, the valves are bad in this thing" so I goes over there to see what all the fuss is about and sure enough The RADIATOR is plug up with dirt and debris, inside and out.
Had him blow it out and it helped then suggested flushing it out with water. This is a 25 year old tractor, so ended up pulling it out and brought to a radiator service shop. It runs perfect now.
Did you clean out the radiator yet?
Overheating will kill that thing long before gunky oil will. The first oil change should have been plenty good.

 

[msjanket]

Yes, the underside of the fill cap has sludge built up, merely a proxy for the ethylene glycol that leaks from the radiator into the crankcase. No oil in the radiator, though. I filled the radiator, took out the drain plug and a minute later, the glycol was leaking profusely out the drain plug hole. The rate was voluminous, not a trickle you'd get with a micro-crack in the block. I figure it's glycol leaking around the pump shaft. I put in nearly a gallon of the 50/50 solution to fill the radiator, and it emptied in about 25 seconds. Whoosh!!Not a block crack, too fast. The tractor was known to sit inside a barn for years, perhaps the gaskets/seals dried out and got fragile and when I ran it a while, packing broke out and it leaked bigtime. Not sure if a head gasket with metal cladding would blow out with this much flow. To have a block crack run this fast, you'd need a chunk broken out. Possible, but perhaps not likely.

 

[WKTEDDYBEAR]

does it have an internal waterpump shaft?

 

[msjanket]

Internal shaft. Round flange to attach fan on front side.

 

[msjanket]

I have NEVER seen such tarry, sludgy "oil" in the crankcase. It was gunk like asphalt. I swear the guy never drained and replaced his oil. Like a swamp Yankee, he just added to the engine when the level went down.

 

[WKTEDDYBEAR]

never seen one so did not know, all water pumps I have seen were belt driven, I think maybe you that could be it

 

[WKTEDDYBEAR]

I have NEVER seen such tarry, sludgy "oil" in the crankcase. It was gunk like asphalt. I swear the guy never drained and replaced his oil. Like a swamp Yankee, he just added to the engine when the level went down.

how hard would it be to remove the oil pan on it?

 

[Argosy]

The only place a water pump can leak is outside the block.

Either the head gasket is shot or there is a crack in the block or head. The suggestion to check the radiator is an excellent one. If it's plugged the engine probably has run hot and there's a good chance the head is warped, thus your leak and smoke.