cooling problem?

Do any of you fellows have any ideas as to what would cause a Farmall Model A, I believe ,(no water pump) to seem to get very hot in the #2 and #3 cylinder area? It gets hot enough to destroy the Rocker arm cover gasket in the centre of the engine only. thanks

A quick guess would be a stuck/burned out/other problem with an exhaust valve on #2 or #3.

Scotty is on the track, It could also be restricted water passages in the head (mouse nests), or a restricted head gasket passage there.
A coolant issue more than likely if it runs well and compression id good on 2-3. If compression is down, suspect valve issues (possibly caused by insufficient cooling. JimN

I was shootin' from the hip earlier and have been ponderin' a little more.

If it is the valves, Jim N had the right idea -- a compression check would be the way to check that out.

It could also be cooling problems, though my experience is that sediment tends to build up from the back of those motors and #4 ought to be hot, too. It could be corrosion blocking the coolant in that area instead, though, instead of sediment, so it's all worth checking out. Burning out a section of the valve cover gasket would take some pretty extreme heat.

In that vein, another thing that's come to mind . . . I'm assuming that the valve cover gasket is burning out just on the left side, as the right is pretty well protected from extreme heat by the gap in the casting where the lift rods run.

Is it possible that you've got a hole in your manifold on the motor side. #1 and #4 exhaust have a long run getting to the spout for the muffler, but #2 and #3 come together pretty quickly and are close together. A leak on the backside of the manifold in the area where they come together, or just above where all four come together, if it were in just the right (or should I say wrong!) place, could scorch and have enough pressure to burn through a cork gasket pretty easily.

Thining that might be worth a look, as well.

Let us know how you make out.

How tight is the muffler on the exh. pipe? Could be blowing hot exh. onto the gasket.

I'd like to hear the final answer on this one when you find it. I think a rust hole in the exhaust manifold is the most likely problem.