IH 986

[Heagon]

Hi all,
Ive been wanting to purchase an IH tractor for a few years now. I know of a IH 986 the guy said he would sell. 2 owner tractor, around 4500 hours, he says the TA works fine. My only concern is he keeps it parked in a barn and says he starts and drives it occasionally, but I have never seen it move. Is engine cavitation where it just sits really a large concern on these engines? Thanks

 

[pete 23]

Won't cavitate when not running but the o-rings on sleeves will still deteriorate. If it does not
have a water filter it could very well have cavitated when it was running.

TA, who knows. I have my own way of testing them but others do it differently and don't seem to put
much faith in my method. Learned it way back in about 1968 with an 806 acting up once in a while.

 

[the tractor vet]

My way is to take them out and run them on the high side in third or forth gear wide open and start loading on the brakes and make her pull way down then pull the stick back , BUT keep the left foot on the clutch pedal . I have seen T/A' 'S GRAB AND HOLD WELL IN LOW RANGE BUT when your out on the road say draggen gravity boxes full and come up on a hill and need the t/a when you pull back ya got nothing , BUT it works fine when doing tillage in the lower four . Is this the correct way ??????? don't know but this is how i tell when one is headed south , i am always open to new ways. . Just finished up a 966 last week and soon to start on my buddy's 1066 that i put a new;/rebuilt T/A in some 30 plus years ago and with Eugene he could destroy and anvil with a rubber hammer in fifteen seconds . He has two problems , one the IDPTO input went south last fall just as the weather turned south and he has no shop and i am just to darn old for this outdoor repair thing anymore and two the T/A is almost out as it grabs when it wants to in the lower four.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The "filter" is not really a filter, it just infuses the anti-cavitation additive into the coolant.

I wouldn't even be too afraid of a tractor that didn't have the filter. Cavitation is not a 100% guaranteed thing. Just get the additive and pour it in the radiator. Stops any cavitation in its tracks.

If the tractor looks well cared for, was kept inside, it's almost certainly in good shape and a good buy. Even if you have to put a TA in it, it's still less than a new one.

 

[pete 23]

I have cut apart more than a few of those filters to see just how
cruddy the cooling system was before a filter was installed on a
tractor with some hours .

When that filtering system was introduced I installed a lot of
them. There are different filters also. Some are for full charge
of additives and other is a maintenance filter depending on what
coolant is in system.

A filter does not stop all cavitation problems. But it will
normally reduce it to the point where a engine will serve you well
until it would be expected to require a rebuild.You can always tell a filter is working when you drain that nice clean looking coolant compared to the crap coming out of a non filtered engine.