Case 320b leaky left tank and bellhousing torched

[altay]

Will do. It's soaking wet here this week, should be good on Saturday.

Thank you the advise was spot on. I did get the bolts out of the front but there was no way the pan was coming off until the steering axle was dropped. I jacked up on the front weight and I also had to let air out of the tires to get it down further so the pan could slip out past the oil pump. Much sludge in the bottom. But the crank looks good visually.

 

[Jim.ME]

You don't need to reply to your own posts. You use the Reply button in the person's post you want to reply to even if it is not the last post made.

 

[altay]

Guys, my challenge now is how to get the pistons out. Or get the entire sleeve/piston combo out *while the motor is still in the tractor. Here is the current state: the head is off, the pan is off. The rod caps are off. The motor is still in the tractor. I want to avoid splitting it if I can. Cylinders one and two are rusted and seized. Cylinders three and four move freely. But no pistons can come out yet because the crank is seized at mid-stroke and so the rod interferes with the crank when I attempt to remove pistons three and four. So to avoid splitting the tractor is there any way to unseize pistons one and two soni can move the crank and proceed normally? Or is there a way to press sleeves number one and two straight up from below with the piston still seized inside of them? Or is destructive removal of one and two the only option? I would still hope that honing and reusing these things is possible but at this point that hope is fading because this is very very stuck. I have already soaked it for a week with atf and acetone. I've tapped down on the piston faces with a block and hammer, I have bottle jacked it from below with a wooden block against the crank and against the rod edges and even against the piston itself. The whole tracker just starts to lift off the ground and I stopped before something breaks. One and two have not budged and the crank has not moved at all. I'm not opposed to buying the kit with new sleeves and pistons. But I'm looking for all suggestions. At the moment I'm contemplating making a press to press one of the seized pistons down from above. I could use the head bolts to hold a homemade press plate in place... Just a thought. So to summarize, the challenge is this: two pistons stuck, crank frozen mid stroke meaning all four of the piston heads are all about level with each other. How to proceed? Thanks!

 

[altay]

You don't need to reply to your own posts. You use the Reply button in the person's post you want to reply to even if it is not the last post made.

Thx...

 

[Joe (Wa)]

I inspected the oil filter and you were absolutely correct in pointing out the tube may be missing. As it is indeed missing. Perhaps I can make one from a certain type of tubing? Thanks again.

To make a new tube I prefer refrigeration grade (thicker wall thickness) soft drawn copper tubing. Total tube length 4-1/2 inch, that gives it about 3-3/4 inch height above the shoulder when pressed in. Sand down the bottom of the tube to get it pressed into the base socket with a good tight fit. Solder the top closed and drill 1/16 inch hole down through the solder. Sand the tube top rounded so it slides smoothly into the filter media.

I did this years ago when I was young, dumb, and bulletproof but do not recommend it if you value your face, upper body, and eyesight. I used a welding hood with stacked clear lens. If you want to check the new stem tube in action, make a rubber gasket, screw on a mason jar and start the tractor engine. The gasket will probably leak a bit.

 

[Joe (Wa)]

Guys, my challenge now is how to get the pistons out. Or get the entire sleeve/piston combo out *while the motor is still in the tractor.

I think you should be very careful with pressing, the liner could crack the block at the top deck or even down at the o-ring lands. Suggest taking time with soaking and a constant moderate press and occasional bumps with the block and hammer.

 

[Tgrasher]

Soaking and vibration to help the penetrant spread is the quicker way. Make a 1/4" thick, or more, plate of steel that fits the top of the piston catching it on the sides. Use an air hammer with a blunt tip, lightly, alternatively to vibrate the pistons. Again, it will take some time and may not be instantaneous.

 

[Nicholaus Sowder]

Thx...

You could always set fire to the atf mix on top of the pistons? I know it sounds crazy but it should the pistons and sleeves contract.

 

[altay]

I think you should be very careful with pressing, the liner could crack the block at the top deck or even down at the o-ring lands. Suggest taking time with soaking and a constant moderate press and occasional bumps with the block and hammer.

As an update, all the tapping and jacking has somehow pushed sleeve #1 up and out from the block but only about 1/16th of an inch, taking piston 1 up with it (all rod caps were previously removed). pistons 1 and 2 are still very much stuck in their sleeves but I can feel the rust is now breaking up a little bit around the top edges of both of those pistons. I've decided to now slow this down and let the atf/acetone mix continue to do its work to avoid risking breakage. And I might try the vibration idea later to see if that speeds it up. More tools would need to be purchased to do that.

Does anyone have any tips on whether or not I should also try to to get a chain wrench around the main belt wheel that spins the alternator? When it comes time to try again (in an week) I might tap or vibrate on the heads of the pistons while at the same time a helper tries to rock the crankshaft by working a chain wrench on that belt wheel at the front of the engine. This is just a thought at this point. I don't have a chain wrench... this dea that came up as I was talking to others about it. They basically suggested trying to turn the crank at the same time as tapping. Would that belt wheel fail if I tried torquing on it? Is there a better way to lever off of the front end of the crank? There is a splined shaft that connects the crank at the front of the engine to a hydraulic pump. So it is not possible to just put socket onto the end of it to spin the crank.

 

[Joe (Wa)]

As an update

Don't use a chain wrench on the crank pulley, you might break a junk out of the flank that will chew up a belt. Maybe chain wrench or pipe wrench on the pump shaft or padded crowbar on a crank web. Viewed from the front engine rotation is CW, try rocking it back & forth. The key here is just enough force to rotate the engine, you're are not going to break stuck pistons loose without breaking something with this method.

Tgrasher's method is about the fastest way without breaking something, you may have to soak weeks or longer. ATF is about the cheapest somewhat effective penetrate for long term soak. If I were going to do one now I would experiment with a gal of PB Blaster.

 

[altay]

Don't use a chain wrench on the crank pulley, you might break a junk out of the flank that will chew up a belt. Maybe chain wrench or pipe wrench on the pump shaft or padded crowbar on a crank web. Viewed from the front engine rotation is CW, try rocking it back & forth. The key here is just enough force to rotate the engine, you're are not going to break stuck pistons loose without breaking something with this method.

Tgrasher's method is about the fastest way without breaking something, you may have to soak weeks or longer. ATF is about the cheapest somewhat effective penetrate for long term soak. If I were going to do one now I would experiment with a gal of PB Blaster.

Brief update: I just cleared out the atf/acetone mix from out of the top of the two stuck pistons. No change after soaking in this mox for several weeks. But now I have just replaced this ATF mix with PB Blaster Rust. Half a can sprayed on top of each of the two stuck pistons. I will let that soak for a while and hope this will make progress. I also honed the accessible top half of the cylinders a bit. I am assuming that would help once things do start to eventually move. I only honed a little bit. They are still quite rusty.