[Farmall] stuck engine

[szabelsk at gdls.com]

Not all the pistons may be stuck. If the tractor was outside and rain got 
into the engine through the exhaust pipe, only one or two cylinders may be 
rusted, depending on things like how level the engine was when parked, 
which valves were open, how much water got into the cylinders, etc. It 
pays to pull the head and take a look at the internals. Why spend time 
trying to free all the cylinders when you only need to work on one or two?

If there is still water in the cylinder, any oil/penetrate will have a 
tendency to float on it and not get down to the rusty stuff. Remove the 
water and then apply the penetrate.

Also drop the oil pan, loosen all the bearings and see which pistons can 
be moved my pushing/pulling on them (or even rotating them in the 
cylinder) by hand. If the bearings were spun and have essentially welded 
the connecting rod(s) to the crank, no amount of cylinder soaking is going 
to get the pistons to move. You're going to have to do this anyway once 
you get the pistons free. You probably have water in the pan anyway.

This would also be a good time to apply a little persuasion with a piece 
of wood on the cylinder head and a rubber mallet. Cut the wood so that 
it's just slightly smaller then the diameter as the cylinder to equally 
distribute the hits across the entire piston head. Don't beat on them all 
day long or with a sledgehammer. Just give them a couple of decent hits 
every now and then.

I spun a bearing once and put a good twist in the crank handle trying to 
turn the engine by hand. 

Carl Szabelski



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