Milky Oil 314-8

[Ray Ohio 2]

I have a 1986 314-8 that I use only in the winter for plowing. On average, I put about 12 hours per winter plowing. I usually plow for 30 minutes a time. My problem, the oil starts turning tan(milky) after about three hours. I suspect it is a condensation issue, but this never happened with the other 300 series tractors that I have owned. Is there a breather on these engines? Will I harm the motor by running it with this color. I don't feel the oil has lost it's viscosity. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[stevasaurus 23,090]

There is a breather...maybe you need to check it and clean it.  I am not sure where it is on a 14 hsp...the 7 & 8 the breather is kind of behind and below the carburetor.  We have a Kohler manual in the Manual section.  

[oldlineman 1,495]

Hi, I would guess that you are not running the engine long enough in cold temps. to heat the oil enough to evaporate the moisture out of the oil. Lets see what others say, many knowledgeable fokes here. Bob

[Mudrig150 313]

Sounds like the breather's reed valves have gone bad, allowing the vapors to get in. Breather is under the carburetor, under the cover and held on with 1 bolt.

Question:

Where do you store the tractor? If you store it outside, the heat from the block after running would cause the water vapor to condense inside the block.

 

The block heating would push the vapors out of the block, preventing it from condensing. Maybe run it for longer?

Edited October 17, 2019 by Mudrig150

[tom2p 2,394]

I would not run with that oil 
 

and what brand / type oil ?

 

could be an oil with high paraffin content ?

 

I have not seen milky motor oil for a long time (early 80's ?) - and that was in an engine with clogged breather or similar - and suspect motor oil (with high paraffin content I believe)

[Burnerman 759]

How cold is it when you’re plowing? You may need to block some of the cooling air flow to get the engine to run warmer and get the oil hot enough to boil off the water. I know my K241 has some serious cooling airflow.  I’ve used my infrared thermometer and was surprised at how cool the block stays in warm weather. 

[peter lena 9,097]

what are you using for oil ?   agree with OLDLINEMAN  on the oil temp, over winter i use 5-30 regular grade oil, its basic simple make up allows it to warm up faster and reduce the milky condensation issue. 10-30 oil does not warm up as fast , often letting it smoke till warm. the other issue could be the short winter plowing cycle, these engines need to be used to thoroughly warm them up . i use rottella 30, the rest of the year, with great cleaning results. if your other engines never had the issue , it could be a simple back tract ,as to how and what you were using that did not let it happen. pete 

[Ray Ohio 2]

I store the tractor in an unheated garage. I have had this tractor for three years and after the first year of seeing the milky oil, I changed to Valvoline 10-30. Both oils I have used did the same thing. I have plowed at temps between 30 and 10 degrees. At the extremely cold temps, maybe the engine is over cooled and not getting up to temp. I will check the breather. My Kohler has the oil sentry and takes 2.5 quarts. Maybe the higher capacity makes the engine run cooler. At any rate, this tractor does a great job plowing. I live in an area with what they call "lake effect" snows. Two winters ago, Erie Pa, which is 25 miles from me was the snowiest bigger city in the US. This tractor is built like a tank. I have had 3000 series Cubs and Simplicity Prestige that both broke under the load. This 33 year old tractor has barely loosened up doing this hard job.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,266]

The next time you change oil put it in a translucent or clear jug and let the water settle to the bottom to see how much water is involved. It does not take much water to turn the oil white.

Have see cars sit in freezing weather long enough for the water to settle out and on startup no oil pressure. The pickup being in the bottom of the pan was frozen solid.

I can see the tractor connecting rod dipper in ice or hitting ice at startup and doing damage if there is enough ice.

 

Garry

[peter lena 9,097]

i am thinking that the 10-30 oil could be the problem , you live in a colder area , i would go to 5-30 valvoline  , it would heat up quicker and probably help out in cleaning the milky  residue out , i would also use the regular oil , without the added additives of a newer type oil. had a similar issue in a couple of used tractors , inside of 2 hot oil flush changes , the milky slime was gone and its been fine since , good luck , pete 

[oliver2-44 10,385]

Before retiring I worked with large industrial power generating equipment and all kinds of lubes and lube engineers. In that industrial world, one of the concerns with running milky oil in a piece of equipment was microscopic droplets of water can flash to steam in high load situations, even with cold oil.  When these tiny water droplets flash to steam there is a change in (vapor) pressure which causes microscopic metal pitting (cavitation). Over time this microscopic pitting can damage a precision bearing or engine surface.  This is one of many reasons, a lot of Industrial equipment that is expected to start at any time is fitted with heaters on their motors, gear cases, etc.    

 

A small engine may not be quite the same as a piece of industrial equipment, but the principle is the same. The extremely thin film of oil between the connecting rod and crankshaft or the cylinder rings and cylinder wall or other high load areas gets much hotter that the other 99% of the oil. Of course it is replaced with each revolution which slowly warms the rest of the oil up  and removes heat from those critical areas. 

You mentioned your tractor is stored in an unheated garage. I'm not in the colder states, but I've noticed several people discuss using a block heater that attaches with a magnet.  This helps their engine start easier in the cold and not require warm up time.  It seems like changing to the lighter oil and using a block heater would be good insurance.    

[tom2p 2,394]

The milky condition / change in color of the oil could be from the additives in the oil reacting to the combination of combusted fuel / unburnt fuel / condensation.

 

The additives oxidized - therefore the change in composition / color.

It is possible the the motor oil did not reach engine operating temp - which could account for condensation (as was suggested in an above prev post).

 

( this from my second year engineering student currently taking thermodynamics class  lol ) 

 

[JoeM 7,949]

Might want to do a crackle test on the oil to confirm water. heat a hot plate to about 400 and put a few drops of oil on the plate. If it crackles like boiling water, it has water content.

Might want to Google it and find out more but this is a easy test to tell the amount of water in the oil.

I did find this chart.

 

[JoeM 7,949]

I have one machine I run about 10 minutes a day driving up the to the barn. it gets that milky look pretty quick. Maybe after a month of short trips it starts to change.

Modern oils do have a pretty good tolerance for some water as they emulsify and continue to lubricate. The deal breaker is when there is to much, like what Garry is saying visible separation is a problem.