What to do after rollover and hydrolock

[dodge man]

You would be surprised how oil can get past the rings. They aren't designed to keep oil from getting past them if they are covered in the oil from the bottom. It seems like a Forum member had a rollover several years ago and posted about it. He did bend a rod. It still started and ran but the cylinder was so low on compression it had an obvious miss.

 

[LouNY]

While you have the injectors out you may be able to measure with a soft wire or plastic straw how far up all the pistons travel,
if one is a less then the others it would point to a bent rod.
I would recommend pulling the valve cover off and checking the valve clearances,
hydrolocking can tulip the valves, if the clearances are different on that cylinder.
And you could get lucky and have no issues.
If you are carrying insurance on your tractor it might cover the cost of checking and or repairing.

 

[Husaberger]

Thank you Lou
Injectors are still in but think I will pull them and do a rough TDC measurement as you suggest

 

[Husaberger]

hello
my 1st response to a rollover... would be to step back, & be grateful you are still alive & uninjured. glad to hear this thread is not in the safety forum

as to the mechanics, you came to the right place for info & will let others advise. maybe contemplate how the accident happened for future success. walking away unscathed from an accident is a precious gift easily taken for granted... best regards

Agree

 

[Husaberger]

UPDATE
I purchased the Harbor Freight Diesel Compression Tester after work and went to the scene of the accident
I gave the engine a few more turns by hand and no more oil shot out of the cylinders
I tried to install the only adapter in the kit that fit my tractor's glow plug hole threads
It would only seat about half way before bottoming out
I nevertheless gave it a try but there was too much blow by to get a meaningful reading
I abandoned the attempt to determine if there was damage to the engine and simply reinstalled all the glow plugs
The starter had a tough time getting the engine to turn all the way over but once it did the tractor sprang to life with a medium sized puff of gray smoke which cleared quickly
It engine idled as smoothly as ever and once I crawled out of the ditch that caused the rollover I checked the power
No change from prior to the roll over
I feel pretty confident there is no major damage and think I will simply watch things
As one of the previous posters stated, the major takeaway is that I am unharmed
A second blessing is that I there is no major damage to my beloved tractor
Finally, I have learned yet another valuable lesson the semi hard way
If I had been born on a farm I'm sure I would have known how to handle a roll over before I turned 5
Somewhere there has to be a list of 'What to do if this happens' that should be made available to all new tractor owners
Maybe there is and I just haven't found it yet

 

[diesel85]

First thing: Glad you made it out alive. Even dinky lawn tractors kill. The bigger you go, the higher the chance of demise for the operator if they aren't properly restrained.

As far as the "What to do is this happens", can create some lengthy, very biased literature. Everyone is going to do it their own way.

From my experience, whenever I've had an engine go upside down (other than one that is supposed to like a chainsaw or weedwacker, etc), I have my own list of details I go through before attempting to start it again. Whether it's a 3 hp Briggs, to a 500 hp industrial engine, it's all about the same. It's just the level of "detail" you go through on your checklist because of $$.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

If I had been born on a farm I'm sure I would have known how to handle a roll over before I turned 5
Somewhere there has to be a list of 'What to do if this happens' that should be made available to all new tractor owners
Maybe there is and I just haven't found it yet

I was born on a farm, and I never saw any list of "what to do if this happens".

I WAS taught how to "keep it from happening" though.....and I've never turned a tractor over so I guess I was listening. lol

Anyway, I would have done the same thing you did to clear the oil out, and then start the tractor, running it slooowly to see how it ran... It sounds like your engine is fine...

SR

 

[TractorNH]

Glad you are okay and it sounds like your tractor may have made it through okay as well.

The first thing you do is get the tractor upright and walk away...let it sit.

Here's a good video on the topic:
What should you do if you roll your tractor??? - TMT - YouTube

 

[DK35vince]

I couldn't imagine oil getting past the rings on a diesel. That thing wouldn't make compression worth a darn!

I know the old oil bath cleaners would get oil in your intake.

Newer tractors also have the breather vent tube run directly into the intake (most older models simply vented outside the engine). On its side oil can run into the valve covers , thru the vent tubes into the intake.