Farmall Super C coolant problem

Jim Gilmore · Jan 18, 2012

I picked up A super C a few weeks back for a very reasonable price. Starts, runs, plays the part well. Has a Wagner loader and a nice belly mower. I really haven't run the tractor to much except to go from point A to point B on the property and to the barn. I noticed on my last trip some foamy oil drips on the mower deck. Curiously I looked into the radiator and saw no fluid so poured in some anti-freeze. Looks like everything I poured in though came out of the bell housing. Read through some other posts about a Super A with the same problem. Question 1 is, does the Super C (C123 engine) have the same type of soft plug in the back of the block behind the bell housing? Question 2 is there any others that should be replaced at the same time?

Pete76NY · Jan 18, 2012

Yes a Super C has that Welsh plug at the back of the block...when we redid our Super C we were in the middle of play/pulling season so I had the machine shop who was doing the machine work do the assembly...put her back together and on the test drive she peed all her coolant out the bell housing, pulled it back apart, they hadn't properly indented the plug, put a new one in and still going!
Question is: is your coolant disappearing fast with a heavy flow out of the bell housing or real slow? If slow, check your crankcase and make sure you don't have water in your oil: head gasket, sleeve o ring... Pete

Jim Gilmore · Jan 19, 2012

Thanks Pete. It came out pretty quick - I poured about a quart in and about a pint came out of the housing. If that"s all it is I will be super duper happy! I really didn"t want to tear into the whole thing until I had enough space to tear everything down and do a thorough job. If this is all it is I will consider myself lucky for sure! Of course if I fix it and a whole new host of problems come up it will be time to get down to business sooner then later.

BoonvilleKid · Jan 19, 2012

Do you know the purpose of that plug? Was it one method to provide for protection to the block in case of freezing? I'm not sure he was correct but I know my Grand-Dad said that the Model T car engine would never crack due freezing because of the way it had been designed. (The Model A would)

BoonvilleKid · Jan 19, 2012

Do you know the purpose of that plug? Was it one method to provide for protection to the block in case of freezing? I'm not sure he was correct but I know my Grand-Dad said that the Model T car engine would never crack due freezing because of the way it had been designed. (The Model A would)

mkirsch · Jan 20, 2012

Those plugs are there to wash out the casting sand after the block is cast, and/or to provide access to some internal bit of the engine like an oil galley.

They definitely do NOT protect the engine from freezing.

Jim Gilmore · Jan 20, 2012

There is a lot of speculation about the plugs. Some say they are indeed "freeze plugs" however I think this may be an innovation brought on by need. Originally the purpose was to drain the sand out of the block after casting it. When only cooling with water you could indeed potentially cause undue stress on a casting and weaken it over time if you allow the water to freeze under VERY harsh conditions. However I think that with these older systems this was not really a consideration.

Farmall Super C coolant problem

Jim Gilmore

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Pete76NY

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Jim Gilmore

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