Well I'm back chatting about my old JD 345 with the 18hp Kawasaki motor.....

[roylt]

In another tread I posted about this tractor having a coolant leak. I ordered the parts and fixed it. But after mowing and then each time I would go to the shed the coolant seemed lower in the over flow bottle. The exhaust pipe seemed wet too. It is right by the valve cover so I figured my luck that the valve cover didn't seal right and it was leaking. I put off messing with it as long as I could but wanted to mulch leaves today. Pushed it towards the door then hit the key. It cranked a lot and no start. I hit the key a second time and it started up. Seemed fine? Didn't see anything on the left side where the pipe was wet. Around to the other side to look. Eyed the overflow container and saw a bubble and another etc.

So I guess that means a bad head gasket? compression is pushing air? I'm not a mechanic but somewhat handy. Give me some ideas please.

18 hp Kawasaki FD590V motor.

To be clear the coolant only seemed down about a 1/4 inch in the overflow. Not much coolant really. I was too scared to look in the radiator...

I did get the yard taken care of and it seemed to run fine. No leaks or loss of coolant that I could tell. After I was still to scared to look in the radiator...

Life is piled pretty high on me right now with my brother and now this. It is my snow blower too so I'm in a time crunch. Still 50 Sunday but will be getting colder very soon. Yard work the last few days also. I'm tired...

Oh well. Enough pity party but do feel free to comment.

 

[Mobuck]

Does the overflow appear to be 'oily' or the oil appear 'milky'?
I'll run this past younger Son if you'd like. He's pretty handy (much better than me) on small engines even though he can't see.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Coolant/oil doesn't mix with a blown head gasket on many modern vehicle engines, unsure about this engine. Pressure test it cold then pull the spark plug on the suspect cylinder and look for coolant. May be only a small amount. Just enough to make it hard to start until the plug gets dried off with fuel and spark. Second method is using a block tester. They are kind of inconvenient and I am not sure your engine has a vacuum source to use.

 

[roylt]

Does the overflow appear to be 'oily' or the oil appear 'milky'?
I'll run this past younger Son if you'd like. He's pretty handy (much better than me) on small engines even though he can't see.

It isn't mixed currently but I guess it could get worse over time. That is one of the first checks I made was to pull the dip stick. Oil is clean and new yet.
I'd welcome pointers from your boy if he has any to give. Thanks,

 

[roylt]

Coolant/oil doesn't mix with a blown head gasket on many modern vehicle engines, unsure about this engine. Pressure test it cold then pull the spark plug on the suspect cylinder and look for coolant. May be only a small amount. Just enough to make it hard to start until the plug gets dried off with fuel and spark. Second method is using a block tester. They are kind of inconvenient and I am not sure your engine has a vacuum source to use.

I believe the head has both oil and coolant running through different ports etc. Not mixed or anything yet I'm glad to report.
Doesn't seem to puff white smoke like the coolant is burning off. But it does have to be going some place??
I don't have any testers like you say but what you do say makes sense. Wet plug issue. Yeah this little 2 cylinder doesn't use vacuum that I'm aware of.

I'll have to pull the plugs and look them over. Thanks,

 

[GasGuzzler]

Block tester is cheap at the parts store. Might have to get a manual vacuum pump to operate the block testers. Might not see a puff but it might run rough for 10 seconds on a cold start if the plug is wet on that cylinder.

THIS ONE is a best seller and has a good rating at 4.7 stars, also has an integrated pump.

 

[krw]

Surely I missed it at some point, Look in the radiator!! Its an older mower, if you have to add pint of coolant ea time you mow, is that a big deal? If it starts, run, and you can complete the task don't sweat little issues

 

[DGW1949]

I'm guessing that when you say "valve cover" you mean "rocker arm cover". Either way though, that particular gasket can indeed leak oil, but it can not leak coolant because there is no coolant under there....Pictures of the area where you are seeing the leak would help, but I highly doubt that anything originating from inside that cover has anything to do with your loss of coolant...Beings how you recently replaced the head gasket, my guess is that your leaky head gasket was not the problem, it was merely a symptom of the problem....I reckon that you checked the radiator for leaks, bent/clogged fins, etc, and the head and block for cracks and/or warpage before putting it all back together?...If not, that's where I'd start....You might want to remove the water pump and ensure that it's plastic impeller hasn't stripped on the shaft. A thermost can be tested by dropping it into a pot of water and heating it to a slow boil while watching to see if it opens...Have you checked to see if the idiot light is actually working?...Any idea of how hot the engine is running while being used?

RE: "I don't have any testers like you say but what you do say makes sense. Wet plug issue. Yeah this little 2 cylinder doesn't use vacuum that I'm aware of.".....
.......Yes, your engine does have "vacum". All engines do, Actually, what we commonly call "vacum" is in fact, negative pressure. It is what causes the cylinder to fill as it travels downward on it's intake stroke.

Wish I could help more, but without having your tractor to check over, that's all I got.

DGW

 

[RiverRider]

I have extensive experience with the Deere 445. It's not the same tractor as the 345, but very close.

My dying neighbor bequeathed me a Deere 445 in the Spring of 2021. He had "gone through it" to get it up to snuff for use on another property in another part of the state and figured it would be good because he had great luck with the first 445 he owned and used at his home next door (and that one is still in use by his widow). I was grateful of course.

I used that 445 for a season or two and got great service out of it until the engine developed issues. That engine was the FD620D. I considered repairing it but decided against it because I needed a running tractor "now." I purchased a repower kit, which was a brand new FD791D. It set me back monetarily...I now had $3300 in my "free tractor." But it ran and did what I needed it to do. All the while, a transaxle leak had required topping off the hydrostatic fluid periodically and that leak got worse over time and began to get expensive---not to mention messy.

