Farmall A head gasket. Or something else.

Still tinkering with the "41 A. I have to split it a couple of times to fix some leaks. The front seal is leaking[boy, can"t wait to get into that] and the seal where the drive shaft enters the transmission gearbox. The engine still seems pretty solid. Doesn"t lack for power. Well, as much as a 113 will make. Actually, it does have good lugging torque. I went thru the tappets the other day, 3 of them were very loose. Now, it runs a lot quieter and is definitely more responsive on the throttle. The push rods looked like they had seen better days, as well as the tappets. I warmed the engine up, and when I removed the cover, there was plenty of oil at the top. But I"m wondering if I have a head gasket problem. On the mag side it stays a little moist or damp at the gasket. Not really wet, but definitely something. I"m not losing coolant, and the engine is not a bad oil user. I checked gasket torque and it was good at 65lbs. Now comes the stupid question. If I go ahead and change the head gasket, would it be stupid to replace the push rods and tappets without doing any further work on the head, or valves? I"m not exactly loaded with money right now, and someday will retire it from service and restore it. But right now it is still a working tractor. We rake hay with it, move wagons, use the pto on a hay elevator etc. I just want to keep it good and usable. I"ll be doing these seal repairs this winter when the tractor isn"t used. This little A has been working on our farm since it was bought new by my grandfather. It was overhauled once. Still has flat pistons. I"ll definitely change that. But what do you guys think about just a partial overhead rebuild? Thanks.

Tappets with out a cam sounds kinda scary to me. I don't think I would do it unless the tappets were so messed up that they are effecting performance.

If you replace the head gasket, tappets and have the valves ground..you'll "up" the compression on those cylinders and most likely cause the engine to use more oil than before.
Try to determine the cause of the moisture and hopefully it will be an easy fix.
Best of luck.
Jim B.

Well, you kind of answered your own question. If there is coolant seepage at the head gasket, you will need to address that at some point. Old torque specs were 65 lbs, new ones are 80 lbs. However, if that is the old gasket, not sure I would go all the way to 80 lbs without replacing it.

If the old girl is doing the work you need her to do, and no fluids are leaking massively, just go with it. If you want to fix the coolant seep, replace the head gasket, they are not that expensive. Also, is the damp area oil or coolant. I assumed coolant, but didn't think it could be oil and the valve cover. I have a BN that runs good, but seeps coolant out mag side. I have to add coolant maybe once a year, so I haven't gotten all worked up about it yet.

Same here. The downside is obviously money.

Not sure what the upside would be.

If you can still adjust the valve lash properly, and the engine's running ok, I don't think I'd bother changing them out myself.

Especially having future plans for rebuilding the tractor at a later date. In the future if you're going to put a new cam in, which is likely, you'd need to use new tappets, so new ones now would end up being a waste of money.

Thanks guys. The seepage is coolant. I too only have to add coolant once a year. So it's not really a problem-yet. I was just thinking while it was in the shop and half apart, why not at least replace the head gasket. But maybe I should just leave it. It's always been my experience when you break something down, you always find something more. Oil consumption before the seal problem was so minimal I wouldn't even call it a problem. I guess I'll see how aggravated I get doing the seals. Speaking of the seals. I was able to contact SKF and get a seal number and speedi sleeve number but they never gave me any local dealer info. Any Ideas where to get the stuff? This of coarse is assuming I can get the pulley off in one piece. Out of all the tools I have, I don't own a bearing separator or a slide hammer. The jaw puller I've got is about worn out. If I cant heat it and move it with the puller, I may just take my cut-off tool and gently take it of a piece at a time. Money wise it probably wont be any different. New pulleys seem to go in the $60-$70 range. One other thing. I have an IT manual, where's the best place to come up with a good IH manual? Thanks, Steve

try amazon.com for the speedi sleeve. You can find most sizes there, at a good price.

(Not sure if you've priced them yet, if not, get ready for a surprise!)

Yeah JR, I've got a feeling if the pulley does come off in pieces, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world

Is the seal on the pulley???

I thought it's on the shaft, and the pulley is just in the way...

No?

Sorry - you're right - not sure what I was thinking about.

Well, to get the pulley off, here is what I do. I have a bearing splitter and a very heavy duty 2 jaw puller. I put the bearing splitter on the crank just behind the pulley. I then get the puller in place. Next I heat the pulley a bit with an acetelene speed wrench (don't over do it). I then put 2 - 3 cranks on the puller until it is really starting to put pressure on. Then take a medium to large hammer and give the puller a solid rap. apply a bit more heat and turn the puller bolt another 1-2 turns. IF it hasn't moved yet, give it another solid rap with the hammer. 9 times out of 10, it will POP and scare the living daylights out of you. It doesn't come flying off, and you will need to use the puller most of the way......but it is moving freely at this point with the puller.

be forewarned. This is NOT a job for the 3 jaw cast puller's you buy with adjustable jaws. you will break it. Also, do NOT attempt this without a bearing splitter. You will break the inside rim on the pulley. Lastly, if you have a really early engine, it will have a set screw on the pulley. BE CAREFUL in taking out the set screw. If they snap off, it takes a carbide bit to drill them out. cobalt bits won't touch it. trust me, been there, done that.

Ok Tom. My question for you is: in order to get the separator behind the pulley, do you have to unbolt the timing cover and move it forward out of the way? Because wouldn't the end of the pulley be behind the the inside of the timing cover? Honestly, without a good puller or bearing separator, I may just carefully cut the pulley off with a cut-off tool. For the 70 bucks for a new pulley, compared to $40 for a speedi sleeve plus the cost of a separator and puller, it would be cheaper.

NO! the bearing splitter rests against the full rear face of the pulley, NOT the shoulder. And yes, cutting it off is an option, and if you do the $$$ math, it may be cheaper in the long run. I wish we lived closer I would be glad to help or at least loan you my Binford 6000 puller! :wink:

One thing to consider, is that there have been 1 or 2 reports on previous posts on this site, of the new pulley's not fitting the crank appropriately. I don't know the status of those issues, and whether or not they were related to the early set-screw cranks being a different size or not.

Search the previous posts, and see if you can turn one of them up.

Okay there Tim the tool man! I called my local IH dealer a few minutes ago. They cant even get a new pulley. So aftermarket would be my only choice. I've heard the same thing. But, and I believe this, that after cutting and removing the pulley, there will probably need to be some prep work like gently filing down any nicks and cuts as these pulley basically fit so tight there's no room for error. Putting the pulley in an oven might not hurt either. I've got two local tractor scrap yards that might already have one pulled. And if I need a speedi sleeve then, well ok. I've also got to do the head gasket at the same time. This old thing has been in use on our farm since my grandfather and great grandfather bought her new. She just needs a little maintenance. I'll have to go slow buying the parts. We just adopted a 2 and 3 year old brother and sister. My playing money has been cut drastically. But that's okay, I don't regret it a bit.

To remove the crank pulley on farmalls I have used a 3 flang puller that is designed to pull the balancer from a small block chevy. I simply drill and tap 3 three eights holes in the farmall pulley. Its cast iron and drill,s & taps very easily. Three evenly spaced holes wont affect the balance.