[Farmall] Super A engine trouble...

[John Hall]

For $2500 the only thing that will be the same is the block and timing 
gears. EVERYTHING else should be new or re-machined (although you may have 
to use some aftermarket parts to keep the cost down). It is very rare to 
find anyone wanting to pour that much cash into an A these days. If you are 
only going to "play" with your tractor or merely raise a garden, you should 
be able to get by much cheaper. Obviously he'll need to pull  the valve 
cover to see if it is something simple like a sticking/sluggish valve. If 
not then you have broken or stuck rings on that one cylinder. If the rings 
haven't broken and scored the bore, you may be able to get by with just 
rings. If you had decent oil pressure and the engine wasn't knocking, you 
probably won't need to turn the crank. Unfortunately he'll have to measure 
the bore and the crank to tell you the severity of the problem. The good 
news is it doesn't take long tear it down so if you decide to junk it, the 
labor bill shouldn't be that bad.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

John Hall

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Holmes" <nycsfan at yahoo.com>
To: <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 8:52 AM
Subject: [Farmall] Super A engine trouble...


> This may be a tough question to diagnose online, but my Super A has been 
> running very poorly (as in, barely running) and this is beyond my level of 
> expertise.
>
> A tractor repair guy now tells me that the #1 cylinder has about 15lb 
> pressure (the plug was very oil- and carbon-fouled on that cylinder) and 
> that he needs to open the engine up to determine if it's a valve or worse. 
> I have a worst-case scenario of a $2500 rebuild or a valve, or a head 
> gasket problem (the engine does seep a little oil from the head gasket 
> area).
>
> Any shared experiences are welcome. Ultimately, this will be a decision of 
> would one scrap a vintage tractor vs. fully restore it to tip top 
> condition for probably another 50-100 years of service (given how it's no 
> longer working daily on the farm).
>
> Many thanks in advance.
>
> Greg
>
>
>
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> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/farmall


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