Case IH 885

[Enfoff]

I have a problem with my 1987 Case IH 885L 4WD tractor which is driving me to despair. It has been laid up for the winter but came out recently to do two jobs. The first was subsoiling in about 200 metres of water pipe. It ran for about two hours and performed perfectly – temperature normal.

Yesterday we had it on the muck spreader which was a good work out for it. It ran a little warmer than usual (about halfway on the gauge – usually a quarter) but again ran for 2 or 3 hours perfectly. While being loaded it was idling at the heap and I noticed frothy water coming out of the radiator overflow the temp gauge was back down to a quarter.

We continued to use it for a few more loads and it continued to spit water out occasionally.

When it was stopped I took the rad cap off which fizzed like a pop bottle. No water came out but the water in the rad was foamy and continued to bubble and fizz for a while.

As I said this is an ongoing problem and the tractor has had the following work

Engine strip down to replace a leaking liner seal engine/head flushed, cleaned and checked

New head gasket/ all other engine gaskets etc.

new radiator

new hoses

new thermostat

New rad cap

Tested to ensure exhaust gas is not entering coolant (I have access to a testing kit for this)

The only item I can think of which has not been replaced is the water pump but that was newly replaced when I bought the tractor a few years ago.

I cannot understand how this can be a seemingly intermittent problem. Your thoughts would be most appreciated as my mechanic has thrown in the towel!

 

[Kevtherev]

Sound like there’s a crack in the head or headgasket has failed.
Was the head skimmed?

 

[Enfoff]

The head wasn't skimmed but its was tested and found not to need skimming. The test for exhaust gas in the coolant should show positive if there was a crack in the head - at least that's what my mechanic says?

 

[Kevtherev]

Yes should do if it’s got a crack.
Could be the headgasket also

 

[SuperTwo]

Was it a genuine head gasket?
The local dealer won't sell spurious ones anymore as they were having too much problems with them.

 

[spin cycle]

do the water pump....you've done everything else

 

[Enfoff]

Was it a genuine head gasket?
The local dealer won't sell spurious ones anymore as they were having too much problems with them.

It was a gasket set from intatrac. Again, if it was the head gasket I think this would show in the exhaust gas test?

 

[Enfoff]

do the water pump....you've done everything else

Yes I agree it's the only thing left but I can't understand how this can cause an intermittent fault?

 

[essexpete]

Have you done the gas test when have the foaming problem?
Is it worth changing the thermostat again?

 

[dowcow]

Water to oil heat exchanger maybe... Does the oil look okay?

 

[milkloss]

I had a head gasket gone on a John Deere just the other week. A blue point ‘sniff’ tester didn’t obviously detect any gases even though they were there without a doubt. Solution went from dark blue to a slightly lighter blue, should have gone green for a positive.
Won’t bother using one again.

 

[startinghandle]

How many liner seals did you replace? Has it been run without coolant? If this happened then all seals will be ruined

 

[essexpete]

How many liner seals did you replace? Has it been run without coolant? If this happened then all seals will be ruined

Would you not see coolant in the oil?

 

[avag]

Have the injector sleeves been changed? Common to fail and pressurise the cooling system

 

[essexpete]

I reckon the above post could be on the money if there is not any cross contamination of oil and coolant.

 

[Flat 10]

@DrWazzock had a thread about those sleeves just recently

 

[DrWazzock]

@DrWazzock had a thread about those sleeves just recently

If the injector sleeves leak at the end which fits into the combustion area then I would have expected exhaust gas to show positive in the coolant, if such a test works. If the sleeves haven't been disturbed or they have been fitted correctly then I would think it unlikely they would be causing a leak But you never know. Could an injector sleeve have been disturbed during a refurb? It's really only friction and sealant and the injector clamp that keeps them in place. They are quite easy to pull out.

Was the head pressure tested when it went away?

As the fault is something that suddenly happened in operation after a refurb I'd suspect head gasket.

I made an adapter to fit my compressor airline to the injector hole of each cylinder in turn using an adapted compression tester fitting (after removing injector), turned the engine so that cylinder is in compression, pressurised and listened. You might hear or see air in the coolant, if the valves aren't leaking too much.

Sorry not much help. It's frustrating I know.

 

[startinghandle]

could there be a small hole in a liner causing cooling system to build up pressure

 

[DrWazzock]

On reflection:

Injector sleeves don't usually give trouble. I wish I had not bothered replacing the ones on mine as they did not look bad when they were out and it has done over 6000 hours, 20 years old.

If it was a small hole in a cylinder liner then there would be water in the bottom of the oil sump which would come out first if you undo the oil drain plug.

I reckon it will be head gasket. Was the block face cleaned meticulously especially around the cylinder liner top rims? Were the head bolt holes in the block blown out so none are bottoming on rust dust etc?

If you are unlucky it will be a crack in the block or head which opens as it heats up, but I would have said that was unlikely.

 

[Enfoff]

We had it on the muck spreader again yesterday ran for about four hours no problem. We dropped the spreader off and then took it back to yard this is a stop start journey with many gates to open - again fine until idling at the last gate when the water poured out the over flow.

Thanks to you all for thoughts. I'll hopefully get around to following up your suggestions soon and keep you posted!