Coolant in crankcase

humblesmith · Dec 24, 2015

I have a JD 2640, 4100 hours on it. It was losing coolant and starting to get hot. I checked the oil and it had emulsified big time. I pulled the oil pan and saw pure green coolant dripping from the main bearings.

Is the only thing that could cause this a cracked block? Could it be a head gasket or a cracked head? Any other ideas or suggestions?

I'm just looking for possible causes and recommended solutions. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

tractorguy2 · Dec 24, 2015

I've never been close to a 2640. A head gasket, cracked head or cracked block can put coolant in the pan.

Steve@Advance · Dec 24, 2015

Since you already have the pan off, let it drip a day or so, wipe it down best you can. Then top up the
radiator, pressure it up and see if you can see where the coolant comes down.

jr1983 · Dec 25, 2015

Its a john dreamlike any 30 year old tractor with wet sleeves you've split a liner ring. If you want proof pressurized the radiator after spraying the bottom of your engine off with brake cleaner and wiping it down. There is a possibility of an oil cooler failure if a 2640 worked like a 4440 but im not sure.

MikeJM · Dec 25, 2015

It's possible it's the oil cooler but it should be putting oil in the rad first when it's running and coolant into the oil when it's off. My money is on liner or liner o-rings. Pressurizing the cooling system should show the issue.

Robert Major · Dec 26, 2015

Hi Like others said could be sleeve sealing ring or even a porous sleeve, you might have to turn the motor over by hand to get a clear view of the
sleeve bottoms as sometimes the balance weight or ears on a crankshaft, can be in the way so you can't see up into the bottom of the block, where the
sleeve pokes through to find the leak. 466 internationals and some Belarus have the same problem and can be hard to see with the crank in the wrong
position without turning it over to just the right spot.
I pressure tested 2 other brand tractors in the last year that did what you say and found both had more than one set of seal rings gone, Haven't had
a porous sleeve for a couple years That was on a case 1175. But JD can do the same thing. A pressure test will tell you a lot.
Regards Robert

Cliff Nelson · Dec 26, 2015

My vote is for the sleeve o-rings or eroded sleeve. That is the most common problem I see with them. Slight possibility of head gasket failure. In 25 years I have not seen an oil cooler failure on a deere 300 series engine. As someone else said, pressurize the radiator and see where the drip is. If none at first, rotate the engine slowly while pressurized.

humblesmith · Dec 27, 2015

Thanks for the advice, this is very helpful.

I heard from one person that when pressuring the cooling system it's possible to force coolant into the top of a cylinder if the head gasket is bad. Liquid there would then cause a major problem when the engine was cranked, possibly breaking a rod. What is your opinion?

Am I correct that if I just change the head gasket and the sleeve O-rings are bad, then it will still leak.....yes?

Thanks for the help.

MikeJM · Dec 27, 2015

It is possible, but unlikely. If you had a head gasket problem it would be putting compression into the radiator.

I went through this with a neighbor on an IH 574, they pulled the head thinking it was the head gasket. I told him it needed liners, he wanted to cheap out and reseal them, I wouldn't help unless it was done right. Turns out the liner was eroded under the liner o-ring.

jr1983 · Dec 28, 2015

My vote is still o rings. If you are worried about
hydraulically locking the engine just turn it over with
a prybar on the hyd pump coupling. You'll feel it if it
is locked. Ive always been told and this includes
college that the oil cooler will put oil in the antifreeze
when the engine is running. Ive had many oil cooler
failures in my time as a mechanic and have never
had one do this. I Don't know why it makes sense
that it would given the pressure differential but never
seen it happen.

jr1983 · Dec 28, 2015

I should add that ive only had one oil cooler failure in a 300 series deere engine and it was in a road grader.

Tech 7 · Dec 30, 2015

Would bet on a cavited liner due to the coolant not being changed. Pull the head off, pop the liners/pistons out put new ones in, service the head vales and injectors, good to go again. (I would quote 40 hours for this)

Frank A · Jan 4, 2016

Just wonder how many people don't know you need an additive to prevent cavitation in a wet sleeve engine. Just changing coolant wouldn't help if it didn't have the right additives.

thartiga · Jan 5, 2016

(quoted from post at 03:17:30 01/05/16) Just wonder how many people don't know you need an additive to prevent cavitation in a wet sleeve engine. Just changing coolant wouldn't help if it didn't have the right additives.

Please elaborate. Standard antifreeze is not sufficient? Are these John Deere additives?

Frank A · Jan 5, 2016

If you read on John Deere coolant you will see it has a cavitation preventative already. Try reading a few at your local store and see if you find anything, or they will say to follow manufactures recommendations for supplemental coolant additives. You can do a search on cavitation in diesel engines to find out more. It is formation of and imploding of bubbles from vibration and will pit out the metal without a protective coating from the right additive. Just FYI a similar thing happens when a pump has a restriction in the inlet. Its still called cavitation just a different cause same type of results.

Coolant in crankcase

humblesmith

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tractorguy2

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Steve@Advance

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jr1983

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MikeJM

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Robert Major

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Cliff Nelson

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humblesmith

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MikeJM

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jr1983

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jr1983

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Tech 7

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Frank A

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thartiga

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Frank A

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