tractor blow by

[phil burckhalter]

hi everyone.
wrote a couple weeks ago with a john deere 445, where i noticed the air filter partially saturated with oil blow by. i checked the left cylinder and the plug was fairly fouled. the right one we clean and tan. i did a compression test, the left one at 165 and the right at 195. a friend told me to squirt a few drops of oil in the cylinder and try again. it then went up to 185. he said this would tell if it were a head gasket or worn rings. its looking like worn rings to me. tractor has 1100 hours on it. i heard someone else had the same amount of hour and had the same problem, same side. it does not smoke at all. could it still be a head gasket? i really don;t want to spend the money for rebuilding it. it does run fairly well, and with all the snow we have this year, i need to keep using it until at least spring. for now i put an oversized tube over the breather tube and have it running under the tractor. anything i can do without doing a major overhaul?

 

[TomSeller]

Kawasaki engine? If so, it might be worth having it rebuilt. How is the rest of the tractor?

 

[john_bud]

165 is good compression. I'd look for other reasons for th oil.

 

[phil burckhalter]

tractor is in decent shape, the 60 in deck is in good shape, very little rust, the 54 in blade is from a 316 that i had to widen the mounting bracket 1/2 in, we get a lot of snow in the buffalo area, where it will easily plow 12 inches, and have pushed as much as 15. it always starts good. i also have a massey 2600, 4 wheel drive with a loader. (i had to use the massey when we got 78'' snow in two days in november)
i would rather use the john deere. so 165 isn't that bad? i wonder what the blow by is then. it does run good with plenty of power

 

[john_bud]

I have a couple machines that when the air filter gets clogged (dirt or SNOW) they suck oil. Just a thought.


165 dry 185 wet is real good. 120 is poor 100-105 is blue smoke bug fogger.

 

[Billrog]

That tube is crank case ventilation your compression is good & if it were a head gasket your coolant would be going down or you'd have oil in it ( bubbles in the rad.)

 

[Dave M7040]

I would be happy with your compression readings.
On my garden tractors, when they get older, I remove the crankcase vent line from the air filter housing, block the hole in the housing and run a long vent line down towards the ground.
If you are really environmentally concerned, put a drip container at the end of the vent hose and empty it periodically. You will find that there is really very little liquid being discharged. As an oil vapor, it is enough to mess up the air intake dirtying carb jets and making the engine run poorly. The vent line is usually close to the carb and after the air filter so it can plug up the carb air jets by making them attract dirt which gets past the air filter.
Dave M7040

 

[Egon]

I'd keep running it and clean the plug on a regular basis. Might want to pull the valve cover off and check for leaky valve seals or. Cruded up oil drain.

 

[phil burckhalter]

I'd keep running it and clean the plug on a regular basis. Might want to pull the valve cover off and check for leaky valve seals or. Cruded up oil drain.

thanks guys, the air cleaner wasn't real clean, and with winter being so cold, the garage gets very damp from snow and salt falling off the cars, the cleaner was actually damp besides the oil on it. someone at work also thought it was a clogged air cleaner. i have a new on on it now, and vented it towards the ground till it warms up. everyone here hit it on the head, i had a little oil on top the plug, thinking that the cover could be leaking or like you said an oil seal or drain plugged up. hearing you say that the compression is good is a relief. someone told me it could be a cracked or broken oil ring, i am hoping it is not that. it is an older tractor but i still think 445 was one of the best small tractors deere ever built