Blown head gasket BD154

[wildbill447]

Any idea what to look for? I just did a total rebuild on my BD154 and just after starting it for the first time (approximately 10 minutes) the head gasket blew at the left rear corner. I had the head milled at a machine shop so I am not sure what to look for. The service manual said to put a light coat of oil on both sides of the head gasket. Is that the cause? This is my first rebuild on a diesel. I know I have always been extra careful that everything is clean and dry on all of the gas engines I have rebuilt but I figured the manual was correct on how to do the head gasket. Any tips from people that have rebuilt diesel engines before?

 

[used red MN]

Did you retorque the head after an initial warm up? This seems like a must do on tractors to get the head gaskets to perform properly. Did you run a tap in the head bolt holes in the block? Did you wire wheel buff the head bolt threads? Did you oil the bolts when you installed them? The oil on the gasket is not a practice I would follow. I would use a sealer or nothing depending on the “gasket manufacturers” recommendations. I doubt that the oil caused the gasket failure. On a diesel and really all head gaskets for the most part a steel “fire ring” seals the compression in the cylinder. It would not likely be affected much by a film of oil. What was the brand of the head gasket? So you had a post about fuel filling your crankcase did you resolve that? Or was it actually coolant from the leaking gasket that was getting in the oil pan raising the oil level?

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Remove the head and gasket VERY carefully, to avoid erasing any evidence that may point to a solution. May be able to see head clamping pattern on the gasket. My guess after blowing that fast is some foreign material is under a sleeve counterbore, holding it up higher than the rest. Another possibility is the gasket may have been folded during shipment, leaving a kink in a critical area.

 

[560Dennis]

Maybe put to much oil ,created hydraulic fracturing of head gasket . Remove it like others said and do the advised checks .
Check the block and head with straight edge again .Make sure the slee is. Correct height from deck .
to bad that happened to you all that work
I recommend talking to your headgasket supplier tech services to get a their recommendations on installing.
Not knowing type of headgasket design used in the manual ,I wouldn’t use any oil , the new headgasket gasket needs sealing surface, the oil holds it up off that surfaces , using to much copper sealent does the same thing , it my thoughts

 

[wildbill447]

Did you retorque the head after an initial warm up? This seems like a must do on tractors to get the head gaskets to perform properly. Did you run a tap in the head bolt holes in the block? Did you wire wheel buff the head bolt threads? Did you oil the bolts when you installed them? The oil on the gasket is not a practice I would follow. I would use a sealer or nothing depending on the “gasket manufacturers” recommendations. I doubt that the oil caused the gasket failure. On a diesel and really all head gaskets for the most part a steel “fire ring” seals the compression in the cylinder. It would not likely be affected much by a film of oil. What was the brand of the head gasket? So you had a post about fuel filling your crankcase did you resolve that? Or was it actually coolant from the leaking gasket that was getting in the oil pan raising the oil level?

This was the first run after going back through the engine so I had not retorqued the head yet. I can’t run a tap in the block holes because they already had thread inserts in them when I first opened it up. I did everything else you mentioned. Now that it had cooled down I am going to run a compression test on all of the cylinders to find out if the cylinder blew or if it was just the water jacket at the left rear of the head gasket. That is were the antifreeze was spraying out of. Right at the corner of the head.

 

[wildbill447]

Did you retorque the head after an initial warm up? This seems like a must do on tractors to get the head gaskets to perform properly. Did you run a tap in the head bolt holes in the block? Did you wire wheel buff the head bolt threads? Did you oil the bolts when you installed them? The oil on the gasket is not a practice I would follow. I would use a sealer or nothing depending on the “gasket manufacturers” recommendations. I doubt that the oil caused the gasket failure. On a diesel and really all head gaskets for the most part a steel “fire ring” seals the compression in the cylinder. It would not likely be affected much by a film of oil. What was the brand of the head gasket? So you had a post about fuel filling your crankcase did you resolve that? Or was it actually coolant from the leaking gasket that was getting in the oil pan raising the oil level?

To let you know about the post concerning the fuel in the oil. I found the diaphragm in the lift pump was cracked all of the way around.

 

[Dieseltech]

I have the best luck installing head gaskets DRY, and MAKE SURE the hardware is retorqued with engine at 190/200 degrees. Unless the repair manual says hot retorque not needed, I won't let any engine go out the door without doing the retorque. Some engines the hardware will lose 20/40 FT/LB when engine is hot.

 

[used red MN]

This was the first run after going back through the engine so I had not retorqued the head yet. I can’t run a tap in the block holes because they already had thread inserts in them when I first opened it up. I did everything else you mentioned. Now that it had cooled down I am going to run a compression test on all of the cylinders to find out if the cylinder blew or if it was just the water jacket at the left rear of the head gasket. That is were the antifreeze was spraying out of. Right at the corner of the head.

In general if you can thread all the bolts all the way in by finger the thread engagement is fine. If they are rusty and stiff this problem needs remedied. You will need to get another bolt the same size and thread (a grade 8 is ideal) and lube it with penetrating oil and run it in and out on the thread holes that are stiff. Clean the holes out with compressed air. If they are real bad you may want to cut a couple of relief notches down the threads of the bolt on two sides with a die grinder cut off wheel or the same in a Dremel tool. In the end the bolts should all thread in all the way by finger. If the engine has blind thread holes for the head bolts that have a closed bottom any liquid in the holes needs to be blown out prior to installing the head. Some guys dip the whole bolt in engine oil before installing them. This is a bit excessive in my book. I have a little pump oil can to place a couple drops under the bolt head and drag the spout opening along the threaded portion while slowly pumping to give the threads a abundant lubing yet not over do it. You could just dip your finger in oil and apply it to the bolt the same way. I agree with others, checking the block surface for being flat will be important. A carpenters square and feeler gauges will be good for this. You should not be able to slide over a 0.003” feeler gauge under it. Any gap like this is very suspect. The big problem is to correct that the block has to come out be stripped down so a machine shop can mill the “deck” or head sealing surface flat.

 

[rustred]

how bad is this leak? if its not spraying out i would retorque the head before tearing it apart again. nothing to lose, only gain. lots of gaskets have the sealer built into them and it seals once warmed up. plus many times i will start the engine before adding the coolant and run it for 30 seconds. how much oil did u apply to the gasket. is this a fibre gasket like the felpro ones? myself i have used a very thin film of grease on them old metal gaskets when i have reused them on the them old mccormicks from the 20's and 30's. i always stick to my Permatex high tack sealer. hard to tell with out eye's on the subject.