[Farmall] Farmall H Questions,

[Robert L. Holtzer]

With respect to possible rings sticking, I'd suggest putting an once 
or two of Rislone in each cylinder and letting it set a day or 
so.  I've done this on several tractors and compression can 
improve.  Lots of smoke for a few minutes so be kind to your neighbors!

With respect engine oil -- 10 - 40  detergent (Pennzoil or Castrol 
usually) has worked well for me irrespective of the amount of 
deposits present.  The removal of "crud" has never been too 
impressive in my admittedly limited experience.  The oil has darkened 
fairly fast but no big chunks or filter plugging has occurred.

If memory serves correctly, Karl Olmstead tows his F-12s (and 
others?) around for a short while with diesel in the crankcase for 
initial "crud" removal.  Maybe Karl could comment on this.

Bob Holtzer



At 03:57 AM 12/27/2009, you wrote:
>I agree with the comments below. I suspect that the tractor has been
>used with non detergent motor oil, which does not suspend the dirt and
>other contaminants. If you really want to clean things out, change the
>oil and replace it with something like 10W-30 or 15W-40 and run the
>engine until it gets good and warm - maybe half an hour at speed, not
>just sitting and idling. Then change the oil and filter again. You will
>get out a LOT of the sludge and crud.  As DBigdog mentioned, you may
>have to repeat the process to get everything out (as the directions on
>the hair shampoo bottle reads: "lather, rinse, repeat"). And you will
>probably find that the rings will loosen up, bringing the compression up
>a little. But chances are that the rings are worn at this point - if you
>are getting "blow by" (gray fumes out of the valve cover vent) or gray
>oily exhaust, chances are your rings could be due for replacement. On
>the other hand, if you don't want to spend the money or tear into the
>engine, I have several tractors in that state, and they have been
>working for me satisfactorily for several years. :-)
>
>Some folks will have a heart attack over the suggestion to use
>multiweight detergent oil, and they are certainly entitled to their
>opinion. I have been using NAPA "fleet service" 15W-40 (or the New
>Holland equivalent) in ALL of my 4 stroke engines from lawn mowers to 60
>hp diesel tractors and have yet to have a lubrication related failure.
>(I cannot be bothered keeping different oils for different tractors,
>except, of course, for two stroke engines.)
>
>Finally, the IT manuals are OK as far as they go, but I strongly
>recommend getting the IH service manual for the tractor - it is much
>more thorough and helpful. Go to <www.binderbooks.com> for the best
>quality manuals at reasonable prices.
>
>Mike
>
>DBigdog wrote:
> > 90 is not great but it should run reasonably well but will be down some on
> > power.  100 - 120 or  a bit higher would be better but it may come up some
> > after you run it a while - especially if it has some rings stuck.
> >     Under no circumstances would I run an engine with nothing but kerosene
> > in the crankcase.  Not enough lube value in the kerosene.  Add a little
> > seafoam to the oil and watch it closely - when it turns black - change it.
> > Be prepared to change it often for a while until you get the 
> sludge flushed
> > out.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Barney Van De Weert
> > To: Farmall List
> > Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2009 7:46 PM
> > Subject: [Farmall] Farmall H Questions,
> >
> >
> > Working on my "52" H today, did a compression check and came up w 
> 90 Lbs in
> > 3 cyls and 100 in one of them. After squirting oil in all of them 
> they came
> > up about 5 Lbs ea. Is 90 PSI about right for a std piston engine? Santa
> > brought me a new I+T Shop Manual but there is nothing in the spects about
> > compression.
> >
> > Also, I replaced the valve cover gasket, there is a lot of sludge on the
> > head and inside the valve cover, can I run kerosene in the engine 
> to try to
> > clean it up, or is there a procedure to do this? I think this unit has sat
> > for awhile before I got it.
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