Tractor might be shot

[WinterDeere]

Step 1: Drain oil, watch for water/coolant in first seconds, as its heavier than oil and will be the first thing coming from the bottom of the oil pan if it's there. You may want to phone a friend or set up a video recording, just to be sure you don't somehow miss seeing the first seconds of draining on your own.

Coolant in the oil doesn't always mean engine trouble, it could be a bad oil cooler instead, but the hard starting makes me think loss of compression and head gasket.

Step 2 would be some debug work, before jumping to tear it down. Compression and leak-down tests, which if run at TDC vs. BDC, can distinguish between head gasket and bad block.

 

[Omnipotent]

Where did all the coolant go though

Good question...first though was freeze plugs, but checked them all an no leaking. Since I could smell it, I assume it wasn't burning it internally (could be absolutely wrong on that) but I could not find where it is going, so my thought led to rings/head gasket being the issue.

 

[Omnipotent]

I doubt it "blew a head gasket" while attempting to start it on a cold morning. We're not getting the whole story here. So the tractor had been sitting unused for a few weeks. I'm betting some of the current issues were present back then. Any starting or overheating problems in the recent history just prior to that few weeks of non use?

Nope, hadn't used just because hadn't needed it. Used it all year with no issues, don't get me wrong, the tractor has had its issues over the years, but those had been handled.

Also, I don't believe the head gasket blew while cranking, more so, while I was using and I noticed the smell, which at looking I thought was just steam from the snow hitting the exhaust and such...it wasn't until I turned into the wind that I got the whiff of antifreeze, so I had been using it for ~20 minutes prior to that. I believe "if" a head gasket blew, it was during this time of use, engine over heated and popped the gasket.

 

[Omnipotent]

Step 1: Drain oil, watch for water/coolant in first seconds, as its heavier than oil and will be the first thing coming from the bottom of the oil pan if it's there. You may want to phone a friend or set up a video recording, just to be sure you don't somehow miss seeing the first seconds of draining on your own.

Coolant in the oil doesn't always mean engine trouble, it could be a bad oil cooler instead, but the hard starting makes me think loss of compression and head gasket.

Step 2 would be some debug work, before jumping to tear it down. Compression and leak-down tests, which if run at TDC vs. BDC, can distinguish between head gasket and bad block.

Thanks for the advice...not a diesel mechanic obviously, but worked on motors forever and this is the path I was going to go down, but have to get it indoors to get started on troubleshooting....oh and more snow tomorrow so the tractor sits dead in the yard for the time being.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Does it have an EGR?

 

[WinterDeere]

Thanks for the advice...not a diesel mechanic obviously, but worked on motors forever and this is the path I was going to go down, but have to get it indoors to get started on troubleshooting....oh and more snow tomorrow so the tractor sits dead in the yard for the time being.

Measurement is easy, diagnosis is hard. If you're able to measure compression and leakdown, that might be good information to feed forward to a mechanic, before deciding to haul it in. Then again, if you don't have the gauges and fittings, it might be easier to just start with the mechanic.

But I would do at least a fluid change first. I wouldn't even want to try to limp it onto a trailer, if the oil pan is full of water.

 

[Omnipotent]

Does it have an EGR?

I'm honestly not sure...there is an oval contraption right off the manifold that leads to the exhaust pipe coming out the bottom of the tractor, maybe that's the EGR?

 

[Jstpssng]

Is there any chance that the coolant froze and cracked the block?

 

[Omnipotent]

Is there any chance that the coolant froze and cracked the block?

Anything is possible, but in examining the block I didn't "notice" any cracks/leaks...then again I was really checking out freeze plugs and around the head.