Farmall Super M-TA exhaust manifold leak

[oldfarmall]

Hello-

I have a Super M-TA with an exhaust manifold leak. Last summer I replaced the old manifold and saw some old orange rtv around one of the exhaust ports. I cleaned surfaces well, installed a new gasket set and it still leaks. Can hear it until the tractor warms up, and there is black soot around that port now on outside of head.

Could I install a new gasket set with some woodstove sealant on both sides of the gasket? I have seen the copper RTV stuff, but is it really high temp enough rated for continual use on exhaust manifolds?

Do the heads on these old Farmall get eroded from leaks? Going to also check the head and manifold with a straight edge this time. Thanks!


-Jesse

 

[rustred]

take the manifold of and check it for flatness with a straight edge. it might have to be resurfaced in a machine shop. if not bad get your
file out. and as for sealant u use muffler cement for small leaks and sealing. not silicon. or post a picture of the problem for best
advise.

 

[redforlife]

If manifold has a crack in it, at the
port hole, the right machine shop
might possibly be able to fix it.
If the mating surface is just all
pitted, deteriorated, and not a good
surface anymore, it'll likely just
need replaced.
If possible, when replacing manifolds
from that era, I generally try to
replace with a good used one from
salvage yard. It's just my opinion
that the originals were made out of
better material, than after market
replacements. But that's just my
opinion.
In saying this, I'm assuming your
problem is on the manifold side. Not
the head side.

 

[Fred47M]

The caseih gaskets are leaps and bounds
better than the cheap ones in my opinion.
At least 3-4yrs ago they were.

 

[cuby]

Muffler cement is what I use. Also get that three piece IH gasket and throw that thin metal one away.

 

[Janicholson]

Surface grinding would be my choice. It is an abrasive machining process that flattens things to .0005. Blanchard grinding is one name
for it. Jim

 

[the tractor vet]

Best thing to do is pull the manifold and take it to a machine shop and have them reface it then put your new gskt on and tighten it up and recheck a time or two . Then it is FIXED .

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

What does the port on the head look like? If it's pitted you're going to have a hard time getting a seal no matter how flat the manifold is.

You could try to lap the surfaces of the manifold yourself. All you need is a big piece of thick glass and a big piece of 400 wet dry sandpaper and a can of spray adhesive. You glue the sandpaper to the glass. Initially you can paint the surfaces of the manifold with a sharpie and then run it over the sandpaper in a figure 8 motion a few times, then look to see where there is still color.

 

[Papaw8]

I have welded around the ports on manifolds with nickel rod then had manifold re surfaced. Built up eroded areas.

 

[oldfarmall]

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice. Since it has been bitterly cold in Wisconsin this week, and I don't have a heated shop, I have had to put off this repair for a bit. Maybe this weekend or next week I will attempt. Will let you know what it looks like when I get it apart. Gaskets came in the mail yesterday. Will post once I know more. Thanks!

-Jesse