Farmall 200 Coolant leak

[emp1953]

I have two Farmall 200's with the C125 gas engine. Both were blowing coolant out between the head and block. I pulled the heads on both, took the heads to a shop had them pressure tested, fluxed and milled flat. Installed new gaskets from Steiner and used a liquid copper gasket sealant from Permatex. Put em back together, readjusted the valves and had new sounding and running tractors. one started leaking again between the head and block. I put in a new temperature gauge and sender and temperatures run pretty cool. Even checked temps with a meter and thermocouple probe.
There is no pressure in the system and no signs that coolant is getting into the cylinders, so I'm continuing to use it. The heads were milled flat I'm sure of that. The block was cleaned till it was spotless. Headbolts torqued to spec and then some. Again only one of the two is leaking, and its not leaking much mind you, but after all the work I did, and the attention to detail I am disappointed to see any leakage at all. Any advice? Do these Farmall blocks have a history of problems??? Thanks.

 

[boomer1025]

Did you check the blocks to make sure they were flat?
did you clean out the head bolt holes in the block with a tap and made sure there was no oil or coolant in them.
I'd re torque the head bolts and if it still leaked, then add a sealer to the coolant or tear it back down and see what the problem is.
Could be a low spot in the block or a bad head gasket.

 

[emp1953]

If I start seeing evidence of it in the cylinders or it gets worse I will tear it back apart. I did use a straight edge on the head all over the place and it seemed ok. The "head bolts" are just threaded studs that I could not get out. There were nuts holding the head on. Central Pa. How central? I make it up to Grampian and Clearfield every other month.

 

[boomer1025]

I'd re-torque the nuts and maybe give them 2 or 3 pounds over spec's. If it still leaks and you tear it down again use the straight edge and check the deck on the block.

 

[DJ54]

It sounds as though your problem may be with sleeve protrusion. If you pull the head again, lay a good straight edge across the cylinders cross ways, and check how much sleeve protrusion you have between the top of the sleeves, and the block itself. You should have between 0.000 to 0.006 protrusion. Lay the straight edge long ways, and check cylinders 2 & 3, and see if you can slip the thinnest gauge under the straight edge. Anything more than 0.006 protrusion, you've found your problem

You're not saying at what cylinder you're losing coolant, but if it's coming from the center, I'd have to guess 1&4 are taller than the center sleeves, or one of 2&3 are higher than 1&4. Just a few thousandths difference will not let the gasket seal on the water jacket.

The sure way to get them even, is to take the engine block to a machine shop, and have them deck the block, with the sleeves in place. And have it dressed to .002-.003 above deck.

 

[emp1953]

It sounds as though your problem may be with sleeve protrusion. If you pull the head again, lay a good straight edge across the cylinders cross ways, and check how much sleeve protrusion you have between the top of the sleeves, and the block itself. You should have between 0.000 to 0.006 protrusion. Lay the straight edge long ways, and check cylinders 2 & 3, and see if you can slip the thinnest gauge under the straight edge. Anything more than 0.006 protrusion, you've found your problem

You're not saying at what cylinder you're losing coolant, but if it's coming from the center, I'd have to guess 1&4 are taller than the center sleeves, or one of 2&3 are higher than 1&4. Just a few thousandths difference will not let the gasket seal on the water jacket.

The sure way to get them even, is to take the engine block to a machine shop, and have them deck the block, with the sleeves in place. And have it dressed to .002-.003 above deck.

I'm going to sound really dumb here. Isn't the block part of the entire tractor body.

 

[boomer1025]

I'm going to sound really dumb here. Isn't the block part of the entire tractor body.

Yep, the engine is the middle section.

 

[DJ54]

Depending on what you have to work with in the shop, it's not a bad job to remove the front end, and unbolt the engine from the torque tube. Remove all sheet metal, fuel tank, & radiator, generator & wiring harness. Jack it up, using the torque tube to rest on blocks, and make sure the rear wheels are chocked. Use an engine hoist, or chain hoist on an I-beam to drop the front end. It will have to drop some, and roll out from underneath the crankshaft pulley. Some lift tabs bolted into the top rear cultivator mount, on the front end makes a good attaching point to do this.

When removing the engine, I use the two bolt holes where the fuel tank mounts as the rear lift point. Where the front end bolts on, you can use those holes. On a good day, I could probably do this in about 1-1/2 hours, with a few coffee, and smoke breaks thrown in.

Now comes the part you may not like, but check with your machine shop, and see what they say. I'd imagine they will want the engine stripped of all of the internals.

And that being said, IF that is the problem.

It's been over 25 years since I've done a complete rebuild on any of my engines, but I used OEM parts. Whether it was luck of the draw, or parts were machined to a closer tolerance for fit then, I've never had a leak at the cylinder head.

I do have an aftermarket sleeve set I plan to put in my one Super C here one of these days,when it's number comes up on the priority list. But I'll probably let Buddy install the sleeves, and let him check the protrusion, and if need be, have him mill them to specs.

I've read more than several threads on sleeve protrusion problems, in different IH tractor forums. And, I'm thinking it is worth spending the few extra bucks to let the machine shop do the sleeves, to save me from possibly having to tear it down, and start over.