1953 SH- Clanking sound near front of engine

[IAtractorKid]

Hey guys! My SH has developed a clanking sound at the front of the engine. First guess is water pump...tractor does not run hot or overheat. Fan is nice and tight. Radiator was boiled and block flushed about two years ago and then it sat for about a year (inside). Water pump felt good when I had tractor apart but I did not remove the pump. Can I take the water pump belt off and run the tractor for a minute to see if sound is still present? Has good antifreeze, maybe I just need some water pump conditioner?

Has M&W live hydraulics but I do not think the noise is coming from that area. Hydraulics work and it runs great! Any ideas? Thanks!
 

[rustred]

i had one where half the water pump pulley was unscrewed off the threads and it was doing the rattling and clunking when running. but you say the belt is tight though. will not hurt anything to remove belt for a minute or two, as long as have coolant in it. also if you get coolant on the belt it can make funny squeeking noises.
 

[Zachary Hoyt]

You can take the belt off the water pump pulley and it will be fine to run for a bit. I have an IH live pump on the 300 and have found that it made noise once when I had just drained and refilled the hydraulic reservoir and it had air in the line. I worked the hydraulics in and out a few times and it went away, and then I topped off the reservoir.
Zach
 

[John M]

Fan hitting the shroud?
 

[State of Jefferson]

I'm guessing broken teeth and/or loose cam gear. Have a SMTA that needs investigated.

Ben
 

[Janicholson]

I agree, Do look at those teeth. It will have the good gears, but the teeth or cam can still come loose. Not good to allow it to go to will not run. Jim
 

[mkirsch]

Loose cam gear is more of a "knock" than a "clank."

Then again, what you call a clank might be what I call a clunk, or knock, or rattle, or clink... It's all subjective.
 

[IAtractorKid]

How would something like that have happened? Will need to pull the front cover to see and/or fix that correct?

Fan is not hitting the shroud. Hope its the water pump over the cam gear. Will hopefully have time to investigat a little tomorrow. Thanks!
 

[IAtractorKid]

Another thought...noise is not consistant. Meaning it does not do it all the time, and sometimes it more noticeable than others. Wouldnt a cam gear make noise all the time and be louder at high rpm? Just curious. Thanks again!
 

[State of Jefferson]

Cam gears are an issue on these old things. 'Specially with the live pump. Puts additional strain on em. Mine doesn't make noise all the time, and I've only put about 3 hours on my tractor the last couple years, so I haven't gotten too exited about it. It's on my list...

You have to pull the front cover to repair, but can investigate by simply pulling the pump/distributor.

Ben
 

[gab]

You can run it with the belts off, but check your water pump and generator pullys the adjustable side of the pully did'nt come loose from the locking bolt, seen that before.
 

[El Toro]

Some of the lettered IH tractors had cam gear problems when the hydraulic pumps were driven off of them. Hal
 

[IAtractorKid]

Pulled the belt and noise goes away. Put lubricant in the radiator and some grease in the zerks. Will see if that helps otherwise Ill be pulling the water pump for a rebuild. Thanks for the help!
 

[Dennis K (WA)]

What about generator?