Getting a Farmall H running again

Hi all! I recently took over the family farm & want to get a Farmall H running again. I know it was last run in the 80's and ran reasonably well then. It's been parked indoors since (just wasn't needed). I have some uses for it, but before I try to start it again I'd like to know what you veterans would say needs to be done first. Apart from the obvious (new oil, new fluid - it has no fluid & maybe no oil), what should I be thinking about? The engine can be rotated OK with the cranking handle (that was tried once to see if it was seized, & it seemed to rotate fine). The starter doesn't work, so it was always started with a backwards pull with another tractor. I assumed I'd do the same now until I see if it runs well enough to put a new starter into it.

What suggestions do you have?

Put just a little lubricant into the cylinders and turn it over a few times so the cylinders are lubed well. Do a compression check and make sure it has good compression in each cylinder. After not being run that long, there is a 99% chance the carb will need to be taken off and rebuilt, YT sells carb kits. It would also be a good idea to check out the ignition system, make sure that it has a good blue spark, check the points and be sure they are clean. Another good thing to do would be just to take off the valve cover and make sure all the valves are free and don't stick when going up and down. Lube up the rockers and put the cover back on. Make sure that the sediment bowl, fuel tank and fuel line are clean and put some gas in the tank, put oil in the crankcase, check the antifreeze in the radiator, check the transmission oil and try starting it. Post here when you get it running or if you have any more questions.

Good Luck!

Andy.

Fill the cylinder with tranny fluid. Then do things like new points condenser etc. Walk away for 2 or 3 days. Be sure you put the plug back in after the ATF. After a few days pull all the plugs and spin it over. Then take the oil plug and being careful take it part of the way out to see if it has water in the oil. If it does change the oil and then try to fire it up. You may need to rebuild the carb but I'd give it a try before I did a rebuild on it
Hobby farm

You need to get the starter working. Start with a new batery. Unhook and clean all the battery cables, both ends.
Once the starter is working you can lube up the cylinders as the other posts said. For sure , drop the pan after you flush the cylinders with atf, clean it up and put new oil in there.
Drain the old gas from the tank and carb. Clean the sediment bowl and inlet carb screen. Put 5 gals fresh gas in it.
Clean the points with some ultra fine sandpaper.
Fire it up and ride around. Then drain off alittle oil from the tranny and see how black, yellow, it is. Probably flush and drain that also.
Once it's running pop the cap off the radiator and see what's happening there while it is running. Probably a flush and new coolant there also.
Now you have 200 dollars in it but it's on it's way to earning it's keep.

Gordo

Thanks all this is great. I need a couple of points of clarification because I guess I'm not up on some of the terms or lingo.
-When you say clean the points, what do you mean?
- To check the spark, do I need any special tools or is there another way to do that?
- and one last one - here’s my naivety - what do you mean by taking the oil plug part way out to check for water in the oil? I guess I’m more used to modern engines that have a threaded oil plug - it’s either in or it’s own. I haven’t looked to see what the H uses for a plug.

Thanks
Michael

When you say "pull all the plugs and spin it over.” You mean pulling the spark plugs, cranking it by hand to push the tranny fluid back out again? Just checking. (there's been multiple plugs discussed). Is there any problem with residual trans. fluid left inside when I start it later?

Rub the ignition points with some 320 wet or dry until they're shiny. Put in fresh gas. Make sure there's no gum residue from the old gas being left in the tank. It make need cleaning
and the carburetor too if the tank is gummed up.

Put in new sparkplugs after turning the engine over. It the battery cables are cracked replace them with 00 cables if your tractor is still 6 volts. Clean all surfaces on the battery, at the starter and where the battery is grounded. Hal

It looks like you are quite a novice , mechanically. The "how do you clean points" was a giveaway. Most of the guys on here were doing that when they were 12 years old.

You will for certain need to purchase an owners manual, and an IT service manual. Pictures and information there on how to do all the things you will need to do. Obviously you can read so, get the manuals and get the basics.

Then come back when you run into a problem.

Gordo

It looks like you are quite a novice , mechanically. The "how do you clean points" was a giveaway. Most of the guys on here were doing that when they were 12 years old.

