Hello,
I bought an older jacobsen mower with a kubota d950.
I bought it non running.
I got around to trying to get it running, and I put a new battery in and tried cranking but my battery was undersized so i cheated and used starting fluid(I know...) and it popped off.
It ran fine, except for one small issue it smoked like a freight train. I ran it for 5 minutes and stopped it and and checked the oil and it was slightly overfilled. I drained it and it came out super sludgy, almost solid.
I put new 15w40 in went to check the coolant reservoir and it was empty. Filled it with water and started it and ran it for 30 minutes hoping it would clear up and it didn't.
I checked the coolant and my water was now black and murky.
I was wondering what my next steps should be? Should I take off head and check head/gasket or do a leak down or pressure test first?
Also what are the chances I get lucky and its just a gasket instead of needing a new head?
Also if I do buy a new head, is there something I should do to check if the rest of the engine is sound before investing the money?
Thanks In Advance Folks!!

I bought an older jacobsen mower with a kubota d950.
I bought it non running.
I got around to trying to get it running, and I put a new battery in and tried cranking but my battery was undersized so i cheated and used starting fluid(I know...) and it popped off.
It ran fine, except for one small issue it smoked like a freight train. I ran it for 5 minutes and stopped it and and checked the oil and it was slightly overfilled. I drained it and it came out super sludgy, almost solid.
I put new 15w40 in went to check the coolant reservoir and it was empty. Filled it with water and started it and ran it for 30 minutes hoping it would clear up and it didn't.
I checked the coolant and my water was now black and murky.
I was wondering what my next steps should be? Should I take off head and check head/gasket or do a leak down or pressure test first?
Also what are the chances I get lucky and its just a gasket instead of needing a new head?
Also if I do buy a new head, is there something I should do to check if the rest of the engine is sound before investing the money?
Thanks In Advance Folks!!
