My luck ran out!

[bbse]

I have been posting about a overheating problem only to discover it was a head gasket. Saturday we pulled the head and it was worse than I expected. The cylinders were grooved fairly deep on the rear two cylinders and there was a spot on the head where the water had been passing. So I had to order 3 pistons, sleeves and rings along with the rod bearings and other small parts plus having the head shaved and the valves ground. I am not upset to have to spend the money but I am disappointed. I felt I got a really good deal on a used tractor that has turned into only an OK deal. On the bright side I will have a really good engine (barring any more discoveries). BTW, the diesel mechanic felt very confident that the wear was from dirt going through the engine. The tractor had not been maintained well. No matter I still like it and it had a lot of power before this rebuild. I can't wait to see what it will do after. I still will not have that much invested, once again the parts were very reasonable. Everything was a little over 400.00. Labor is what got me this time.

 

[California]

How many hours on it?

 

[DK35vince]

If it was dirt that caused the problem, it got in there somehow.
Be sure to check out the intake tubes and air filter box for leaks, cracks, a hole rubbed through, Etc.
Don't want the same thing happening again once you get fixed up..

 

[bbse]

It has 517 hours on the meter. Of course I don't know if it has been changed or tampered with or if the cable was off for a long time. The one thing I know is there are unscrupulous people in this world. It is the buyer that should be on guard in the used market. Don't take me wrong. Like I said, I am not crushed by this. I will still be able to recover my investment if I had to. But I think I will keep this little tractor for awhile and get a lot of use out of it.

 

[bbse]

The older LK3054's had a single element air filter system. My guess is from the looks of the filter I took out and the amount of dust in the intake area it had not been changed in a while.

 

[DK35vince]

I wonder how hard it would be to change it over to the newer 2 filter system ?
May be worth checking into .

 

[bbse]

I have Jon Depratt checking on that. I spent all my tractor money on the rebuild. One other thing I forgot to mention as to where the dirt got into the cylinders is the fuel filter. When I took it off it had been replaced with a non-standard type and the spring was missing. The canister was full of dirt and muck. Now I see the results. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif