# 574 dumping hydraulic oil into engine sump



## guyh (Apr 9, 2015)

Hi All, hope you can point me in the right direction with this.

Newly purchased 574

Attached & picked up a post rammer today on the 3pt

As I pulled out of the barn, engine running at a fast idle, the engine started knocking, sounding rough and then started spewing oil out of the engine.

Shut it off.

The oil dumped smelt like diesel engine oil, but was the wrong viscosity to be just engine oil
The engine oil level was full
The hydraulic oil level was low

Started up again after clearing up and power steering making air noises, so this seems to point conclusively to the hydraulic fluid entering the engine/sump

Any ideas?? I haven't a clue where to start looking  I have bought a workshop manual for it though & I am reasonably mechanically minded

Thanks


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## guyh (Apr 9, 2015)

Having looked through the workshop manual, I am struggling to find anywhere that the hydraulic fluid comes anywhere near the engine!
Only option seems to be a cooler that is mentioned but not detailed as far as I can see.

Is there a cooler fitted? Does it go anywhere near the engine oil lines?


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy guyh,

Welcome to the tractor forum. Thought I'd give you some ideas from a Ford tractor perspective.

Your injection pump can leak diesel into the engine sump. 

Your power steering pump can leak power steering fluid into the engine sump. 

If your hydraulic pump is mounted on the engine and driven by the camshaft, I guess it could leak hydraulic fluid into the engine sump. Never heard of this happening.

You can have a coolant leak into the engine sump. Turns the engine oil milky colored. Head gasket leak, cracked head, corrosion hole in block.

On my tractor there is provision for an oil cooler in the radiator. I don't use it. But if you had a oil/hydraulic cooler up front, might be a problem..


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## PeteNM (Sep 18, 2003)

Look at the oil and see what it looks like and smell it. If it's from the injection pump it will likely be thin and smell like diesel. If it seems like it's all oil it could be hydraulic oil mixed with it. If it's whitish looking like already stated it probably water. 
Hope this helps.


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## guyh (Apr 9, 2015)

Thanks for the reply.
It doesn't smell like diesel in the oil (that was my first thought) and it is definitely not water in the oil, the oil that came out was just oil, no emulsion or oil/water mix


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## guyh (Apr 9, 2015)

The fact that the hydraulic fluid level dropped & the power steering also started playing up, makes me believe that it is hydraulic fluid entering the engine.

I am just struggling to find how??

My workshop manual does not seem to be the best 
There definitely is a cooler, but I cannot see from the manual whether it is an hyd fluid/engine oil cooler or if there is any other way for the fluid to make its way into the engine


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

I've never seen a hydraulic oil cooler using engine oil as a transfer medium. There may be an oil cooler, but I suspect it's air to air type located front of the radiator. As for hydraulic pumps - industrial version 74 series have a front mounted pump for loader/backhoe. Ag and utility series pumps are internal, located in the rear housing. Steering is part of that system and should have no connection to engine oil. You may well be low on hydraulic fluid, but I suspect it went on the ground somewhere, not in the engine. Your engine oil level increase is most likely fuel.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

As far as I know, the hydraulic and engine oil reservoirs are completely separate and do not mix in any way. I've had my 574 apart and its just not possible. If its a diesel engine, then I'd suspect that the fuel is leaking into the engine from the injection pump, or that someone overfilled the oil before you got it. The hydraulic pump is located in the transmission on the left side just ahead of the rear axle. If you haven't already, I'd change the hydraulic filter. They are notoriously overlooked and get plugged up. That will cause your steering to get choppy, as can the low hydraulic oil level.

Here's what I would do. Change the hydraulic filter (its in the dome on the left hand side of the tractor just ahead of the axle). Top off the hydraulic oil with CaseIH Hytran oil. That's all I use in my IH tractors for hydraulic fluid. Change the engine oil and filter if you haven't already. Run the unit for some time, maybe use it an hour. Check the fluid levels and see if the engine oil is still going up. The hydraulic levels may be down a bit if there was any air in the system, but it shouldn't keep falling.


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## guyh (Apr 9, 2015)

Thanks again for your replies.
I have come to the same conclusion, there is no way the hydraulic fluid can get into the engine oil.
So, I agree, probably already a bit low on fluid and then operating the 3pt lowered the level a little more to make the steering noisy.
The engine is definitely filling up as it ran ok before for a while, then started sounding rough & then really rough when it overflowed

So, fuel getting into the oil
The seller told me that the previous owner had had the injection pump refurbished.
In my mind that either means that they messed it up
OR that this was the original problem, they had the pump refurbed as they were told that would be the problem and it is actually one (or more) faulty injectors

Is there any reliable way to check for the pump leaking?
Or is it easier to pop the injectors and turn it over and see if they all squirt properly?
Or is the front seal on the pump a DIY job anyway

Oil & filter change tomorrow when parts turn up.
Hydraulic filter will be changed when that turns up
Thanks again


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Injectors won't put fuel in in the crankcase. They may cause any number of problems, but not that one. If you have an injector leaking that much fuel, you will have a dead cylinder and raw fuel running out the exhaust long before it shows up in the oil. If you have fuel dilution it's coming from the pump.


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## Blackbear (Feb 24, 2015)

i don't know ur tractor setup but does it have a lift pump? one that run by a cam and bolted to side of block.if so might be worth checking.


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Mine is a gas engine, but I think the diesel version had a lift pump as well. Mine mounts over the starter on the left hand side, but the diesel is an entirely different engine.


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

No lift pump on the diesel. Injection pump is the only connection to engine oil.


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