bx oil issue

[HiFiDave]

Hi everyone,

My problem is my bx tractor sat in the -20° weather for 2 days in the pole barn. Went to start it but the battery was weak. It would not fire up. I put a 10 amp charger on it for 30 min.....still no go. I did preheat the glow plugs for 20-30 sec. Did this 5-6 times over 3 hrs. I finally replaced the battery with a new one and tractor fired right up. The tractor ran for about 5 minutes at 1300rpm......no problem. Then I noticed a 4in puddle of oil under tractor below oil filter. Trired to raise tractor with fel and it raised up but then engine bogged down and died. Checked oil on dipstick and it is 1 in past full. Engine sounds funny so I shut it down. Upon getting underneath tractor I can see the oil on the ground was pushed past oil filter gasket.

It is 30 below an I could use some advise

Tractor has 400hrs.....

 

[Jim L.]

The big question for me would be where did the oil come from?

I would drain tiny amount from bottom of oil pan into clean container to see if any coolant is present, and is pushing the oil up.

If coolant is present then worries about it getting into cylinders, hydro-locking, and tearing things up.

Have you checked coolant freeze point?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The big question for me would be where did the oil come from?

I would drain tiny amount from bottom of oil pan into clean container to see if any coolant is present, and is pushing the oil up.

If coolant is present then worries about it getting into cylinders, hydro-locking, and tearing things up.

Have you checked coolant freeze point?

Ditto on my thinking

 

[dlundblad]

If oil was pushed passed the oil filter gasket, what oil filter are you using?

More specifically, the brand and part number.

 

[HiFiDave]

OEM kubota filter. Antifreeze good to -28.

Will sample oil in the morning.

Could it be that excessive cranking attempts (5-6 times for 20seconds each) caused fuel to flood cylinders and go into crankcase?

Tractors has been trouble free to this point until this coldsnap
and the battery failed. It could not crank it fast enough to start the tractor but stupid me kept trying with charging between attempts. The cold weather made me make poor choices.

I don't want to lose this engine.

BTY, not one drop of oil from tractorprior to this no start event

 

[SidecarFlip]

Monee, Illinois... My cousin lives in Monee. Jeff Reiter btw.

I'm curious as to why it was pushing past the oil filter, sounds strange.

 

[Fordtech86]

Does the oil smell like diesel? As much as you were cranking on it it could have pushed all that fuel past the rings into the crankcase,especially at those temps.

 

[Fordtech86]

Oil thinning out too from being diluted with diesel could be the reason it leaked out too. I’m not familiar with the bx but the exhaust doesn’t happen to be near the oil filter is it? Maybe unburnt fuel coming out exhaust and running down? Just some thoughts...

 

[Russell King]

I don’t know if it is possible on your model tractor but on some if the hydraulic pump seal fails it dumps hydraulic fluid into the engine and adds to the oil level. You may want to look at the hydraulic fluid level of the hydraulic side. It may be so large a volume that the amount lost does not show up yet?

-30 is lower than the -28 antifreeze protection point. I don’t know how far apart the protection point and actual temperature has to e to actually freeze the coolant but two degrees over hours may be enough to get some expansion on the coolant. I assume it had no heater in the block working to try and keep temperature up.

I am so glad that I live in Texas and not in the cold like you all have. But I have cracked a block from freezing down here in an old truck with a leaky radiator where too much water was added over time and temperature dropped suddenly and stayed below freezing for a day or so. Doesn’t happen that often thank goodness.

Hope it turns out ok


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[HiFiDave]

I will smell the dipstick tomorrow. I pray it smells like diesel. The weird part is the oil that came out was thick not runny. Its so cold out that at first I didn't think it was engine oil as itwas pretty thick. Oil is 15W-40 with about 60 hrs on it.

The exhaust is on opposite side 8f oil filter.

My plan...

1. Smell oil

2. Sample first liquid from drainplug to look for coolant.

3. Drain oil and measure volume.

4. Replace oil filter.

5. Refill crankcase with 15w-40 oil

6. Startup and see what happens.

Thoughts anyone? I can mess this one up

Thanks in advance

 

[Fordtech86]

I will smell the dipstick tomorrow. I pray it smells like diesel. The weird part is the oil that came out was thick not runny. Its so cold out that at first I didn't think it was engine oil as itwas pretty thick. Oil is 15W-40 with about 60 hrs on it.

