oil in radiator

RalphL

Member
I have a BN with water in the oil and oil in the radiator. Is this likely to be a head gasket blown or maybe something more serious? I have not been able to find any postings regarding oil in the radiator. I can change a head gasket but do not have the expertise to rebuild the engine.
 
Do you see any bubbles in the radiator when the engine is at an idle? Could be the head gasket.
These engines are very easy to rebuild if it needs it. A good manual will walk you through it. Your engine has wet sleeves so your engine block shouldn't need any machining.

If I was going to rebuild it I would pull the engine. It's not that hard the manual has it down step by step. I would drain the radiator and oil pan and pull both of them. I would also pull the head. Then block up the drawbar so the tractor doesn't tilt backwards. Then use a chain hoist after rolling out the front wheels to lift the engine. Take pictures and notes during the teardown. Separate the parts and use a cardboard box. Mark the box where the parts were removed. Keep the rocker arms and bolts together in one box, head bolts or nuts in another same for the oil pan. Put the bolts you remove in another box you removed when unbolting the engine. Sleeve kits are available off this forum. Take the head and crankshaft to your local auto machine shop. Have them do a valve job and magnafluxed the head. Take along the crankshaft and have it measured for wear and buy your bearings from them. Check your clutch disc for wear. Get it relined if it's down or near the rivets.
Have them install the old connecting rods to your new pistons. Clean that block area where the old seals are installed that seal your wet sleeves. You will need to drive out the old sleeves after removing the old pistons. Do one piston at a time and reinstall the rod cap back on the connecting rod once the piston is out. The caps and rods have numbers have them facing the same way and the numbers face the camshaft. Hal
 
Could be one of many problems. If it where me I would drain the oil pan then pull it off and set some card board under it and have the cooling system full. Those engines are wet sleeve so yes it could be a head gasket or a sleeve seal or a crack head or cracked sleeve. Pulling the pan and watch for where the coolant comes from may be able to tell you what is wrong
 
I have the same problem with my 1945 A. I've been draining a little bit of antifreeze out of the pan before I run it for years now.
I don't run it to do any work, just for a drive once in a while or a parade.
I know it sounds lame but it runs so good I don't feel it warrants a tear down.
I suppose someday I'll pull the head at least.
 
coolant in the oil, while not good, usually indicates either bad o-rings on the sleeves or a bad head gasket. It can be worse, such as a cracked block, but usually one of the first 2.

Oil in the rad is more disturbing to me, as that usually indicates a breach in the oil system through the block. I am sure that lessor issues could cause this, but head gaskets usually put coolant in the oil, not the other way around.

sounds like it's time to start at the top (head removal) and work your way down from there until the source is found Also, make sure that someone did not put in a can of Bars leak, as that will make the coolant look like it has oil in it.
 
I appreciate all the responses to my post. I am going to pull the head today and go from there. I will report what I find asap.
 
Gene, agreed. my experience is, 9 times out of 10, a bad head gasket is more likely to present itself as coolant in the oil. I also had a guy come to me frantic for a tractor he had just bought stating oil in coolant and coolant in oil. Turns out, that a bad head gasket was causing coolant in the oil, and the previous owner put Bars leak in to fix. No oil in coolant, and yes, a bad head gasket. That was more of my point.

When a head gasket goes, all bets are off which system contanminates the other.
 
I pulled the head off and the gasket looks good. There is a tag on the side of the engine indicating it was rebuilt in 1980. Since it has been 32 years, I have decided to rebuild it myself. I plan to order the rebuild video from this web site. Thanks for the info.
 

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