1944 Farmall A

I"m having trouble finding out just how much transmission gear oil I should put in. Would anyone happen to know? I would appriciate any help

Joel, Texas

Don't you have a book?Buy a 5 gal.bucket and fill till oil comes out the level plug.3 or 4 gallons should cover it.

Be very careful believing what you read on the internet.

A Farmall A transmission will hold about 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 QUARTS, depending on whether it has a PTO or not.

The check plug is a small pipe plug on the left side, toward the front, behind the left brake rod. When it gets to there, it is full.

Thank you for correcting me.Does that 5 quarts cover the rearend also?Steve

Yes, but not the final drives, they are separate.

Thats kinda what i thought but was'nt sure. Thank you so much for your information

Joel , Texas

I bought a service manual, but was unable to find that information in it. I thought that the plug on the left side of the trans was the fill level but was not sure. Thank you for the help

Joel ,Texas

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The operators manual has all that info in it. There are things you will never think of in it.

If you arent going to use the PTO its not important but there is a drain in the PTO. The PTO gets its lube from the tranny but the hole where it comes from can be plugged as there is a channel in the tranny that drains to the PTO BELT PULLEY the hole can be plugged. I would drain the bottom of the tranny and put a gallon of Disel in the tranny drive around a little then drain this should flush the system. Ive done that several times and fill with 150wt as the heavier lube does quiet them down some were not talking rocket science here.

Thank You, I'll order one

Joel, Texas

You've already hit on it. The old IH manuals typically had the regular maintenance info (like fluid level, fill and check points . . ) in the Owner's Manual. The Service Manuals were generally oriented more toward step-by-step repairs, as opposed to maintenance.

In the absence of an obvious need for a major repair to get a tractor running, most folks do better having the Owner's Manual first for an intact tractor, then get the Service Manual if running the machine shows up the need to dismantle something that needs repair or replacement.

Not a mistake on your part gettting the Service Manual first. It's just the way IH organized their manuals.

To your question, the tranny/rear end will take about 5 quarts. The "about" relates to having a PTO or not, as others pointed out.

Assuming you are planning on changing it anyway . . . To test it all out (and getting to Gene's point about the amount of sludge in there -- there can be a LOT!) pour a little diesel or kerosene in through the fill plug on top of your PTO, if you have one, until it overflows internally back into the main part of the case. Replace the plug.

Then open both the main fill plug (on the same plates as your shifter) and the check plug, found near the corner on the left front side of the tranny, usually a small square-head plug, with the brake rod getting in the way. Fill with more diesel/kerosene from the top until oil begins to run from the check plug, then close everything up.

Run it around. Use all your gears, try to find something to put a little load on to help warm up the tranny some.

Then drain from the bottom of the tranny. Measure what drains out. The difference between five quarts and what you get will tell you how much sludge you have in there. If, as often happens, you find that you need to poke a wire or screwdriver up though the drain hole to break up the sludge to even get it to drain, you can bet that difference will be a significant amount.

If you get something on the order of four quarts or so out, then Gene's suggestion of refilling with kero and then running it works very well. It will cut/thin the greasy part of the sludge, leaving the fines (and any broken gear teeth!) at the bottom, possibly thin enough to drain away. When draining after that exercise, I will leave the drain open and pour another quart or two of diesel down through to rinse all I can off the bottom. Then refill with the oil of your choosing and run.

If you only get something like three quarts or so out, I'd really suggest opening the top and working with a scraper, an old spoon and a stiff brush, and giving it a good manual cleaning, flushing with lots of kero as you get near the end to get as much as you can of the fines drained out. When you close it back up, you should find that it will take pretty much five full quarts to refill. If you go this route, the gasket for the shifter/cover will probably need replacing. They are available from a caseihfordnh dealer or you can make your own. (A .38/.357cal shell makes a dandy punch for the bolt holes thru the gasket!)

The oil for the final drives could be another whole chapter. Briefly . . . the only way to drain is to remove the pans, which will mean replacing the gaskets. Fill capacity is three **pints** on each side, which will fill the pans not quite to the level of the gasket. The level check is crude at best, through a half-inch check plug (usually a female square-head) found near the front, low on the inside, of the final drive casting. The "check is to poke a finger in through the check hole, crook it down, and see if it has oil on it when you pull it back out.

HTH

Great! thank you so much. I,ve already dropped the pans on the final drives cleaned,checked and replaced gaskets and fluid.

Joel, Texas