Oil Bath Air Cleaner on 850

[Billy NY]

What would make oil come out of one of these air cleaners, really made a mess on my wiring behind there. I'll have to check closely, might have been a tad overfilled, fill mark is clear, thought the last time I cleaned and refilled it, oil level was correct.

There was some wiring to be done anyhow, was adding a 30 watt rear worklight to the light circuit which I now believe I foolishly used a 30 amp buss fuse in the circuit, was getting hot, contacts must get oxidized when wet, resist current and heat, the first one melted, so I went to a splashproof ATC fuse, turned lights on, wire is cool. I mostly use larger wire sizes for safety, but all the oil, dirt and goldenrod seed accumulated from last year, way too much fuel for a fire, need to stop the oil leak or it from apparently blowing out, does not appear to be coming from the motor, but still possible.

Additionally, besides level, I may have used a 30 wt oil in the oil bath, detergent oil, I don't believe I used whats in the motor, 15W/40 Rotella in the oil bath. TSC across the road does have quarts of 30 wt non detergent, which I always thought was more appropriate for oil bath air cleaners as it settles contaminants out vs suspending them for the oil filter or encapsulates to protect the engine, wonder if non detergent would be better that whats in there, don't think its foaming or anything like that.
 

[old]

I always use the same oil in the air cleaner as I do in the engine. Yep over full with cause funny problems as will a back fire from the carb
 

[Dean]

Usually leaks in oil bath oil cups are caused by pinholes in the cup due to condensation water being left therein over years.

Do you have the correct cork gasket in place?

Dean
 

[Billy NY]

LP, never backfired before, which you are right, that and when a motor runs backwards.

Too light of oil, goes to far up and gets sucked in, too heavy it does not go up far enough and uncleaned air gets in. Will have to take look in the old ford shop manual I have on hundred series, see what it originally called for, really do not want oil bath wires again LOL !!!!
 

[old]

All the owners manual says for the 601/801 series is engine oil it does not say what weight of oil to use. Not a reprint either LOL
 

[Billy NY]

Right, the non reprint (of course the information should be the same) Ford Tractor Shop Manual for 1955-1960 600-900 & 601-1801 tractors says to use whats in the engine crankcase. Starts on page 415, these are seemingly the best books for these, also has S-0-S (early ones) information.

I'll have to try the heavier 15W-40 Rotella, than was called for back then, make sure I don't overfill, and see after running if its coming out again. However, I just found the air cleaner in the parts manual, NO cork gasket, I'll check toi see if one is stuck on the top section. The whole engine on this tractor gets lightly coated, then the trash from mowing dry weeds and what have you clings, turns into a thick coating, but it does not use oil, nor leak engine oil when sitting. It does leak coolant, which seems to be a porosity issue with the block, no head gasket, overheating or similar problems,just comes out the left side, going to add Barr's to it, be great to stop this leak, but maybe the coolant is enough to make things stick and coat the entire engine, I have cleaned it with compressed air, seems to come back.

Old tractors sure are fun, start out fixing one thing, 3 others show up, was getting ready to put it all back together, was fooling with the stiff throttle lever and the #10 screw I modified for a pivot head finally sheared, been in there for years, made another, sure is hard to get those tiny hex nuts back on, took apart the pivot behind the breather, looks like some sort of friction material, so I cleaned that, (but did not lube) and the mate to it where the linkage connects, adjusted seems to be much better.
 

[Billy NY]

This may be the problem, going to go look at the top section of it while its out, bet its missing, just found the section in the parts book for one of these, if so, that has to be it.