YM1700 Cracked Block

[russenterprises-HT]

First of all, I'd like to say thanks to Hoye Tractor and all of the helpful people here. I've been working my way through past posts and reading everything that looks like it might apply to my tractor and I've picked up a ton of useful information.

I just acquired a YM1700 that has been sitting unused for a couple of years because of a water leak at the cylinder head end plate. I ordered the gasket from Hoye, fixed that leak and was able to start the tractor. Then I ordered fuel, oil and air filters, along with a hydraulic pickup screen. Then I discovered that apparently while the tractor was parked the coolant froze and cracked the block, pretty much the same situation described in this post: http://ymowners.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2151

Other than the coolant seeping out through that crack, the tractor seems to be in good shape. I've replaced the fuel and air filter, and it cranks easily and runs well. I've decided to try to drill the ends of the crack to stop it, then use JB Weld to repair, but since I have virtually no experience in this area, I wanted to get some feedback before I try it. Here's a picture of the crack, the red circles indicate where I think I should drill (obviously planning to drill much smaller than those circles):

<ATTACHMENT filename="Crack1.jpg" index="0"><s>[attachment=0]</s>Crack1.jpg<e>[/attachment]</e></ATTACHMENT>

Before I start drilling, I assume I need to drill completely through into the water passage in order to ensure the crack does not continue to spread, and I'm thinking the smaller the hole, the better, does that sound correct?

My plan is to get it as clean as I can before drilling, then to take my Dremel and grind along the path of the crack, I'm not planning to V the crack, but want to make sure both sides of the crack are roughed up.

On the JB Weld, I'm thinking about using the HighHeat putty, with the crack being on the bottom of that water passage, gravity is going to be working against me, and I'm afraid the standard JB Weld that I'm used to would tend to flow out of the crack.

Any thoughts/advice/comments are welcome.

Thanks,
Russ

 

[Aaron-HT]

I think your plan sounds just fine. All you are really trying to hold is about 14psi of water pressure so it wont take much. I would grind off the paint and maybe a small V in the crack and then putty it up. Should hold just fine. We fixed a similar freeze crack on an old international tractor over 20 years ago and, as far as I know, it is still holding. Just dont drill too far. I think there is an oil passage in there somewhere also (like by that plug).

 

[russenterprises-HT]

Thanks for the quick response. The radiator cap on it looks like the original 0.9 BAR/13 PSI, so I'm planning to pick up a 7 PSI cap before I run it again to reduce the stress on the patch. I'm going to put a coolant temperature gauge on, if it looks like it's running too hot I'll order the water pump kit.

I'll definitely be careful about drilling, but I think I'll be safe. I pulled the plug on the left, and it goes straight into that water passage. I'm thinking I'll use that location for my coolant temp sensor and leave the "idiot light" in place. I'm also going to pull the lower radiator hose and look around with a borescope before I start drilling.

Russ