Diesel engine puzzle

I know I've posted about this one in the past, but the saga continues.

690 hours on a JD 323D skid steer since it was new on this farm. I had an engine fire from a broken oil return line. It wasn't horrible - contained to the engine compartment and didn't melt the plastic on the hood or anything. After I got it back I ran it a couple of hours and it was puking oil everywhere. It had filled the crankcase with diesel. It has been in three more times since then for the same. They have replaced the injectors twice, the lift pump twice, the injection pump twice, the water pump once (?) and the head gasket twice. The last time they send it to another branch store to their skid steer guru who said there was some sort of other inline something or other that caused it and it was fixed. They brought it back Friday, I used it three hours yesterday, and it made an inch of oil on the dipstick. It is going back in tomorrow.

In all fairness the dealership has been great. I have had a loaner of some fashion the last three times. As the dealership owner said the last time, "This is expensive down time for you and even more expensive for me." I'm sure they will make it right somehow.

I've farmed my whole life and been around engines and torn them apart since I could hold a wrench. If it isn't the pump, the injection pump (timing verified), or the injectors, what in the world could it be? A pinhole in a liner (I honestly don't know if it is wet sleeve but bet it is)? The compression has been checked. The head has been checked. It is in fact diesel fuel in the oil and not hydraulic as they sent it off the last time to be verified. I'm stumped and glad I'm not them. Those shop boys won't be happy to see that lemon again!

That Skid steer should have a high pressure fuel rail system on it. So it is not like the normal injection pump/injector system your used too. It uses a high pressure fuel rail system with electronic controlled injectors. I would say it has a leak in the high pressure fuel system some where. It could be internal to the cylinder head or in the injector port in the head. I really have never actually worked on these newer engines. I just know they can be a bear to work on.

What I have found out is a fire on this modern equipment is a disaster. The electronics and wiring are usually damaged quickly no matter how small a fire. I would not keep any thing modern after a fire. The odds of failures are just too great.

We have bought and repaired many wrecked and burnt machines over the years. Because of the trouble with the newer stuff we will not try to rebuild burnt ones now. The one that caused us to quit is a JD 9670 combine. It was just a small engine fire. No visible damage to the cab or main computers. Well the burnt wiring shorted out while it burnt and ruined all the computers on the machine. Then when we got the electronic replaced the engine had issues from damage to the electronic fuel system. By the time we got it going we had more than a none burnt machine in it. We ran it two years and had nothing but trouble with the electronic features working regularly. It went down the road and we will not do another one of them.

So my advice to you is to get it working the best you can and get it off the farm. If your local dealer is feeling favorable towards you then you maybe able to do a good trade for a virgin machine. If they get it I hope they send it far far away. LOL

Not to familiar with the skid loader fuel system. Had what we thought was diesel fuel in the engine oil on a 8970 NH tractor. After several attempts to solve the fuel problem it turned out to be hydrolic oil from the air to air intercooler. Just another thought.