[Farmall] Super A engine jams when hand cranking

[john hall]

Al, good thinking on checking the starter. I would  pull the plugs and see 
if the engine will turn over then. It is possible you pulled in so much fuel 
(carb acting up) you have locked it that way--careful you don't roll it over 
with the plugs out and a bunch of gas comes out one of the cylinders about 
the time than mag impulses. You may also have a coolant leak that has caused 
the engine to lock---probably more likely than gas. If that is not it then 
pull the valve cover and check for a stuck valve. Since you have not had it 
running, one may have been stuck and by turning it over you have bent a 
pushrod or broke a rocker arm and are now causing something to bind up. 
Another thought is the crank itself. Super A's are pretty simple so there 
shouldn't be anything there that could bind up like on the Farmalls and F 
series that used a drive shaft with u-joints. One other thought if 
everything else checks OK--pull the clutch inspection cover and make sure 
something strange isn't going on there--I'm thinking fork demolished or 
shaft broke, something that would have caused the PO to park the tractor. If 
all this checks OK, consider the timing gears and hydraulic pump. Only ran 
into one Super A  that had a problem with them---It took out every gear and 
snapped the pump shaft. Should this be the problem, get EVERY gear out of 
the same junk engine or you will have a lot of gear noise.

 My first guess is a bad coolant leak, second guess would be valve issues.

John Hall
.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Al Jones" <farmallsupera at earthlink.net>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>; <farmall at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 1:48 AM
Subject: [Farmall] Super A engine jams when hand cranking


> Had some time to work on "Ol Whitey," my white demo Super A 
> yesterday...finally got the mag hot, (long story) and decided it was time 
> to try to start it. Rigged up a pony gas tank, and after a few pulls of 
> the crank, it did "hit" a time or two, which got my hopes way up. After a 
> couple more trys, it suddenly became impossible to turn the engine with 
> the crank. I was able to turn the engine backward by pulling on the fan 
> blades, and it released and seemed ok but after a couple more trys it did 
> it again, and I couldn't get it to turn loose. So I decided to call it a 
> night.
>
> I've hand cranked this engine a number of times and it has never shown any 
> problem like this.
>
> Any ideas what's binding it? I pulled the starter off just to make sure it 
> wasn't jamming the flywheel (although I don't see why it would since I was 
> hand cranking it.) No change. Though I have been around Super A's all my 
> life, I'm not much of a mechanic, but my notion is there's an issue in the 
> timing gears. Of course, those "hoofbeats I hear may not be zebras." In 
> other words, it may not be that exotic of a problem. What else should I 
> look for? I had high hopes of being able to hear it run before I did more 
> extensive engine work, but that possibility appears to be fading fast...
>
> Al
>
>
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