The exhaust is on opposite side 8f oil filter.

My plan...

1. Smell oil

2. Sample first liquid from drainplug to look for coolant.

3. Drain oil and measure volume.

4. Replace oil filter.

5. Refill crankcase with 15w-40 oil

6. Startup and see what happens.

Thoughts anyone? I can mess this one up

Thanks in advance

15-40 at those temps isn’t the best idea. 5w40 synthetic would be your best bet. Doubt you messed anything up. But I wouldn’t put 15-40 in it this time of year. 10-30 at the least if you don’t want to go to a full synthetic oil.

 

[RCW]

15-40 at those temps isn’t the best idea. 5w40 synthetic would be your best bet. Doubt you messed anything up. But I wouldn’t put 15-40 in it this time of year. 10-30 at the least if you don’t want to go to a full synthetic oil.

What Ford said...my BX would struggle with 15w-40 in Winter on start up. Could tell it was thick.

I use 5w-40 synthetic now specifically for winter starts, but works well year around.

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[HiFiDave]

What brand 5w-40 synthethic do you use in your bx? Is it specific to diesels or just regular
synthetic?

 

[Fordtech86]

Don’t know if rcw still around tonight but it needs to be a diesel oil! Pretty sure he runs Rotella t-6 but not positive. Seems to be the most popular and easy to get. I run rotella t-5 15-40 I’m mine which is a synthetic blend in mine but I don’t have near the cold you do.

 

[HiFiDave]

Thanks,
I will run with the T6 5w-40 and let you know what happens.

This tractor jeans a lot to me. I am retired and depend on it to exist out here.

Thank you everyone.

Good night

 

[Fordtech86]

I was born and raised in central Illinois so I know what you going thru right now with temps. Come October at work we would start switching diesel trucks to 10-30 or 5-40 for the winter. Good luck!!

P.S.—did lots of fishing around your way at braidwood. And spent lots of time at wrigley field. At least the cubs open their season in Arlington this year. Already got my tickets lol!

 

[torch]

Trired to raise tractor with fel and it raised up but then engine bogged down and died. Checked oil on dipstick and it is 1 in past full. Engine sounds funny so I shut it down. Upon getting underneath tractor I can see the oil on the ground was pushed past oil filter gasket.

1. Was the tractor raised when you checked the dipstick? Being off-level could affect the apparent reading. Tractor should be level to check.

2. Did you re-check the level after taking the initial reading?

As a general rule of thumb, conventional 15W oil will flow correctly down to -15°C (5°F). At -20°F it starts to exhibit the characteristics of molasses. Some brands of 15W have a pour point of -30° -- that is, they won't even pour out of the container at colder temperatures! Even a synthetic 15W won't have a pour point much below -40°. I believe Kubota recommends at least 10W for operation below freezing in their diesel engines.

Pushing this thick viscous substance through small lubrication passages raises the oil pressure. I suspect this is what caused the filter gasket to leak.

Personally, I'm using Delvac 0W40. Pour point is around -50°C. Better lubrication and easier cranking when cold. But any quality brand would be OK as long as the winter viscosity rating is 10W or below -- preferably 5W or 0W at those temperatures.

The same caveats apply to the hydraulic oil too. Kubota's SUDT2 has a pour point of -42°C, but the plain UDT is only -35°. ("Premium UDT" is -57°C, but I think that's only available in Canada). Pushing UDT around cold would certainly load up the engine and the hydraulics would be very slow to respond.

 

[mattwithcats]

You can get Shell Rotella T6 in 0W-40 Arctic formula at Advanced Auto.

New CK rated...
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...-gallon-550046264/11601386-P?searchTerm=0w-40

Old CJ rated...
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p...-gallon-550041877/11044348-P?searchTerm=0w-40

 

[RCW]

Yep - Ford was correct. I use Rotella T6

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[tinkerwitheverything]

Living where its cold I've had oil leak from the oil filter gasket a number of times over the years. Cars / trucks / tractors etc: Just tighten the filter up a little bit tighter and your good to go. A quarter turn will suffice. If the oil filter isn't tightened down more then just snug they will have a tendency to leak on a cold start up. Don't over think it, also you should be using a lighter oil in colder weather anyway. I use a Diesel 10-30 year round. My tractor does sit inside a heated garage now a days as well.