580CK, need information.

CenTex Farmall

Well-known Member
I was given a 1969 580CK loader/backhoe. Diesel.
The motor is bad. I believe it lost the cam gear or something in the front. Pushrods are way bent. It's obvious the pistons hit the valves. The last operator (po's inlaw) said it was slowly losing power and finally wouldn't start.

The engine will need a complete overhaul as well as the pump (oil is way overfull and way too thin).

My concern is if it's worth rebuilding as I don't know anything about the transmission. I'm not a case guy but I understand they had several transmission options. I believe it's some kind of shuttle shift. There's a clutch pedal that seems to go to a dump valve. Not sure if there a plate clutch in there as well. Also a lever opposite the throttle that appears to be for forward and reverse

I'll attach photos to see if you can tell me what I've got and if parts are available if there are future problems with the transmission or if the type it has is not desirable or problematic.

Im also wondering what engines will swap in place of this one if I found someone parting an ag tractor vs rebuilding what's in there, including switching to a spark motor if I found one. What have is the 188 cu.in.

Tires are pretty good. Overall condition is average. Usage will be infrequent but more loader than hoe.
 

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Cam gear failures are not common on that engine, but I have had several with sheared cam keys over the years, I always replaced them with hardened keys and never had a repeat. The pan being full of light liquid is a cause for concern obviously. If it is not antifreeze that is a plus but then you need to find where it is getting fuel down in the pan. If you find the key bad, get a hard key and clean and dry the cam stub and gear and put a LITTLE bit of Red Loctite on the stub and smear it around and a small bit to the gear and keyway and install it with the marks lined up obviously, a drop of Loctite to the nut and torque to book value. You do not want gobs of Loctite getting places in the engine! The valves come straight down so valve bending has not been a problem even with the bent pushrods so I would see if you can pick up any valve leakage by ear after the repair. I have seen a couple 188s that the valve head impression was very noticeable in the valve relief on the piston on engines running fine.
 
I have never owned this model of Case but a good friend of mine has had many of these. One version is standard trans. with fwd rev. shuttle and the other has a torque converter with shuttle. I believe, seeing the lever on the left of the steering wheel, this is the converter kind. My friend never seemed to have much trouble with these machines. Sometimes he would buy one that didn't work well and simply needed a clutch adjustment. l would be inclined to think your machine has OK transmission function being that it was used up until the engine failed. You are really blessed to have received it for free which makes room for spending a bit of money to get it operational. If you're OK working on the engine yourself you can always tear it down to investigate where the problem is. The other option is, like you say, finding a used engine, even a gas one, which is cheaper to find as well as to maintain. Either way you're into a deal in your favor. Please share your success story when you get there.
 
Valves were a concern, if they got bent or not. One thing I noticed is that I can wiggle the retainer end of the valves and they have visible play. I think the pump has a static leak and will need to be resealed at a minimum.

I have no problem with working on any part of the machine, I just have never worked on case equipment before and am not familiar with them.

A sheared key is pretty straightforward as long as didn't tear up the shaft underneath. The cam and crank gears seem relatively expensive at several hundred each. I'll have to open it up and find out exactly what failed.

The purchase price gives enormous room and even a complete overhaul would still be less than buying another whole machine.
 
Usually on the 188's bent pushrods go to operator error and to much ether, have replaced several, usually right after a really cold snap. The diluted oil is more than likely the injection pump shaft seals. I agree with @mEl about checking the cam key though, never had one bend a valve though. The looseness side to side is guide wear, needs the head gone through.
 
How does ether bend push rods?
I would assume that guys would hit them hard enough to ether lock them and that would cause the issues, never was near one when it was done but replaced a lot of them, and the only common thread was everyone was on a really cold day and the guy would rather sheepishly say "I had to ether it to get it going to finish the job and then it started missing and smoking", never had any of them come back after replacing the bent ones, I had one that the same customer did it 2 years in a row and traded it in, we fixed it and sold it again and it never came back for that issue, saw it a few times after for other issues but never the push rod issue.
 
I'm not afraid of using ether when needed BUT... as a young buck about 45 years ago when I bought my first backhoe and my first ever 'ether spray can', I read the instructions: Spray into air intake for 3-5 seconds. That's one time when 5 seconds is a very LONG time. I'm thankful I didn't blow up that first Perkins diesel I used it on. I can see that length of time on a huge truck type of air cleaner but they did not specify anything about engine size. I learned very quickly that those instructions are very high-risk.
 
I would assume that guys would hit them hard enough to ether lock them and that would cause the issues, never was near one when it was done but replaced a lot of them, and the only common thread was everyone was on a really cold day and the guy would rather sheepishly say "I had to ether it to get it going to finish the job and then it started missing and smoking", never had any of them come back after replacing the bent ones, I had one that the same customer did it 2 years in a row and traded it in, we fixed it and sold it again and it never came back for that issue, saw it a few times after for other issues but never the push rod issue.
My view on the matter is both valves are closed (and the push rods loose) or else there would be no lockup due to ether. Unless maybe you are talking about something else.
 
Valves were a concern, if they got bent or not. One thing I noticed is that I can wiggle the retainer end of the valves and they have visible play. I think the pump has a static leak and will need to be resealed at a minimum.

I have no problem with working on any part of the machine, I just have never worked on case equipment before and am not familiar with them.

A sheared key is pretty straightforward as long as didn't tear up the shaft underneath. The cam and crank gears seem relatively expensive at several hundred each. I'll have to open it up and find out exactly what failed.

The purchase price gives enormous room and even a complete overhaul would still be less than buying another whole machine.
Bent push rod most common problem is water gone through the manifold , these were very nice and good working machine easy to fix and lots of parts available no doubt. these are wet sleeve so you can throw a new piston sleeve kit for like 900.00 and you have a new engine.
 

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