So, during the part of the year I owuld not need the tractor I trailered it over to my local friendly Deere dealer to have that leak addressed. It turns out that the particular transaxle (Tuff Torq K92) in that tractor is pretty much unsupported anymore parts wise (your 345 uses a similar transaxle made by Tuff Torq, the K70...and it's likely that parts are an issue for that one as well). Anyway, the dealer quoted me something around $5000 for a new transaxle (still available, curiously enough but not too surprising considering the price). It seems there were some seals that were no longer available so I asked if they could fabricate or substitute materials to get the tractor on its feet (or wheels, LOL) again and they did so...to the tune of another $1800. I now had $5100 in my "free tractor" but it ran good with the new engine and the transaxle no longer leaked.

So I got the tractor back and used it for another full season, then the following spring the transaxle went into full failure mode. I did manage to snag a working transaxle off of ebay (which I maybe should have done when the transaxle first began to leak too much) for around $750 or so shipped. Putting the "new" transaxle in it by myself without a hoist was a real challenge to say the least and I would never want to do that again, and that's bad enough, but now I had almost $6000 (and LOTS of my own labor) tied up in this tractor and I had no way of knowing how long the "new" transaxle was going to last. The engine still was under warranty from Kawasaki, but I was not comfortable with the situation.

I bought a brand new (sort of...it is actually a factory "program tractor" that came with about 80 hours on it but still under full factory warranty) Deere X730 and extended the warranty until 2031 because being in my eighth decade on the third rock from the sun I just don't want to work on cars, trucks, or tractors anymore beyond routine maintenance.

I was able to recover about $2400 worth of value back out of the 445 but I took a large loss for only three years of use. I could have bought two of the cheaper Deere lawn tractors at Lowe's and gotten 12 to 15 years or more service out of them had I not begun putting money into that old 445. There are no do-overs, unfortunately.

If that does not frighten you away from pouring money into that old 345, I don't know what will.

 

[roylt]

I have extensive experience with the Deere 445. It's not the same tractor as the 345, but very close.

My dying neighbor bequeathed me a Deere 445 in the Spring of 2021. He had "gone through it" to get it up to snuff for use on another property in another part of the state and figured it would be good because he had great luck with the first 445 he owned and used at his home next door (and that one is still in use by his widow). I was grateful of course.

I used that 445 for a season or two and got great service out of it until the engine developed issues. That engine was the FD620D. I considered repairing it but decided against it because I needed a running tractor "now." I purchased a repower kit, which was a brand new FD791D. It set me back monetarily...I now had $3300 in my "free tractor." But it ran and did what I needed it to do. All the while, a transaxle leak had required topping off the hydrostatic fluid periodically and that leak got worse over time and began to get expensive---not to mention messy.

So, during the part of the year I owuld not need the tractor I trailered it over to my local friendly Deere dealer to have that leak addressed. It turns out that the particular transaxle (Tuff Torq K92) in that tractor is pretty much unsupported anymore parts wise (your 345 uses a similar transaxle made by Tuff Torq, the K70...and it's likely that parts are an issue for that one as well). Anyway, the dealer quoted me something around $5000 for a new transaxle (still available, curiously enough but not too surprising considering the price). It seems there were some seals that were no longer available so I asked if they could fabricate or substitute materials to get the tractor on its feet (or wheels, LOL) again and they did so...to the tune of another $1800. I now had $5100 in my "free tractor" but it ran good with the new engine and the transaxle no longer leaked.

So I got the tractor back and used it for another full season, then the following spring the transaxle went into full failure mode. I did manage to snag a working transaxle off of ebay (which I maybe should have done when the transaxle first began to leak too much) for around $750 or so shipped. Putting the "new" transaxle in it by myself without a hoist was a real challenge to say the least and I would never want to do that again, and that's bad enough, but now I had almost $6000 (and LOTS of my own labor) tied up in this tractor and I had no way of knowing how long the "new" transaxle was going to last. The engine still was under warranty from Kawasaki, but I was not comfortable with the situation.

I bought a brand new (sort of...it is actually a factory "program tractor" that came with about 80 hours on it but still under full factory warranty) Deere X730 and extended the warranty until 2031 because being in my eighth decade on the third rock from the sun I just don't want to work on cars, trucks, or tractors anymore beyond routine maintenance.

I was able to recover about $2400 worth of value back out of the 445 but I took a large loss for only three years of use. I could have bought two of the cheaper Deere lawn tractors at Lowe's and gotten 12 to 15 years or more service out of them had I not begun putting money into that old 445. There are no do-overs, unfortunately.

If that does not frighten you away from pouring money into that old 345, I don't know what will.

This tractor has given me lots of years of service (21 so far) and is more than a lawn mower for me as I also do snow removal in winter. Hasn't cost me much yet really because I did the work myself. I will probably tackle the head gasket too. Just one gasket for the head and then the exhaust manifold gaskets. Plus probably a bit of hose where it goes to the radiator. The big deal is time for me. I just hate working in the cold. My fingers just can't take it.
And yes the 345 is basically obsolete. Parts are getting harder to get etc. I just don't really want to shell out 20K to get a new mower and blower setup. I bet that x730 was pricey.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Direct injected engines whether diesel or gas do not make measurable vacuum ... and that wasn't my point because I am not familiar with this engine and what type of fuel system is has. You need a vacuum source on the engine (or a manual pump) to use a block tester (the only way to know 100% there are combustion gases in the cooling system). That's why vacuum (not "vacum") was mentioned. Valve cover and rocker cover or rocker arm cover (although not the same) are universally substituted. Maybe some should read the other topic where you step by step repaired the last issues. Try the block tester in the link I provided earlier. It's cheap and easy to use.