Little help: International 234 Hydro. Where to start?

mission16 · May 30, 2016

So my neighbor has given me a IH 234 Hydro with 822 hours on the clock. It looks surprisingly good for being stored outside for the last 9 years.
So why is he giving it to me?
Well, it seems that 2 summers ago, another neighbor borrowed it to bush hog. When he was done, said neighbor parked it and didn't say anything about any issue. But NEXT summer, same neighbor asked to use a different tractor to bush hog. Hmm. In Vegas, I think that is called a "tell".
Anyhow, the neighbor giving it away thinks (don't know why) it's the head gasket. He doesn't want to fiddle with it, just wants it out of the yard.

So, while I'm a handy guy and can read a shop manual, I've never worked on diesels and escpecially that cute little guy in that tractor. I believe I want to invest in an I&T manual, right? But before I even buy that book, what should I be looking for to determine what the issue might be and whether this is something I want to even tackle or just part out?

Any and all info, thoughts, comments and recommendations will be greatly valued!

Thanks to all.

topbuilder · May 30, 2016

Welcome to the site.
I see you are not familiar with diesels... You are not giving us much to go on. What have you looked at/done so far?

mission16 · Jun 1, 2016

Well, I opened the hood...

Pretty much just looked it over visually: tires all up, no leaks noted, nothing missing that I could see. Come June 8, I'm going to tow it over to my garage. My wife will be out of town for 6 weeks so I have that time to do it what I am going to do to it.

And that is why I am here now. Just trying to formulate a plan of sorts BEFORE putting wrench on it. So a couple of questions then:
-neighbor thinks head gasket: what's my quick check for that?
-I&T manuals don't have a lot of troubleshooting, IIRC. Should I rustle up an operators manual too?

aircommuter · Jun 7, 2016

Have you tried to start it?

Ed of all trades · Jun 8, 2016

aircommuter said:
Have you tried to start it?

That would be my second step, the first would be to check the fluid levels and condition. Ed

mission16 · Jun 15, 2016

First thing I have to do is tow it from neighbors to my garage. It's a Hydro, so is there a bypass I need to use to tow safely?

mission16 · Jun 26, 2016

Well, she's in the garage now. Pulled the oil dipstick out and got a gush of coolant. That's probably not good, I suppose.

topbuilder · Jun 26, 2016

Yep. Time to decide to you are willing to throw money at it. Could just be a head gasket, could be worse. Might check and see if there is a good mobile tractor mechanic in tour area willing to do a tear down and evaluate for you.

art · Jun 28, 2016

Often bush hogging the grilles fill up, they overheat and destroy the engine,

coolreinfarm · Jul 1, 2016

It will be interesting to read what you find out, I have the same tractor with almost 1800 hrs runs like a champ. It starts at 0 deg. without heating the block. My wife runs it more than I do, only problem it's hard to shift in high range, I hope it's only a head gasket. The tractor is a Misubishi mt180, some parts available online.

mission16 · Jul 3, 2016

art said:
Often bush hogging the grilles fill up, they overheat and destroy the engine,

From what I've been told, this is likely what happened.

If it turns out to be more serious than the head gasket, what kind of market is there for parting this out? Or am I better off hauling to the scrap yard?

MCDiecast · Jul 4, 2016

Well, the good news is that these little mitsubishis are easy to work on and relatively simple. The bad news is that parts can be hard to come by and/or expensive. You may be in a situation where it'll be easier or cheaper to get a parts tractor and swap out what is good with what isn't. Getting a parts manual and an IT will make it easier to accurately figure out what you need, then pricing the parts will make that decision for you.

mission16 · Jul 8, 2016

Well, I got all the fluid out of the engine. Had to drop the oil pan as I couldn't get the plug out.
I had tried bumping the starter just to see if the engine would turn. It didn't but not sure if that is starter or engine.
If I put a wrench in front PTO shaft, should the engine rotate? If it does not, is it a parts machine?

topbuilder · Jul 8, 2016

You mean the crankshaft pulley? It should rotate the engine. Does the starter make a sound like it is trying to turn it over?

mission16 · Jul 9, 2016

topbuilder said:
You mean the crankshaft pulley? It should rotate the engine. Does the starter make a sound like it is trying to turn it over?

There is a PTO shaft on front of engine that drives a pulley at front of tractor.

Starter: all i get is clickclickclickclick.

topbuilder · Jul 10, 2016

Turn the crankshaft pulley. The lower pulley that runs the fan belt. The same gear ratio that urns your shaft at 540 rpms when the motor is clicking along at 2500 rpms works against you when trying to turn over by hand. If no ability to turn the engine there, remove the starter and turn using teeth on ring gear. Is the battery new? Have you checked voltage? Many times batteries these days will not take a jump. If it does not turn over, you could have seized bearings, fluid in one or more of the cylinders, a seized starter. I'm guessing you inspected the lower end and would have seen something like a broken rod. Notice any discoloration on any of the main/rod caps?

mission16 · Jul 10, 2016

Looking closer at the front PTO, it is attached to the crank pulley, where the v-belt is, by a rubber dampening device. Does that make sense? So it goes: crank pulley bolted to rubber biscuit, rubber biscuit to a flange with a male splined shaft welded to it then a female splined shaft that has about a 10" long shaft with an 8" v-belt pulley on it.
The more I look at it, I think this is something someone added.
So long story short: there's no gear reduction in the way. So THERORETICALLY, if I put a pipe wrench on that shaft and turn clockwise, looking from the front, it should turn?
If not, is it seized or should I try another route?
I'm not going to buy a new battery yet.
I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary looking at the bottom end. I have no experience with these little diesels (they are so little!!!) but know what bad looked like on the bottom end of a small block Chevy.

topbuilder · Jul 10, 2016

Yes, should turn.

mission16 · Jul 11, 2016

And... It does not.
Oh well.
So IS there any point in parting it out? Where would be my best option? Craigslist, eBay or a more direct format?
Or just haul it to the scrapyard?

topbuilder · Jul 12, 2016

Dang it. I would check for a tractor salvage yard. They might pick up for free? If you are the curious type... now that you have determined it is a loss and nothing to loose, Pop the caps off the rods/mains. Did you ever pull the injectors to determine if there was water in the cylinders? That would make it not turn over. Could be the piston/rings are rusted to the cylinder walls.