Perkins 4107 oil loss

[philgulliver]

hello all

my perkins 4107 lost most of it's oil. The oil warning light came on and the engine temp gauge was up to max. I reckon it all came out of the exhaust with the cooling water. other folks i have spoken to think it is likely to be head gasket, do you have any other ideas please?

regards

Phil

[C.Ricko]

probably head gasget but could be the head cracked if she had been a bit hot.

[ExUserGone]

I've never worked on a 4107 but I seem to remember being told of an internal oilpipe that corrodes, no doubt I will be corrected on this.

If it's gone down the exhaust you would notice an excess of blue smoke behind you and rainbow paterns on the water.

[C.Ricko]

The internal oil pipe you mean is probably the one from the head to the rocker shaft, I am not sure if this is different for a marine engine to a vehicle engine

like the valve springs are but if this leaked the oil would only drip into the sump.

if it is the head gasget it is fairly obvious as if you fill the headder tank with water and start the engine with the cap off the water will bubble over and then disappear after a few mins if it does not chuck all the water out straight away.

it's a fairly simple job to replace

[philgulliver]

thanks for all this, really helpful.

No blue smoke, but rainbow pattern in exhaust water. my engine is directly cooled with river water. Does it also have a header tank?

Phil G

[ExUserGone]

No header tank if directly cooled, only needed if indirectly cooled via heat exchanger with closed engine system.

[MBA Marine]

4018's are mostly from what i see Direct cooled, 4107's that i've seen are heat exchanged. both methods draw water from the river/sea

Easy to work out is there anywhere on top of your engine to put in water (coolant)?

[lashup]

Some perkins used oil coolers on the engine as well as gearbox coolers. Its possible that an o ring has perished or corrosion has set in from the raw water side. Might be worth checking out. Lee