Water in oil in my Bolens Diesel , Help!!

mayphly · Feb 6, 2006

Hello,
I went to get my tractor ready for the season and it started fine, I drove it around to the front of my house to check the fluids, the radiator was low so I popped the garden hose in to fill it up. I checked the oil and it looked terrible, then to my surprise I see water coming out of the dipstick hole. I assume this is a blown head gasket ? Also, I drained the crankcase to remove the sludge and tried to turn it over to push out anything that might have been left in there, but it would not turn, it acted like there was some pressure inside or something. What can I do ?

Thanks

beenthere · Feb 6, 2006

Welcome to the forum.
Time for a good cleaning and overhaul. To what extent, one will only know when you tear it down. Maybe just a head gasket, and you're good to go.
No bio, but I suspect you are not in the 'freezing' part of the world, otherwise you wouldn't have been filling it with water. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Are you up to the task of tearing the engine down? That is how I learned, but it's not for the faint at heart. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Gator6x4 · Feb 6, 2006

Your cylinders are full of water. Continued attempts to turn the engine over will damage the engine. You will need to remove the injectors to allow the water some place to go if you want to continue trying to turn the engine over. I would remove the head, use a steel straight edge to check it or take it to a machine shop. The head gasket probably gave up. Drain the crankcase as soon as possible, bearings, crankshafts ect. do not like water or anti freeze.

ToadHill · Feb 6, 2006

Gator is right the same thing happened to my son's truck. The head gasket blew and filling the radiator just filled up the cylinders. It requires a head removal and I'd not only check the flatness of the head and block, but it may pay to have the head magnifluxed to check for cracks.

Skaning · Feb 13, 2006

These guys are right, about 90% probable you have a leak at the headgasket. I went through this with my Hinomoto about 2 years ago. Every shop I went to checked it with a straight edge and insisted I didn't need the head shaved. I did a lot of searching for cracks and pressure testing after "just replacing the gasket" and not fixing the problem. Finally I just took it in and said shave it, take about .003 to .005 off. Well guess what, when I went back I got "gee, looks like you DID need it shaved" there was a low spot between the cylinders".

That was what, a second head gasket and about 2 weeks of checking and rechecking block and heads for leaks. My advice, if you do it yourself, do at least a skim cut on the head. It's cheap insurance to avoid having to go back and do it all over again.

Realistically, if you have a shop manual for the engine, and some time, patience, and a little bit of mechanical skill it's not that bad a job. You just don't want to do it twice.

JG

texredneck · Feb 19, 2006

I agree the head gasket is probably the problem, but Ill give you a little heads up on something I ran into a few years ago. I had a similar problem iwtha dodge 318 1996. Front engine cover covering the timing chain doubled as the backhalf of the water pump housing. Basically you have a water channel right there. Its aluminium. There was sediment or something I guess in the water system cause it wore lil pinholes in the channel. This allowed water to leak past and into the crank case. I found this problem out because we thought head gasket or cracked head or god forbid block. Pulled both heads off and did a full overhaul except the block. The front cover was a part to clean and resuse, till the sun came gleaming through what should be a solid piece! Anyway, I would give consideration there could be a component on your tractor that allows passage between water system and crankcase that might have worn a hole. Seems if you can figure out all the possible culprits given this idea, check them out unlike the gasket you should be able to do a pretty close to 100% visual to determine if thats the problem. If not, I agree the head gasket is a good place to start. What a pita though Good luck

BillyP · Feb 19, 2006

<font color="blue"> I popped the garden hose in to fill it up. I checked the oil and it looked terrible, then to my surprise I see water coming out of the dipstick hole. </font>

Could be a head gasket but that's a whole lot of water coming through a blown head gasket....

mayphly · Feb 22, 2006

Hello,
Thank you for all of your ideas on what might be wrong. I was brave today and decided to tear into it, I removed the head and inspected the gasket and indeed it was bad. There was water in two cylinders and the other one was dry. The valves looked a bit rusty on the surface. What is the best way to remove all the gunk from the valve train and the old gasket material ? Any tips I should know when installing the new gasket? Also, does anyone know torque specs for the head bolts?

Thanks

oliver28472 · Feb 24, 2006

The torque on those head bolts will depend on whether your tractor is a D-9 Caterpillar or a S-470 Satoh Buck or a John Deere 790. You will have to tell us what model and brand of tractor you have.