Changed head gasket now hard start....wtf?? lol

Case450

Member
i put my case 450 w/188 cummins diesel back together after changing headgasket. new headstuds, torqued to spec in sequence, new oil, filters and coolant.

Went to start and it turns over hard killing two fresh 1150 cca batteries. No start. Puffing white smoke (it's diesel fuel smoke) while it's turning over.

Not too sure what the deal is here. Could use some help.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 
Are the injector pipes on in the right sequence,check them they must be connected in the correct firing order to both the pump and injectors which is 1342,have a look at them,looking at the pump from the back the firing order is clockwise,just for the record your 188 is a Case engine nothing to do with Cummins.
AJ
mvphoto17649.jpg
 
Hey AJ,

I didn't fiddle with the lines when I disconnected them when I did the head gasket (I didn't remove them completely) but I went into the shop and double checked the lines and they match up to the diagram exactly.

I'd call in a mechanic with some experience however all the mobile guys in my neck of the woods have hung up their hats. To bring in a mechanic from town will cost me 650 just to get him to my yard and than another 150 per hour on top of that for every hour he's on site (rounded up). All the old boys are retiring it seems. lol

Sorry kind of went on a rant there. But yeah, the lines are cool, still doesn't start. lol
 
Are the valves adjusted correctly? Was any work done on the head such as resurface or valves ground?
If all you did was put on a new head gasket, the valves would be the only thing requiring adjustment. We are presuming that there is no coolant leakage into the cylinders.
The engine should turn over as easy as it always did. It the starting motor good?
Agri Services
 
Right had to get the possibility of the injector lines out of the equation,check the coolant level,see if it's gone down from where you filled it to,fill it to the very top,leave the cap off and crank the engine over and and watch the filler to see if the coolant is pushed out or has bubbles coming through it,the white smoke usually means water in the cylinders turning to steam,if the compression leaks into the coolant the coolant will leak into the cylinders,check the exhaust for moisture in the white smoke,why did you think the gasket was gone in the first place,where did you get the gasket and what is the part number and serial number of the engine so I can check if its the right one.
AJ
 
all that was done was swap out the head gasket. Didn't have any machining work done at all. When I had the head off I put a straight edge across it and there was no daylight coming through.

the head gasket came from the case dealer. first he sent the wrong one and after about two hours we finally got the right one.
 
I figured the head gasket was shot because when I would first start the machine it would belch out lots of white smoke that smelled kind of sweet and it was hard starting (just like it is now, again lol) so I pulled it into the shop and pulled the oil and sure enough there was lots of coolant in it.

This had happened to me shortly after I bought the machine and it was the head gasket at that time.

I will try the coolant thing today. See what the coolant does. I think I will drain the oil again just to check it out.

Stands to reason the thing would start like it had before if the problem were fixed but I must have overlooked something. Will post back later on the coolant findings.
 
just changing the head gasket don't mean much if you are not sure that was the culprit. coolant can be entering from a crack in the head or sleeve. usually when coolant problems are present the head should be sent out for magnaflux. sounds like you still have the original problem going on here. and for the starting... the valves had to be inspected once out, as they could be do for resurfacing. but the first thing to do was a compression check. saves guessing and wasted money.if compression is not up to spec she will be hard starting.
 

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