You will for certain need to purchase an owners manual, and an IT service manual. Pictures and information there on how to do all the things you will need to do. Obviously you can read so, get the manuals and get the basics.

Then come back when you run into a problem.

Gordo

Yes I'm talking spark plugs, also when I say spin it over do that with the starter because it will spin it fast and clear the cylinders better. As far as the other oils I would get it up and running then drive it for say 30 minutes to warm up all the oils then change them all. Oil drians better when warm

Yeah - it might be more accurate to say I'm a novice with much older tractors. When I was 12 years old, this tractor was already 45! I expect that a lot of the guys who were cleaning points at 12 were also doing it about the time this one was new! No hard feelings intended, just that most tractors I've worked in my short life didn't need that. My question was more what 'points' referred to, but I've since figured out (I think) that it the contacts on whatever the distributer-equivalent on the H would be. (am I right?) As I said, I haven't touched an oldie before.

An owners manual & an IT service manual are things I need to get, thanks for the tip.

Michael

Several ways to check for spark. It works the same whether you have a battery ignition or a magneto. Look at what your distributor cap is attached to. If it is clamped onto a boxy looking affair, flat on the sides, round on the bottom and a rectangular cap screwed to the the top you have a magneto. It the cap is clamped to a cylindrical affair with a neck between it and the motor, you have battery igniton.

To check for spark, pull the center wire out of the cap. Slide the boot on it back a little to expose the wire terminal inside. place that terminal very close (1/16" or 1/8" at most) to a piece of metal that will ground. The clip that holds the distributor cap on is usually handy and good for this. Have someone crank the motor by hand. If you have a magneto, you should see a spark as the motor is turned. A healthy spark will be blue. If you have a battery ignition, you'll need to have a good charge on your battery and the ignition switch (the push/pull one) on to get a spark. If you get a weak (yellow) spark or none at all, you'll have to do some troubleshooting, and the points will be as good a place to start as any. Your books, when you get them, will walk you through how to get to them.

As far as the oil, the drain plug is at the bottom of the oil pan and is threaded. What was being described is to loosen it just enough for it to just start to run. Don't pull it all the way out as you would if you were going to drain it. What you want is something like a mayonnaise jar (or a funnel into a gallon jug) to collect the very first of what drains out of the bottom of the pan. If there's water in the motor, the bottom is where it will be. Depending on what and how much you get, this can tell you a lot.

A motor that has been sitting that long will accumulate some water just from condensation. If you don't get a whole jarful or maybe a little more, that's likely what caused it and would indicate that you might be okay with just an oil change (along with the other advice about lubing the cylinders) before running the motor.

If you get water and antifreeze from the pan before you start getting oil, you can count on having some work ahead of you. It may be as simple as a bad head gasket, but could also be a cracked head or block, and will need checking out.

If you get a LOT of plain water before you start getting oil --- you need to find out what's in the radiator. If you can't see anything at the neck at the top (or if you've topped it off with water earlier), drain a little bit from the bottom. If there's antifreeze in the radiator, you can breathe a little easier as the odds of the head gasket or the cracked head and block being a problem have just been reduced, though not eliminated. The excess water could have been caused by heavy condensation over a long period of time or, if the tractor was left outdoors with the exhaust uncovered, could have come from rainwater down the stack. The latter would suggest you'll need some valve work in the head, but I tend to doubt that rain is the cause, as any rainwater would have to flow down through the exhaust valves and around the piston rings and in most cases would have left you with a stuck motor, which you don't have.

If the tractor was running when they parked it, the best diagnostic scenario at this point would be some, a little, or no water in the oilpan, and antifreeze in the radiator.

HTH

Yes, "contacts" are the contact points. You can guess my age as my first engine swap was getting the flathead out of my 40 Ford coupe, and dropping in a hopped up 283 Chev small block.

Never lost the pink in a lot of street races!

Gordo

"It looks like you are quite a novice , mechanically. The "how do you clean points" was a giveaway. Most of the guys on here were doing that when they were 12 years old."

Actually i"d wager a soda that about 80% of the certified mechanics today do not know about that either.

karl f