New to me Jinma 254.. crankcase breather hose?

[Mr4btTahoe]

Hypothetically, yes. But in over 60 years of wrenching on almost everything, I've never seen nor heard of that scenario.

It's very likely that if you took the time you could find interchangeable bearing inserts domestically. All you need is measurements, and any good automotive machine shop can do your crankshaft.

There are members from other sites and forums that have had good luck with them. No experience personally.

Check measurements. There is a lot of parts interchangeability in these engines.

I agree with the hg statement... just listed it as a possibility. Unlikely... but a possibility none the less.

Issue isn't with bearings (although it needs them).. but with as much blow by as it has... it likely needs liners.. for sure needs rings and ive heard of instances of rings being broken and damaging the piston.

Also, I'm not lucky enough to have a decent machine shop near by... so I'd be shipping it out.

Thanks for the input in the overseas sources. That is likely the route I'll go. In the mean time, I'll exchange a quart of oil for some Lucas oil stabilizer and hopefully keep oil pressure in a safer range. The damage is already done so not terribly worried about it... just want to prevent catastrophic failure for the next month or so until I can get my customers stuff out of my shop and get the tractor in.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Well... I took a few days off work to get some stuff done around the property. I beat the guts out of this little tractor and it's still going. Lol.

After being ran hard all day, hot low idle oil pressure was ~3psi. At speed, it comes up to the mid 20s. Blow-by is substantial but no noticeable power loss.

I'll be ordering everything to rebuild the engine here in a few weeks and will document the process. Thanks for all the input.

 

[dennyd]

I wonder if you're jumping the gun a bit, you know about the oil pressure adjustment on the oil filter housing? Have you tried to turn it out a bit for more oil pressure? I did on mine I was getting about 15-20 psi so I turned it up to 30-40 psi @ 1000rpm. If that don't do it run to Napa and buy a cheap oil pressure gauge, it's 5 minute job to hook it up. I also use the 3/8ths pin trick, learned it from a member on this site back in the day.
Works way better than the little balls. Make sure the drive shaft is ok that goes into the front box also, them small grooved channels can break letting the balls fall out. Don't worry about the hose outta the breather can, more than likely it's water vapor. Mine blows a lot of vapor out when it's warmed up.

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

I wonder if you're jumping the gun a bit, you know about the oil pressure adjustment on the oil filter housing? Have you tried to turn it out a bit for more oil pressure? I did on mine I was getting about 15-20 psi so I turned it up to 30-40 psi @ 1000rpm. If that don't do it run to Napa and buy a cheap oil pressure gauge, it's 5 minute job to hook it up. I also use the 3/8ths pin trick, learned it from a member on this site back in the day.
Works way better than the little balls. Make sure the drive shaft is ok that goes into the front box also, them small grooved channels can break letting the balls fall out. Don't worry about the hose outta the breather can, more than likely it's water vapor. Mine blows a lot of vapor out when it's warmed up.

I have not adjusted the oil pressure. Oil pressure was read with both a cheap mechanical gauge and my OTC test gauges to verify. After 5 hours of running, its still puff puff puffing with each firing of the cylinder and this is on a fresh oil change. It's definitely blow-by as it does have pressure behind it. Not just steam.

At 1krpm, I'm getting maybe 6-8psi... probably around 14-15psi by 1500rpm. On the governor, I'm seeing maybe 23-25psi when hot. This is all below minimum specs.

I can certainly try the pressure adjustment but I'm leaning more towards bearing wear as the cause.

 

[dennyd]

Oh about the gurgling radiator, Like Rooks said warm the tractor down for a while, should be done long enough to cool things, even without a gauge open the hood let it run and you can tell when it's cooled off enough. The hood really holds in the heat, & blow the screen out. I made myself a spill bottle, very simple & just hung it on the alternator side of the tractor with zip ties. It will let some run in the bottle if it gets warm enough, make sure the cap and spring isn't rusted up. I get my parts from Affordable, great guy.

 

[dennyd]

I have not adjusted the oil pressure. Oil pressure was read with both a cheap mechanical gauge and my OTC test gauges to verify. After 5 hours of running, its still puff puff puffing with each firing of the cylinder and this is on a fresh oil change. It's definitely blow-by as it does have pressure behind it. Not just steam.

At 1krpm, I'm getting maybe 6-8psi... probably around 14-15psi by 1500rpm. On the governor, I'm seeing maybe 23-25psi when hot. This is all below minimum specs.

I can certainly try the pressure adjustment but I'm leaning more towards bearing wear as the cause.

Very simple, should be a big cap nut under the filter if it's like my tractor
Screw it off, then a lock nut on a screw inside, loosen nut, turn screw out. Could be on yours's it's in, {it's Chinese}whatever it takes so the pressure goes up.
These tractors don't need a lot of pressure but 6 lbs is not enough.

 

[dennyd]

Maybe on the blow by thing you have a stuck ring. Don't take much carbon & rust to make em stick. Seafoam the engine before u tear it down.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Do you have any idea of how many hours are on it? Or do you think it needs an o/h due to neglect? I've heard these Perkins knock-off engines do reasonably well with just common sense maintenance so, . . ??
Have you considered an oil additive to prolong it? Not all of them are snake oil.
Berryman B-12 works great on gas engines for stuck stuff, no experience with it on deezuls.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Dear Mr4btTahoe,
We need to hear the story behind your name when you have a minute !!

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Do you have any idea of how many hours are on it? Or do you think it needs an o/h due to neglect? I've heard these Perkins knock-off engines do reasonably well with just common sense maintenance so, . . ??
Have you considered an oil additive to prolong it? Not all of them are snake oil.
Berryman B-12 works great on gas engines for stuck stuff, no experience with it on deezuls.

Not sure on hours. It's an '01 and has been abused for sure. The tractor has been apart for sure based on the gobs of rtv everywhere. The previous owner had it for a while and it never had gauges hooked up in the time he had it. The wiring is all hacked up and some "repairs" that have been made are very questionable.

The engine isn't low on power but does burn oil under load. It's puffing from the breather pretty heavily from a loose valve cover nut. Even if I pull the oil fill cap, its breathing enough to still vent out of the breather tube AND the fill port on the cover.

My current oil pressure readings are with 1.5qts of lucas oil stabilizer in the crank case with the rest being 15w40. It's also making an audible rattle that isn't coming from the injection pump. The noise isn't getting worse but the other 254 I've ran definately doesn't make the same noise.

The hour meter only reads 19hrs but it's been dead for who knows how long.

I've also discovered that someone deleted the t-stat. It's almost as if the last few owners were doing things to limp it along.

With oil pressure as low as it is and it having as much blow by as it does, I'd rather pull it apart and check things over/rebuild it than wait until it sends a rod through the side of the block. The rebuild cost isn't bad at the moment. That price goes way up if I have to replace the block too.