B414 engine 144 or 154

I have a B414, BC144 engine, that I have owned about 10 years. It ran great until one of the sleeve o-rings leaked and I wiped out a piston. When my replacement parts came, the piston was smaller and had 4 rings. I found the part number on my old piston, 5 rings. The pistons and sleeves in my BC144 are for a BD154. Was this common to gain more power? The compression difference must have been decided by the head that was used. My block is stamped BC144 6945. At least the pistons and sleeves are alot cheaper. Any thoughts on this swap? thanks John

The pistons for a 154 engine are 1/8" larger diameter then the 144. I didn't know you could make the larger sleeves fit in the 144 block, but can't say I ever tried. Maybe they are thick wall and both have the same OD, and only change the ID for the different engines? I've got several BC144s, BD144s, and a BD154 - but never had them all apart at the same time. The gas engine 144 pistons when new had four rings, and the diesel pistons in both the 144 and 154 had five rings.
I know that with the last BD144 diesel I rebuilt, the new Tisco pistons only had four rings instead of five.

The diesel pistons are flat-top, but I don't recall if the gas pistons are dished or not (to lower compression). What did your's look like?

they are flat also, I think that the chambers in the heads are different to change the compression. The gas head has a large chamber, I havn"t seen a diesel head.

I've noticed the the diesel and gas pistons are flat-top in this series. If the diesel was direct-injected, it would probably be different with combustion-chambers built into the piston-heads. But, since it is a indirect Ricardo Comet system, it uses the precombustion chambers in the heads, instead.

Here are some photos of a BD 144 head.

About your sleeves. Can you measure the OD of the sleeve at the bottom and post? I'd like to know if the bigger sleeves actually fit your engine, or, maybe somebody did some extra machine work?

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&current=100_4713.jpg" target="_blank"> </a>

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&current=100_4714.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

I will measure them, I checked the IH parts book it lists the same o-ring for both the 144 and 154. I think the walls on the 154 must just be thinner. I wonder if the kit that your neighbor bought for his BC144 was for a diesel. That would explain the cheap price.

I was told it was for the BC 144 gas engine. The tractor was brought down to a small auto repair shop near me. My friend owns the shop; I don't know the guy that owns the tractor. The shop owner doesn't really know anything about tractors, but agreed to rebuild the engine since the guy is a good customer. He told me the box of parts said "BC 144 " all over it. I wanted to get the old parts, but the owner took them back.

The tractor caught my eye because it was a later tractor and not a B-series. The ID lettering was gone so I wasnt sure what it was. Has power steering, so it must be a 354 or a 434. They both use the BC 144 engines with the British carb. The shop owner told me that the tractor owner supplied the engine kit. Said kit, supposedly came from L. J. Hand Supply, who is one of the last old-time tractor-parts dealers left around here. He sells may different brands of aftermarket parts.

L J Hand Farm Center. 1431 State Highway 161
Fultonville, NY 12072-2012
(518) 922-6121

Please let me know when you check the OD measurement. I've got diesel sleeves from several BD 144s here I can check, to compare. It would be nice to know if those bigger sleeves fit. But also, it seems maybe the diesel pistons and sleeves for a BD 144 will also fit the BC 144 engine? They are cheap and available from this Website. I have a 3414 gas engine backhoe and loader I'm going to have to rebuild someday. It has the BC 144 engine. Note that the IH part #s will differ between the BC 144 and BD 144, but that is because the OEM diesel pistons had more rings.