Okay, now I am sure my WD has a blown head gasket.

I was having some foaming antifreeze problems this spring, and was told that it may just be old/bad antifreeze. So I flushed the system a good 3 times, put fresh in, and all seemed to be well once the radiator found it's "level".

Well, I noticed when hooking up the mower last weekend, that after the tractor sat idle for about 5 minutes (as I tried to hook and grease the mower), when I got on it and pulled the throttle lever down, I got a good blast of white smoke. Didn't think too much of it, though. Noticed the same thing again when hooking other equipment later on that day. Only got "momentary" coughs of white smoke like that, never constant.

So yesterday, I'm out moving some equipment around to be ready for winter, and it was a pretty cold day. So I started the tractor, fired right up and ran great. Was out about 20-30 minutes, and put her away until after lunch. She never sputtered, coughed, or missed a lick.

Came back from lunch and noticed that the overflow had spit out quite a bit of fluid. Fired it up to finish the afternoon chores, and didn't have any more overflow stuff come out. However, as soon as I put the tractor in the shed and shut it off, I pulled the radiator cap -- and there it was, white foamy bubbles on the top!

I also noticed that the upper hose where it comes out of the thermostat area, fluid had seeped around it and onto the valve cover. I can only assume the pressure that pushed it out the overflow that morning had also pressurized that hose and found an "out" there as well. Fortunately I don't seem to have any issues with antifreeze in the oil (but I'm sure if the head gasket is blown I'm getting combustion gasses in there as well as the antifreeze, but who knows). I'm sure it is probably burning oil, too, but with only 14 or so hours on her this summer I haven't run her hard enough to tell. I do try to run her up to operating temp whenever I get her out, though.

So... I think I am going to order a head gasket kit and hopefully work on the tractor this winter and next spring before gardening season. I just put manifold gaskets on it about 5 years ago along with a new waterpump. I've got a thermostat and temp gauge ready to go on it. Anything else I need to replace while I do this? I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start working on it, but I want to order some parts first. Also, should I be worried about the oil pan gasket?

Back the manifold off and check for water in the exhaust. When you pull the head off check the surface of the block and head to ensure that there is no crack. On the WD45, I see a bunch of cracks in the block.

(quoted from post at 03:54:12 11/19/12) Back the manifold off and check for water in the exhaust. When you pull the head off check the surface of the block and head to ensure that there is no crack. On the WD45, I see a bunch of cracks in the block.

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Are these cracks in the block repairable or will I need to find a replacement if this is the case? And what would cause this water in the exhaust?

I've had alright luck with some old Nickle 97 on the block of a WD45. It depends on where it is cracked and how bad.

Try some stop leak. It worked on my skid loader.

Did the white smoke, or steam have that sickeningly sweet smell
of antifreeze? Did you get a taste, of the fluid? It used to all
taste sweet, if it was AF, but now they put bitterant in it to keep
idiots from drinking it!

Inspect webs between cyl's for cracks, if you have no AF in the
crankcase, don't bother with the sleeves. Might as well check the
head for warp, if you have it off, too. Oh, and lap the valves, and
check the valves, and guides, when you have it out.

If the pan gasket ain't leakin, leave it alone, till you get into the
motor. JMHO

To be honest, I couldn't tell you if it smelled like antifreeze or oil... And the latest antifreeze I put in didn't have that sweet smell like it used to that I can recall. The white smoke was just so brief of an instant and the wind wasn't in my favor to tell much. And I hate to run it too much more just to find out. But glad it sounds like I can leave the oil pan alone. I just hope that the head comes off easily, as the last time this was apart was (apparently) in 1975 -- original owner had it bored out and upgraded, as was apparently fairly typical... I guess on that front, will I need to get a different head gasket than the standard one? Or will it need modified?

I am always leery of stop leak mucking up the insides badly. I'd had to do a temp fix now and then have ten times the job fixing it a few years down the line.

I checked again and I just cannot be sure... I can"t tell if the oil/antifreeze smell is coming from the stack or from what has dripped onto the engine (next to the exhaust manifold) from trying to get parts off of it or after the "pressurized coolant leak" from last weekend... Dang it.