2010 diesel oil in radiator

[drummerboy]

Greetings all. I posted today in the for sale/parts section regarding a 2010 diesel dozer I went to look at yesterday in Sedro Wooley, WA. state. It had oil in the radiator, before starting, about three inches thick. After starting and driving around for about an hour I rechecked it and it was 4 inches thick or more. The crank case didnt have any water in it either before or after running, and the oil level in crank case didnt change. Am I correct in assuming that it has a head gasket issue? The guy wanted $5k but after I showed him the oil in radiator issue he said make him an offer, which I still declind to do. Other than that and the engine coated in oil it ran ok, steered ok left but right was not great. Has HL reverser and that seemed ok. 6 way hydraulic blade which operated fine. UC was in good shape. The oil in radiator issue concerns me, but I'm still thinking about it. Im fairly mechanically inclined with gas motors , but never delved into a diesel engine. Your thoughts?

[jtrichard]

yes head or liner gasket is about the only way i know of to get oil in water..... if you can work on gas you can do diesel

[DukeofDeere]

May be simple as a head gasket.
Was it motor oil or diesel fuel?
Undercarriage is critical as well.

Duke

[scampr]

that can turn into a gamble.. head gasket is best case.. but it could also be cracks anywhere too... head, block, liners... who know.. only way to know for sure is dive in . So with that in mind take that into account when you make a offer and good luck

[Lavoy]

If you could get it at half price or so, I would definitely go for it. 2010 engine parts are expensive. Even if you ended up doing a rebuld on the engine, you will have a hell of a crawler when you are done. I would say hope for a head gasket, but be prepared for worse, but my feeling is that it is most likley a head gasket.
Lavoy

[JD430C]

It could be a bad radiator letting oil from the HLR cooler into the radiator. I have heard of 1010s and 350s doing that.

Andrew

[Lavoy]

Good call, I missed that one.
Lavoy

[drummerboy]

I know when gas engines lose a head gasket, there's white smoke coming from the exhaust. There was no white smoke coming out of the exhaust, just black smoke, but after it ran for a good 20 min. it cleared up. It seemed to have plenty of power. I pushed two full size round hay bales (1500 lbs apiece) togeather then half way across the guys field and it didn't miss a beat. I dunno....I'm torn. I need a runner, not a project. Duke...I thought it was oil, it was thick and black.....could it be diesel fuel? And how would diesel get in the radiator?

[chet]

This may be a dumb question. But did you check and make sure it's oil, and not the remains of a can of "stop leak" some one may have dumped in?

[scampr]

The white smoke is steam , can do that for both gas or diesel,it depends one where the leak is.. the white smoke is when coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber.. but your leak is oil leaking into a coolant area. those are 2 different types of leaks. you can also have a leak between 2 cylinders too which would cause low compression between those 2 . Good luck

[waterman28]

I'm torn. I need a runner, not a project

Its kinda tough to buy something 48 years old and not expect it to be a project. However the price of these classic pieces of iron can sometimes justify purchasing them over something much newer if just for personal light to medium duty work. Like many others on JD Crawlers have said, there is no such thing as a cheep dozer. Best of luck with your decision.
Scott

[drummerboy]

This may be a dumb question. But did you check and make sure it's oil, and not the remains of a can of "stop leak" some one may have dumped in?

I've used stop leak in gas engines and ran them for years and it never was as thick and black as goop I pulled out of that crawlers radiator. It definately had a petroleum smell.

[drummerboy]

I'm torn. I need a runner, not a project

Its kinda tough to buy something 48 years old and not expect it to be a project. However the price of these classic pieces of iron can sometimes justify purchasing them over something much newer if just for personal light to medium duty work. Like many others on JD Crawlers have said, there is no such thing as a cheep dozer. Best of luck with your decision.
Scott

I understand this, just looking for something reliable, however old, to get the job done within my budget constraints. Dropping $5k...even $3k, and have a catastrophic failure turn it into big $$$ shortly after I get it home won't win me any points with the missus (probably wouldn't with anyone's here on the board). That's why I'm simply not going to take the chance. Thanks for everyone's input.

[VT350C]

All, I am going to add to this thread as the symptoms are quite the same with my JD 350C crawler...

A little background on my unit (yes, no crawler is cheap!):

- Less than 100 hours ago, I had a complete engine rebuild and installed a new injector pump and injectors.
- Also had radiator re-cored.
- Everything is running very well...Good steady power.
- Really just breaking in the new engine.

Went to do a fluids check and found oil (brownish oil) in top of radiator filler neck...I am talking to my mechanic who did rebuild...

More background...During the engine rebuild process the machine shop used some adhesive stuff to hold the cylinder liners in place. It seems that this stuff caused one of the liners to not seat completely flat...Mechanic torqued down the head (not knowing about the cylinder liner being ever so slightly out of whack)...Went to start the unit and the radiator cap when flying off and a total mess ensued! Oil and coolant mixing as the water jacket became unsealed with crank case...Ugly...Required a new liner, flushing, cleaning etc. and rework...

Sooo...I am hoping (but would love other's opinions) that this might just be residual crankcase oil that flowed through the radiator during this mishap...Thoughts? It doesn't seem to be tons, but I am having a tricky time skimming it off...

More factoids:
- drain cock in bottom of radiator is draining good looking greenish fluid, so oil is only on top as it floats...
- no water in crankcase as I just changed oil after break-in and it was black...
- I could have the oil tested for any water to be 100% sure, but don't think it would come back positive...
- I also had to put 1 gallon of water in this weekend into the radiator as it is losing fluid somehow...
- The unit is running well, but a little greyish smoke (not white and not black) steadily comes out of the exhaust...I was hoping that the smoke would go away after I broke the new engine in, but a little steady smoke still comes out.

Questions:
- can oil in the radiator make the combine mixture froth up and boil up out of the overflow tube? I think this is what's happening...the leak seems to be coming from the filler neck area and not from a leak in the body of the re-cored radiator...I will double-check next time as I powerwashed everything to recheck and confirm leak-points next weekend...
- Does anyone have any tricks for skimming oil out of the filler neck? I was thinking of plugging the overflow tube...and then running a catheter-like thin tube into the radiator and gently pumping in new water well below the scum-oil level to try to raise the oil up and out of the radiator...maybe skim with a turkey baster as well...but want to do all of this after the machine has sat for a week...hoping more oil will rise and settle at the top...I have tried to do this before, but more oil has appeared...
- Any thoughts on the little greyish smoke coming out the stack? Could it be related to the oil in the radiator?
- I am just hoping this is not a blow head-gasket or crack in the head or block...they were just thoroughly gone through...so hoping it is not something like that and is just residual oil from the cracked liner during the rebuild and that the entire unit wasn't flushed thoroughly enough...like I said oil in radiator and not water in crankcase (to the best of my knowledge)....

Thanks for everyone's help!

Oh, and I just bought a John Deere 302A loader in fantastic shape...similar engine to JD 350C...NO SMOKE and seems to be in great shape! I just wish my new rebuilt engine had no smoke like this new 302A!