Super A oil change

[jeep258goat]

Got a super A back to the barn. First IH tractor and want to change the oil. I see the drain plug, pulled the filter, but where is a "dipstick" for oil check and how/where do you add the new oil back in?

wanna do it right, thanks b

 

[JRSutton]

no dipstick - just two high/low petcocks on the side of the oil pan.

you basically want the oil somewhere between those two petcocks.

Open the top one, and fill till you see oil come out. (go easy, it can take a while for the oil to work its way down to the pan).

Any time afterwards when you want to check the level, you check with the lower petcock. Crack it open, if oil comes out, you've got enough oil.

Note on the petcocks (assuming they're all the same - but I'm not sure) "in" is open. Picture a valve in a cylinder head. You screw it in to open the valve, screw it out to close it.

 

[JRSutton]

missed the second half of your question.

Oil goes right in the top - pull the oil breather cap off that sticks through your hood. Its' on a tube that goes directly into your valve cover.

Dump the oil in the tube.

If you're changing your oil filter too - make sure you remove the old o-ring type gasket.

You pull the "can" off - and on that flange that the can mounts to there's a 4" or so diameter groove the o-ring sits in. Can be hard to see that there's one in there - pick it out with a sharp knife. (assuming your filter comes with a replacement).

Common for people to double them up by mistake, thinking the old one isn't in there.

 

[old]

Just as JR says. No dip stick but has 2 petcocks to check oil level and the full is about center of the hood. If you look under the hood you will see the tube going up and out of the valve cover. Holds 5qt of oil by the way

 

[jal-SD]

Actually, the two petcocks are "hold-overs" from the days when these tractors ran on distillate or "tractor fuel". This fuel was a "light" fuel and some leakage past the rings did occur. You were to drain it down to the lower petcock each morning and re-fill with fresh oil before you started the tractor. (This is according to my original operators manual for a '44 H that was a distillate burner.) The fuel that gathered in the crank case was lighter than the oil, so it settled to the top of the crank case. If you didn't drain it off, it would contaminate (dilute) the oil and would cause excessive wear on the rods and mains. These old tractors didn't care if they had too much oil, as the crank case is not sealed and relied on free flowing ventelation to remove the unburned gasses from the crank case. Subsequently, the crank case is not sealed and could not build up pressure from too much oil. Hence, no dip stick, as you do not need to know if the crankcase was "too full". My book recommends 30 weight oil in the summer and 20 weight in the winter. If you ran the tractor in below zero weather, 10 weight was recommended. The "mulit-grade" oils weren't invented yet. I have used 10W-30 or 10W-40 in my H for years now and have no problems with it. It has been in the family since it was new. It does get used for more than parades. If oil does not run out the top petcock, I dump in a quart, make sure it rund out the petcock, close it and go to work. If it doesn't run out in a minute or two, I add another quart, no big deal if its "too full". (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

 

[TractormanNC]

All these guys have given you good advice. Its obvious you do not have an operators manual. Iwill assume you have recently got this tractor and have not had time to order one. Lots more good advice in there. This site sells em I think.

 

[jeep258goat]

Thanks to all for the great advice. Ops manual on the way, but this will keep me moving as I see the two items on the side of the oil pan.