JD 310A water in cylinders

[ljw]

I know this is the wrong color tractor (although, it is yellow, not green), but I hope someone can help me. I removed the head because I had been getting water in the oil. 3 of the 4 cylinders were wet. If 3 cylinders were wet, does that mean it's a head gasket or am I really screwed? I'm going to remove the oil pan today. Can I reuse the sleeves if they are OK? They are like new with no ridge at the top. How is the best way to get them out? I have Magnaflux to check for cracks. I would appreciate any help. It's been down all winter and now I need it.
Larry

[WKPoor]

I don't know how bad your problem is but an old guy taught me something. Try putting about a quart of waterglass (available from the drug store) in your cooling system. Best stuff ever to stop cooling leaks especially head leaks. Run it for a couple of months, drain and refill with antifreeze. I saw it work for myself. Water Glass is Sodium silicate. It was used many yrs ago to seal eggs to make them last longer before refridgeration.

[Eugene]

Probably a bad head gasket or cracked head since the cylinders are wet. Water in the oil, cracked block and/or bad o rings on sleeves.

I suggest you drain the oil and any antifreeze. Fresh oil and clean water only. At the auto parts store - there are a couple of very good block sealents. Follow the directions closely. Some will work with antifreeze.

I've used one on my Chev 305 engine - believe a blown head gasket. It stopped the leak between the #6 and #8 cylinder - antifreeze fouling both plugs. That's been 20,000 plus miles ago.

I would give the sealent a try ($6.00 or $8.00) first.

Eugene

[ljw]

WK and Eugene,
Thanks for your input! Those are both good ideas. I might just try adding some type of sealant. Do you think that it would make any difference that it is a diesel engine? I have used the block sealer on a car engine before. It stopped the external leak, but I must have had an internal problem because, in this case, the oil was leaking into the cooling system. If I remember right, sodium silicate was listed as one of the ingredients of the block sealant.
Larry

[Eugene]

With a diesel, I don't know. I sure would give it a try. The leak on the 305 Chevy engine was internal, (I think) head gasket between #6 and#8 cylinders.

Eugene

[ljw]

Update on my water in cylinders problem. I removed the wet sleeves and found that some type of reaction between the sleeve and anti freeze caused the fit between the engine block to become pitted. All of the sleeves were pitted to a degree. At least one cylinder was pitted enough to allow the antifreeze to go around the oring and into the crankcase. Maybe while I was using the backhoe I didn' notice the increase in temp and probably blew the head gasket, also. The price for 4 new sleeves at JD was $720. I decided to use JB weld and and use silicone gasket maker around the orings to further reduce the chance of leaking. It sounds slipshod, but looked pretty neat. I would have used an engine block sealant but at the time I didn't know exactly what was wrong, ie, a cracked cylinder or worse. The JD dealer was very helpful with my problem, but wouldn't give me a price break in purchasing the new sleeves no matter how much I pee'ed and moaned. It runs very good now but I haven't worked it hard yet. Man. I really missed that tractor over the winter. It there was ever a tractor made that could keep you warm on a cold winters night,,,,nah, I wont go there! So if you have a diesel engine with the wet sleeves make certain you use the additives or anti freeze with additives and change it on a regular basis. If you take care of your tractor, your tractor will take care of you! That may be an original thought. Anyway, thanks for the advice.
Larry