H Trouble

Hello guys I have a long story with a question at the end,
About 5 years ago I was seeing quite a bit of anti-freeze in my spring and fall oil changes on my 1940 H Farmall. I took off the head had it magna fluxed and found it had several cracks. I paid about $400 to get the head welded up. Everything seemed good till the last two oil changes when I noticed the return of the anti-freeze. I changed the oil in September and the first cup out of the oil drain was anti-freeze. I realized it needed work but was hoping it could wait till next summer when I could try to find some funds to look into the problem and in the mean time I figured I would just crack the plug on the tractor a few times this winter. So last week before moving snow I cracked the plug and to my horror I drained about a half gallon of anti-freeze before oil started coming out. So now I have a problem, I need to clean my yard (and the neighbors yard) for the remainder of the winter and have $0 to put into the tractor. Plus I am afraid to put more money into a head that had already been cracked and welded. I looked into a remanufactured head and it looks like I will be looking at about $700. The question I have is, how do I know the remanufactured head is any better than welding my existing head?

Are you completely sure the problem is in the head itself? I would think the head gasket and maybe the block would also be potential sources of leaks. I don't know anything about remanufactured heads, but I do know that if you keep running it with the antifreeze it may end up costing a lot more to fix if you need to do lower end work in the engine.
Zach

Of course fixing it correctly is to be done. I would put Bars Leak treatment in it an d see if it will slow or stop the leak temporarily. Follow the directions. If it was into the cylinder, or combustion gasses were getting into the coolant, I would just bite the bullet. Jim

You should be able to buy a head at a salvage yard and take it to a machine shop and have it magna-fluxed for considerably less than $700. Before you jump to conclusions, you should take the pan off, pressurize the radiator and see where the anti-freeze is leaking.

Quick fix for the winter drain the radiator and crankase then fill radiator and crankase with same 5-30 oil will be fine this winter you can just open the top petcock and drain off extra and put back into the radiator. Your engine will work fine. Who welded the head as the people here in NEVADA,IA Williams machine shop does warranty his work.

Quick fix for the winter drain the radiator and crankase then fill radiator and crankase with same 5-30 oil will be fine this winter you can just open the top petcock and drain off extra and put back into the radiator. Your engine will work fine. Who welded the head as the people here in NEVADA,IA Williams machine shop does warranty his work.

(quoted from post at 13:07:16 12/29/10) Quick fix for the winter drain the radiator and crankase then fill radiator and crankase with same 5-30 oil will be fine this winter you can just open the top petcock and drain off extra and put back into the radiator. Your engine will work fine. Who welded the head as the people here in NEVADA,IA Williams machine shop does warranty his work.

Click to expand...

That's an interesting short term solution.

The radiator hoses might (probably) need to be replaced upon return to coolant. Jim

I had a 200 that put a little antifreez in the oil [very slight ammount].I drained the oil and drilled ant taped the oil drain plug and put 16" of hyd hose on it with a cap on the end.Maby after a couple of months i would remove the cap and drain off alittle oil.Water and antifreez will sittle out and go to the bottem of the hose and not bother a thing! Funy looking was on the tractor when it sold and once explained i don't think it affected the value/sale price. Same thing as a lot of combines water will settle to the bottem of hose. Bud.

Since it already did this once, the odds are very good that it's the same problem again.

If it were me, I'd take a chance on a "junkyard" head just to get through the winter.

Find one that looks decent, slap it on with a new head gasket, adjust the valves, and go.

Even if power is down, even if it smokes and uses oil, it's a better alternative than trashing the whole engine.

Have you got a contingency plan if you can't get the tractor running? The problem with these old tractors is that as robust as they are, anything can fail at any time...

Find another head and have it magna-fluxed before soaking a lot of money in it. Hal

Pull the pan & see where it is coming from. There is a soft plug on the front of the block that may be leaking.

I have a reconditioned head that I would like to sell.

I have a reconditioned head that I would like to sell.