2555 blown head gasket?

Ryan_289

Member
A few weeks ago I noticed my temp gauge running higher than normal bit not hot. When I killed it I could hear the radiator gurgling and air pushing past the cap. Replaced the cap but still had air pushing past the cap after running a short time. Changed the thermostat last week but that didn't help. Yesterday I was pulling into the barn and my temp needle got right to the hot line. Popped the radiator cap and cold fluid gushes out. Could a blown head gasket cause this pressure in my coolant system? Oil is clean.
 
My guess is a hole in a liner,,at different times over the years I have had customers come to me with this exact issue on this style engine and want me to change the head gasket,,and every time they came back to have the liners changed..so another time to pull the head and another round of gaskets...
 
Yes, it can be checked with some test-strips dipped in the coolant to test for hydrocarbons. It is a common way to check gas and diesel
engines for leaking head-gaskets.
 
It would be the same result with ether head gasket or liner pin hole,,the hydrocarbon source would be from the same place..
 
Long shot, but maybe the plastic impeller on the water pump has
disintegrated....happened to my 2955.
Ben
 

Had the water pump thought was well. Took it off this afternoon. It's been rebuilt and has a metal impeller. It's not that. Looks as if the head is coming off.
 
(quoted from post at 19:04:31 04/15/18) No,, not really,,,How many hours are on it..

I think 4900 hrs. When I pull the head, will I be able to check for a pinhole in the liner then? I've not really noticed any steam or white smoke coming from the exhaust.
 
Yes. Just a test for a combustion-into-coolant leak. If positive - the head has to come off regardless. Once off, it is pretty easy to tell if there is a head-gasket issue or a cavitation problem. My point was and is - there is a good test to detect a combustion-into-coolant leak without a teardown.
 
(quoted from post at 08:10:02 04/16/18)
When was the last time the corrosion inhibitor test strips from Deere were used to check the coolant ?

Not sure. This was my grandfather's but I've only had it for about a year. I haven't checked it.
 
Ryan,
We had exactly the same problem with my brother in-laws 2555 tractor although it was pushing compression into the radiator. We isolated it to #4 cylinder by pulling injectors and starting it up quickly to see when the bubbling over wouldn't happen. Pulled the head off and found #4 liner below block specifications.The head gasket didn't look bad that we could tell. We figured the head gasket was able to hold for awhile but eventually failed. I ended up doing an in-chassis rebuild with new sleeves, pistons, rings, hoses, belts, thermostat etc and had the head planed and valves ground. Solved the problem. Good Luck!
John
 
Hardly no one uses the test strips or coolant/oil test,,it looks and sounds good,,but not all that accurate....
 
How the heck do you know who uses what all over the country? For myself, and the very small section of the world that I am aware of, plenty of shops use that technique. Are you claiming it does not work? Geez. The poster asked if there is a way to test, so I mentioned it. You must know an awful lot more people then I do to make such a blanket statement.
 
If you are sure that is a combustion-into-coolant leak, just pull the head and have a look. If a liner has a hole in it, you will see it. i
left the Deere dealership just when we were selling the 55 series new. If it is turbocharged - I'd be more suspicious of a hole in a liner.
Kind of rare for a non-turbo 239. They usually need an inframe rebuild before the liners can get eaten up with naturally aspirated versions.

I'd make SURE you check the balancing shafts while into it. That is, unless Deere left them out. At the time when the 55 was new, Deere
sold a few of those engines with no balancing shafts and it did not work out well. They shook pretty bad at mid RPMs.
 

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