1940 H Oiling Question

[messy gearhead]

How is the cam gear intended to get oiled?

I'm in the process of rebuilding the top-end (pistons, valves, etc.) of my 1940 H. I cleaned out as much of the old sludge from the crankcase and wanted to observe how the oil flowed before bolting it all back together. The cylinder and head are still off, I plugged the line that feeds the head & block, and spun the crank until I got oil pressure (not much, but moving the needle). Clean oil seems to be flowing everywhere it's intended now, but nothing is getting on the cam drive gear. The right rod seems to be getting lots of oil, the left has some, but less than the right (rod bearings just zip-tied on for now to block some of the oil flow). Since the entire transmission drives off the cam, I don't want to bolt it up until I know it's getting some oil. I spun the crank for 5 minutes and the cam gear is still pretty dry.

Thoughts?

 

[P Browning]

The H242R Cam Gear interfaces with gears of both the crankshaft and governor. The camshaft gear and crankshaft gear are lubricated by splash of oil from within the crankcase. And so "yes", hand-cranking will leave the gear dry for the most part.

There also is a trickle of oil coming from the governor in-feed off the oil pump, but this is small in comparison to the feed into each of the mains. This area of the "H" has always seemed to come up just a tad short lube-wise, especially in tractors before H16625. The rub comes in here in that the left-hand camshaft bearing receives its lube mainly from the governor's internal oil line in-feed. For H16625 & lower, Deere furnished a special external oiler to deliver some additional oil to both the governor gear and camshaft's left end bearing. From 16626 - 17580, the internal line to the governor was considered sufficient, but a line continued to be installed from the lower part of the L.H. Governor bearing housing to the camshaft bearing housing. And from 17581-up, some added change (unknown) was realized so that external oiling lines to the left side camshaft bearing housing were no longer used. And yes, all this activity concluded during the 1940 production year.

If you have the John Deere "H" Restoration Guide, this oiling system is outlined under the heading of L.H. Governor Bearing Housings of which there were four types! Learn more by a visit to the JD-H Restoration Site (below).

If your tractor is 17580 or lower, try to ensure you have the external oiling system in place to help prolong the life of both the L.H. Governor bearing and left side camshaft bearing. See page 9 in your PC304 Parts Catalog for details.

The feed to the mains, BTW, is the source of flow to the rods. As for one rod seeming to receive more oil than the other, this can be a function of more wear or looseness on the left side than on the right -- main bearing versus crankshaft. A looser fit will allow oil to make its way back to the crankcase (at the main) without traveling to the rod! (PatB)
Restoration Site, JD H

 

[messy gearhead]

Wow, thanks for the wealth of information, I have referred to you web site often. My SN is 17056 so I guess I should look into adding the external oiling system for the governor cover since it's not there yet. Any idea on where to find one?

I have the Service Guide, looks like I should probably buy the Parts Catalog & maybe your Restoration Manual as well. I'm restoring this with my 9 & 10 year old sons and we need to have it done in time for the last day of school (mid May).

 

[P Browning]

messy -- I am still in search of - - - ! Please take a very close look at casting numbers on your tractor for me -- on two pieces: (1) Governor housing, and (2) Main case. My email is open. Please shoot that data back to me when you are able. Thanks. When I get finished collecting data, I am hopeful I will have the final answers as to whether or not tractors 16626 - 17580 need anything at all, or if this is how long it took Deere's Maintenance data collection system to determine that whatever was changed at 16625/16626 did the trick insofar as camshaft left bearing lube is concerned. My expectation is that you DO NOT need it! But here's the good part, if you have the component parts, it is so neat a feature just for show if nothing else because it was to have been there.

Here is an open Request for Data -- To owners of Model H, with serial numbers between 10000 & 16625 to carefully read the casting numbers from the governor housing and main case - and send me the data via email. At the end of the inquiry, I will come back & post the result and (hopefully) with some data on how bad you need the external oiler. At this writing, the data says that you DO NEED it -- as found on page 9 of PC304 Parts Catalog -- both lines! If nothing else, you at least will be better informed. (PatB)
Restoration Site, JD H