Sick Tractor, Amongst Other Things

I was playing with my new disk two or three weeks ago and after about an hour, I noticed there was gas boiling out through the cap. I thought that was odd, but then I remembered I had just filled it up at the gas station (which I usually don't do) when I went to pick up the disk so I decided I probably overfilled it and when the engine warmed up, the gas expanded in the tank and the extra was running out through the cap and didn't think anything about it.

Last weekend, I swapped over to the mower and got about 1/2 acre done before it started doing the same thing again. I didn't have any time to mess with it again until Monday night. I looked at the gas cap to see if there was anything wrong but couldn't really tell, not that I knew exactly what I was looking for anyway. So I decided to look at the radiator to see if it had been over heating. The fluid was well over the core, but I noticed a real nice and thick film of grim on the radiator cap button. I thought, "well, thats no good", and dipped my finger in the coolant to discover a significant amount of oil where it's not supposed to be.

It's always burned oil, quite a bit of oil, but I have never noticed oil in the antifreeze before. Between that and the 3 pt. beginning to work sporatically all of a sudden, I think its time to start a serious hunt for a new tractor.

In the mean time though, I've spent all week running this grass eating machine at work...230 hp with a 20' deck!

Any water in the oil?
Might just be a blown head gasket. Easy/cheap fix there.
Doesn't fix oil burning or hydraulics, but might make it easier
to sell or trade up.

How do you know if there's any water in the oil?

I put a 1-1 1/2 qts of 15W-40 in it just about every time I run it which usually isn't much more than an hour or so at a time unless I'm mowing and that only happens once or twice a year. The oil is so thick and black I can't tell if its emulsified or not and as fast as it burns it, I think it'd be hard to see the water in the oil.

Just curious.

let it sit overnight. Pull the drain plug out of the oil pan - if it has water in the oil the water will come out first.

After it sets for those months, pull the drain plug, or at least crack it open.
Water will have settled to the bottom and will run out first.
Good time to change the oil too.

I'll check into it. Thank you for the info!

My theory on the "oil" found floating on top is that as the head gasket detereorates around the water ports between the cylinders,it dissolves and mixes with the coolant. It does appear to be oil, but if you skim some off and let it dry in the sun, it turns to a gritty substance as the coolant evaporates from it. What leads me to this conclusion is that I've never noticed it on one that had the all metal head gasket,only with the fiber type. Other than a black film in the radiator,it has never caused me a problem,but is a sign that you may be needing a head gasket sometime in the future. No matter how black your oil is, if it has much water in it, it will at least turn gray. In any case it would be much easier to get water in the oil with the assistance of compression/combustion/bad head gasket than the other way around.

(quoted from post at 08:46:17 09/14/13) My theory on the "oil" found floating on top is that as the head gasket detereorates around the water ports between the cylinders,it dissolves and mixes with the coolant. It does appear to be oil, but if you skim some off and let it dry in the sun, it turns to a gritty substance as the coolant evaporates from it. What leads me to this conclusion is that I've never noticed it on one that had the all metal head gasket,only with the fiber type. Other than a black film in the radiator,it has never caused me a problem,but is a sign that you may be needing a head gasket sometime in the future. No matter how black your oil is, if it has much water in it, it will at least turn gray. In any case it would be much easier to get water in the oil with the assistance of compression/combustion/bad head gasket than the other way around.

Click to expand...

hat is the logic/reasoning behind, " In any case it would be much easier to get water in the oil with the assistance of compression/combustion/bad head gasket than the other way around."?

(quoted from post at 13:37:55 09/14/13)

(quoted from post at 08:46:17 09/14/13) My theory on the "oil" found floating on top is that as the head gasket detereorates around the water ports between the cylinders,it dissolves and mixes with the coolant. It does appear to be oil, but if you skim some off and let it dry in the sun, it turns to a gritty substance as the coolant evaporates from it. What leads me to this conclusion is that I've never noticed it on one that had the all metal head gasket,only with the fiber type. Other than a black film in the radiator,it has never caused me a problem,but is a sign that you may be needing a head gasket sometime in the future. No matter how black your oil is, if it has much water in it, it will at least turn gray. In any case it would be much easier to get water in the oil with the assistance of compression/combustion/bad head gasket than the other way around.

Click to expand...

hat is the logic/reasoning behind, " In any case it would be much easier to get water in the oil with the assistance of compression/combustion/bad head gasket than the other way around."?

Click to expand...

Pressurized oil never gets near the head gasket,or cylinders, but water does. If it gets in a cylinder it will wash past the rings and mix with your oil. If your rings are seriously worn, it will be even easier. what doesn't wash past the rings will most likely go out the exhaust. A small amount of oil might get pushed back into the cooling system. When the engine is warmed up, the coolant becomes pressurized,and continues to be pressurized after shutting off. The oil is just sitting,or lying there waiting for the pressure to send it some water. The only pressurized oil in the cylinder would be from bad rings, and would only be pressurized at combustion time. If it made it into the coolant while running, when you stopped the engine, the pressurized water would be getting back into the cylinders. If oil,thicker than water can get through a hole, thinner water under pressure will go back the other way easier.