Jinma 254 overheating with oil spray

[Helped wanted]

Hello everyone, first post here. So if I'm in the wrong spot forgive me. Alright full on back story. I inherited a tractor from my grandfather. The body says Aggracat 254. The engine, model and sticker on roll cage says Jinma. I've done history research to find all the different brands for the same tractor. Anyways I have several issues but

my main problem is it overheats. According to my dad it's always had a overheating problem. It's been sitting for several years un-started. When I got it the wiring had been chewed on. So first thing, I fixed several of the wires and changed the key switch. Primed the system with fresh fluids and it fired right up but soon started to overheat. So I changed the thermostat and housing along with radiator cap and full flush inside and out of radiator and cleaning of air filter. The problem went away for a few months. Then I noticed the exhaust starting to wabble so I figured it was just rust, went to weld it back solid and noticed it had oil all over it. When I went to wiggle it for a better look, it literally fell off. Shortly after that it started overheating again along with spitting oil out of the exhaust. I have no idea what to do, I'm trying to salvage it before it blows up. Any help would greatly be appreciated. I have several questions but the oil raining out of the exhaust manifold is my main concern.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

I'm thinking blown head gasket, oil is leaking into the exhaust manifold. Do you have oil in the coolant?

 

[piper184]

Other causes that come to mind are bad valve seals or stuck/broken/worn out piston rings.
Have you changed the engine oil? If not I would try that first. If you have done that already I would consider an old school method of filling the crank case with diesel fuel, lock the fuel cut off to OFF and either spin the starter a few times or have someone pull you a little ways while in gear to get the inside of the engine "washed out". I would probably also make sure the air intake is completely blocked off so there won't be an accidental start. Then drain and let drip dry overnight and refill with new filter and oil. A less aggressive approach would be to add your favorite snake oil to the crank and fuel and run it for a little while. Then drain and refill with fresh to see if that helps any. Sitting long periods of time is hard on seals and this won't help them but it might loosen a stuck ring or help flush debris out of the system.

Does it seem to have good power?
Does it smoke under a load? Is the smoke whitish, bluish or good old diesel black?
Some engines have a breather canister on the side of the engine block and some are in the oil filler cap. Make sure that breather is clean and will let air through.
If you have an infrared thermometer, try temping the top of the radiator to see if you can tell how hot the coolant really is when it shows normal and when it shows overheated. It may just be a bad sender or gauge.
How is the airflow through the radiator? If in doubt give it a good blasting of compressed air both directions and see what comes out. If you run the engine up to operating temperature without the radiator cap on, you should be able to observe the coolant flow increase as the thermostat opens up. Also you can stick a regular thermometer in the coolant to see if the gauge is accurate.

Let us know what you find.

 

[Agvg]

Sure it's oil? If it's oil you must have a dead cylinder, if not it will burn up the oil and make heavy blue smoke. And what happens when it over heats? What are the symptoms? How is the radiator cap?

 

[Bob Rooks]

Looks like normal Detroit Diesel slobber to me . The cause could be one or a combination of different scenarios.
Laid up outside for a couple of years without the exhaust covered can give you rusted/pitted valves and seats, rusted and pitted cylinder liners as well as stuck rings and corroded pistons. I'm amazed it ran at all. Do you notice any blow-by? This is an indication of how well the piston rings are performing, and general health of the engine. The exhaust manifold looks pretty coked up which is an indication of low operating temperature, excessive idling or low speed operation, or incomplete combustion due to low compression. As for overheating, observe the radiator top tank for bubbles in the coolant with the engine running - this indicates a combustion leak, either from a head gasket or a cracked head. This will also result in a loss of coolant during operation from overflow if you don't have a coolant recovery system installed.

 

[piper184]

Exhaust systems that are exposed to rain (no cap) will spit black rain on startup, but usually quit in a few seconds. When the water evaporates you are left with black soot smudges everywhere. (ask me how I know...)
I can't think of a situation where an oil galley in the head would be next to the exhaust port so that kind of rules out a cracked head, unless there are multiple cracks that would allow oil to get to the exhaust. However a crack that allows coolant to leak into the exhaust port could very easily cause this condition. If you have anti-freeze in the mix it won't all evaporate in the open air easily and with the soot would look like oil. Think of it this way, coolant leaks into the exhaust and gets vaporized and "steam cleans" the exhaust port, then it can collect in the muffler and condense back to a liquid state as the muffler cools. If this is the case I would expect to see lots of white "smoke" from the exhaust. This would consume coolant over time and could lead to air pockets in the engine which would in turn lead to localized overheating.

Since the coolant system has been flushed and new thermostat and radiator cap installed about all that is left there is air flow through the radiator and possibly a bad water pump. Usually they just leak at the bleed hole but I suppose it is possible that the shaft is spinning but the impeller is not. A look-see in the radiator cap at operating temp should show good current in the top tank.

The OP could pull coolant and oil samples for analysis to see if oil, coolant or exhaust gasses are going places they should not. Most heavy equipment dealers can hook you up for getting samples and lab work done.

If down time is not an issue removing the head for inspection might be the most direct route of finding the problem.

Lots of variables in this troubleshoot. They will need to be eliminated one by one until the actual cause is revealed.

 

[Bob Rooks]

I can't think of a situation where an oil galley in the head would be next to the exhaust port so that kind of rules out a cracked head, unless there are multiple cracks that would allow oil to get to the exhaust. However a crack that allows coolant to leak into the exhaust port could very easily cause this condition. If you have anti-freeze in the mix it won't all evaporate in the open air easily and with the soot would look like oil. Think of it this way, coolant leaks into the exhaust and gets vaporized and "steam cleans" the exhaust port, then it can collect in the muffler and condense back to a liquid state as the muffler cools. If this is the case I would expect to see lots of white "smoke" from the exhaust. This would consume coolant over time and could lead to air pockets in the engine which would in turn lead to localized overheating.

Since the coolant system has been flushed and new thermostat and radiator cap installed about all that is left there is air flow through the radiator and possibly a bad water pump. Usually they just leak at the bleed hole but I suppose it is possible that the shaft is spinning but the impeller is not. A look-see in the radiator cap at operating temp should show good current in the top tank.

The OP could pull coolant and oil samples for analysis to see if oil, coolant or exhaust gasses are going places they should not. Most heavy equipment dealers can hook you up for getting samples and lab work done.

If down time is not an issue removing the head for inspection might be the most direct route of finding the problem.

Lots of variables in this troubleshoot. They will need to be eliminated one by one until the actual cause is revealed.

Yes. I was alluding to the overheating from a blown gasket or head cracks as this is a recurring but not too frequent theme, but not the "oil" issue.

 

[PILOON]

Might be wrong, but----
From posted pics your exhaust stack seems broken off at manifold.
That would allow some water to collect and once fired up the exhaust would blow out that accumulated sooty wet mess and cause all that black splatter your pics show.
Missing exhaust stack might just be your (and simple) problem.
Once replaced be sure to add a flapper cap to prevent water invasion.

 

[piper184]

Hi Bob, I didn't see your post until I sent mine. We must have been typing at the same time.

My initial thought was soot spit but then the picture of the broken exhaust sort of looks like oil. Some things can't be done by tele-medicine....

 

[Bob Rooks]

Hi Bob, I didn't see your post until I sent mine. We must have been typing at the same time.

My initial thought was soot spit but then the picture of the broken exhaust sort of looks like oil. Some things can't be done by tele-medicine....

Lol. Another thought that just occurred to me is that a dribbling injector mixing with soot would have approximately the same effect.