International W-450 stuck engine

[Stepheng]

Hi,

I just purchased a 1957 international w-
450 tractor (today).

The tractor had been restored a few
years ago. The tractor got left out side
without the exhaust covered last year
and the engine is is now stuck. This is
how i got it. Are there any tricks or
tips on freeing the tractor up? I have
never torn into an international before i
have done several john deere 2 cylinders.


Thank you for any help steve

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

There are about a thousand different concoctions. None are guaranteed to work.

In your case it is likely that at least one cylinder is full of water. In that case no concoction is going to work. The quickest way to find out what is going on is to pull the head.

 

[old]

Not likely to free up with out taking it apart. While I have freed up many engines ones that had water in the cylinder are the least likely to free up. If you can remove ALL the water from the cylinder ATF might free it up if you let it sit long enough

 

[rustred]

Pull the head , its an hrs job. Then post the rusty cyls. Be one or 2 with water. Then go from there.

 

[rustred]

And I often wonder why go through all the time and effort to restore a unit and dont even have a muffler and rain cap on it. Somting wong here! And its also a low production tractor.

 

[Bob 7337]

Do you feel lucky? Let it set till it warms up and pull the plugs out. There is probably a cylinder or two filled with water and it froze now. When it thaws out just maybe it will turn. Like i said you will have to be lucky, but worth a try

 

[Brownie450]

I'd add ATF or your favorite solvent & let it sit for a week
or longer. With the tractor in high gear, rock it forward &
back trying to get a bit of engine turning.
Jim

 

[Stepheng]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will fill the clys up and let them sit for a a few days and hopefully pull the head this weekend. Whats the best way to free the stuck piston once the head is off? Block of wood and hammer?

 

[Stepheng]

I know i could never spend that much time and money on something and just leave it out to pasture. It only had 14.4 hrs on the engine. (New tachometer/ hr meater)

 

[rustred]

i use a 4" round block of hardwood and a 14 lb sledge hammer. you need the head off first to see how stuck it is. then analyze the situation. plus look at the crank position. as i said post pictures of it. might need to hone the rust out first. and if you have water sitting in the valves you need to remove them also and clean them up and inspect them for rust pits. no one pays attention to the valves then wonder why it wont start with no compression.

 

[old]

If there is any water in the cylinders nothing you pour in will help because it will float on top of the water

 

[rustred]

the advise was to pull the head, so why wait?? pull the head clean up things then soak it if you must. i have taken a lot of stuck engines apart and sure cant see waiting on a miracle to happen. but first remove the plugs and confirm you do have water in there now or it can be all rust by now.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Best case is you can soak it and it turns. Worst case is the water in the cylinder cracked a cylinder with the sleeve when it froze.
As for the rain cap. We don't have one on any of our tractors and if parked against the wind it will sometimes lift the rain cap and let water down in a rain. We keep them in or can the exhaust. Usually just an over night deal when left out. We also have a couple doors with the rain cap it will not go in the door. I had to cut the top of the pipe a couple inches on one to get it in that door.

 

[Stepheng]

I will take the advice and pull it apart. I already orderd a gasket kit for it.

i just am not able to work on it for a few days. I figured no harm in soaking it untill i pull it apart.

 

[used red MN]

Hello Stephen welcome to YT! If you pull the spark plugs and either find water or a rusty plug this probably wont be you issue. Old Farmalls like this have a common problem of jamming the starter drive into the flywheel and locking the engine from turning. So just to eliminate this slight possibility I would suggest at least pulling the starter and try turning the engine backwards with something like a carpenters crow bar. Another thing about Farmalls is on a lot of them the exhaust pipe threads into the exhaust manifold with regular tapered pipe threads. Quite often in a used manifold the threads are not the cleanest and the pipe does not screw in real well. So even with a covered exhaust pipe it is common for rain water to run down the outside of the pipe and leak past the threads into the exhaust manifold. Then on into a cylinder with an open exhaust valve. Nice looking tractor best of luck!

 

[Stepheng]

I did pull the plugs and did not notice any rust on them. They looked like pretty clean plugs. The oil looks very clean with no signs
of water in it.
The starter however is not working just clicks. I figured maybe the previous owner may of burned it out trying to turn the motor or there is a bad connection. I will definitely try to pull the starter before i pull it apart. I did jack the tractor up and try rocking the tire back and forth to see if there was any movement at the front pulley and there was zero.

 

[gene bender]

REMOVE THE HEAD Only then will you know just what you are dealing with.Snake oil will just take more time and the engine needs a repair of some kind. Hard to tellhow many pistons are rusted fast and the rust on the walls will need some work

 

[used red MN]

Oh, I also forgot. If your tractor is equipped with a TA ..Torque Amplifier.. which think I see the chrome cursive script emblem near the clutch pedal. Per ..design fault.. the TA will keep the engine from rotating backwards if the high range or ..direct.. gearing is selected. On a row crop this is a lever on the left side of the seat that has a squeeze grip on the top that needs squeezed to release the lever forward to direct mode. The lever locked back is reduction or ..low side.. TA operation, if this is selected the TA will release to allow the engine to turn backwards.

 

[John M]

I agree with used red. Pull the starter first.

 

[Stepheng]

Well i got the head off today here are some pictures.

 

[Stepheng]

 

[ih560]

That's a shame. It's hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like you are going to need some new liners.

They look fairly pitted, but the photos are a little blurry on my monitor.

 

[Stepheng]

This one is probably the worse of them.
Im not sure o hone job will get rid of it.

 

[rustred]

next step is to pull the pistons . then hone the cyl's and see how they look. lots of rust in there.