Engine Block Repair

Scott in PA · Nov 17, 2010

Hi All,

I started the restoration of my Fordson Super Major over the weekend. When I started the engine strip down, I noticed a large amount of silicon around the fuel pump. When I removed the fuel pump and silicon, I found a crack on each side of the fuel pump mounting surface. They start at the opening for the pump"s lever and travel out to the edge of the machine surface. After some more examination it appears that at some point in the past, the #4 rod broke and hit the fuel pump area which pushed the block outward and caused the cracks. Neither crack goes all the way through but the block is pushed out about 1/32nd to 1/16th of a inch on the one side.

My question is about how to go about fixing this problem. I have done a fair amount of research on welding cracks in cast iron and have done it in the past with success. Is there a way to "push" the block back into place before I weld the cracks? Or should I just weld the cracks and have the mount machined flat.

Here are

JDseller · Nov 18, 2010

I would not weld it. You can only get a good job if you preheat the block. If you do that you should get the black machined after that. Plus the welded area will always show. The area cracked is just into the oil sump, with no pressure. I would drill and tape a row of brass screws in each crack. You just gain half a screw each time but it works great and you can make it not show. The brass expands faster than the case so it gets tighter as the engine runs. Then carefully grind the block flat. I have done it with a good DA sander and coarse paper. It just is a fuel pump mount. It just has to seal the gasket on the pump mounting flange.

Dblair · Nov 18, 2010

here's a site that could help you out a lot on that kind of repair

http://www.locknstitch.com/

Mike (WA) · Nov 18, 2010

I've seen it done with small brass pipe plugs- say, 1/8 inch. Not quite so tedious as little screws would be, and you use a large enough drill bit that its not breaking all the time. Drill first hole at the end of the crack, put in a pipe plug; drill next hole so it overlaps the last plug by a little (1/4 to 1/3 the diameter), and so on.

Dick L · Nov 18, 2010

Easy way would be with Belzona. The biggest problem for one application would be the cost.

The Belzona rep came out to my plant and give me the skinny on it. The smallest I could buy was 279 bucks. With shipping it was over 300 bucks.

I have only used about two thimble fulls. I repaired a shaft which worked very well.

It is a super JB Weld with metal kinda stuff for industry.

If you brought your block here I would let you have enough to repair the problem. I won't ever use all of it myself.
Belzona

george md · Nov 18, 2010

Scott,

That crack will go all the way thru, cast
does not bend ,it breaks except in very thin
sections. Second note ,if you weld it with any
kind of arc, the area around the weld will be
so hard that it is almost impossible to machine.
The weld may be soft ,but the fusion zone will
be extremely hard. It does that because the
rapid temp drop between the arc temp and the
surrounding cool material. To get rid of the
hard spots ,you need to heat the casting to
about 1500 deg and hold for 15 to 20 minutes to
normalize, then it will be machineable.

As stated below ,you best repair would be the
locknstitch products , they work much better
than the old irontite pins .I used the old ones
for years, but have changed to the locknstitch
for almost every thing, and will be very
machineable after installation.I do a fair
amount of cast repair.

george

george md · Nov 18, 2010

Scott,

That crack will go all the way thru, cast
does not bend ,it breaks except in very thin
sections. Second note ,if you weld it with any
kind of arc, the area around the weld will be
so hard that it is almost impossible to machine.
The weld may be soft ,but the fusion zone will
be extremely hard. It does that because the
rapid temp drop between the arc temp and the
surrounding cool material. To get rid of the
hard spots ,you need to heat the casting to
about 1500 deg and hold for 15 to 20 minutes to
normalize, then it will be machineable.

As stated below ,you best repair would be the
locknstitch products , they work much better
than the old irontite pins .I used the old ones
for years, but have changed to the locknstitch
for almost every thing, and will be very
machineable after installation.I do a fair
amount of cast repair.

george

BlaineF · Nov 18, 2010

Here's my thoughts on the cracks.I'd pin the end of the one. That goes off of fuel pump mounting surface.To stop it from going farther out.The one that goes to the bolt hole. Is not going any where.The gasket for fuel pump. Should seal any oil leaks.After you use a good file to flatten out surface again.Like the others have said no oil pressure there.All the silicone was there because of a gap between block and fuel pump.Because of uneven surface.Well that is just my thoughts .You can make your own call on how you want to fix it.Good Luck. BlaineF(WA)

(I've built hundreds of engines over the years with very little trouble.Just so you know I'm not just talking of the cuff.)

Scott in PA · Nov 18, 2010

I welded the block of the Kohler engine in my old JD 214 garden tractor with my MIG using standard .035 steel wire. It lasted several years until the connecting rod went a second time, hitting the exact same spot. I had had enough on JD"s by this time and sold it for parts and started using a old beat up Murray that a friend had given me. It cut circles around the JD.

Anyway, I found a posting on smokstak.com about using a special cast iron MIG wire from http://www.crownalloys.com/products.php.

I also read a few postings about doing the stitch method with brass screws. Is this a viable option or are the pins at locknstitch.com that much better? I have a huge drawer of brass bolts so my cost would only be time. locknstitch isn"t listing pricing on their site but they do mention that the kits can cost from $100 to $8000.

J.Wondergem · Nov 18, 2010

I think if you push it back in it will break more. If it was me, I would braze it up and machine it flat so the pump will set flat.

VicS · Nov 18, 2010

If I was going to do it myself I would JB Weld it. Just grind the fuel pump mount flat, finishing with a file. Then grind a V in the cracks and JB Weld it. and yes I would drill and tap 1/8 brass pipe plugs at the end of the cracks. I took a JD block to a Guy who advertised life time guarantee. He braised it and stamped the crack with something that made the brass look like cast. Also he never put plugs at the end of the cracks. When we painted it you couldn't see the crack. But he charged $500.00 It was a 40 JD and it has not leaked.

WA-Hal · Nov 18, 2010

If the fuel pump worked OK with the block as it is, and if that part of the engine is not highly stressed, I would probably just put the pump back on. Maybe carefully silicone both sides of the gasket first. If it didn't leak anything, I wouldn't worry about it.

On the other hand, if it really concerned me, I have read about a repair where multiple holes are drilled along a crack, and then tapped. Soft bolts are screwed into the holes and they are cut off flush. Then more holes are drilled between the newly filled holes so the new holes are partly touching the earlier installed "plugs". This continues until the whole crack is bridged by the screwed in "plugs". Such a repair is supposed to work very well, and make the part almost as strong as it was before it was damaged. I have never tried it, but thought it might be a useful idea to remember.

When I fix something, I like to make it "right". But lots of times, it really is not necessary and trying to fix things some ways can cost a LOT of money and might screw it up even worse. Good luck, hope it works out OK.

Engine Block Repair

Scott in PA

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JDseller

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Dblair

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Mike (WA)

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Dick L

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george md

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george md

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BlaineF

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Scott in PA

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J.Wondergem

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VicS

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WA-Hal

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