My 203 dropped a sleeve into the pan. Rebuild Kit?

mllud · Feb 16, 2020

I have been working on cleaning and replacing parts and haven't really been using my tractor yet.
I had it at idle looking for a small coolant leak. I was tightening a clamp when it made a bad racket.
I shut it down quick and pulled that round plate on the pan and the sleeve was broken up in the pan.
The crankshaft seems ok and I pulled the head and don't see any damage to the sleeve bore/water jacket.
The piston stayed within the water jacket and didn't even leave a scratch. I don't know why the sleeve dropped.
I was with the previous owner when he bought it from a farmer in Illinois last winter. The guy was using starting fluid to start it. Bad thing to do. !!!!

I feel lucky it was at low idle and I killed it within seconds. This tractor had a clogged fuel line to that cylinder and was ran several hours last summer by p.o.
At high rpm it wasn't noticeable. I fixed all the fuel problems and it would idle at 600 rpm's. I adjusted it up to 700 rpm.
I have been trying to diagnose a noise. I now know what it was.

Anyway the rebuild kits range from $289 to $450. Are there differences in quality? I have compared what comes with the kits.

I'm looking forward to the rebuild. Ill know what I have.
Of coarse it would have been nice to use it for a couple years. That's what you have to expect from 58 years of use with poor maintenance.
I had given thought about rebuilding it anyway. I thought I would give it a chance. Thought wrong.
It was holding 60psi of oil pressure.

mllud · Feb 16, 2020

It was clean when it crashed That shows that paint doesn't repair, but makes it nicer to work on and look at. I have done a lot of repair and replacement.
That's that m.F. metallic silver for the chassis. Wrong for the era but just my choice.

mllud · Feb 17, 2020

All the kits I see have the combustion chamber in the top of the piston. With the direct injection engine AD3 engine the combustion chamber is off to the side and has flat top pistons. ?? I'm waiting to hear back from a vendor.

I found the right kit A3 not AD3

BertZegers · Feb 17, 2020

Can you post pictures of the parts involved? I cant "picture" what happened.

mllud · Feb 17, 2020

BertZegers said:
Can you post pictures of the parts involved? I cant "picture" what happened.

when I took the head off it looked just like ln the photos. There were a couple pieces of the off the top of the sleeve on the top of the piston. I think the sleeve has been loose and moving because the sleeve and the bore it fits into was cleaner than a removed sleeve would normally be when pressed out. I don't think it has worn the bore/water jacket any. It mic's to spec. The engine had a lot of blow by. The engine sounded like it had piston slap, which now makes sense.

This photo shows the left bore without the sleeve and the right bore with a sleeve

This photo shows the bore without the sleeve. There is some rust stains in the bore but it was as clean as you see it.

This photo shows some of what was in the pan. I'm guessing it slid down and the counterweights did the rest. I'm guessing that ring was broke off the top of the sleeve. It could be part of an oil ring off the piston. The engine turns over by hand smooth and easy. I d0nt see any damage in the pan or to the crankshaft. I think it just slid down and the crank broke it up. The head looks good. I'll know more when I dismantle it. I feel a bit lucky with my bad luck. It could have been worst. That sleeve may have been cracked and moving a little with each stroke. I have never seen this happen.

mllud · Feb 17, 2020

A picture of the head. The valves to the left is the one where the sleeve slid down. Also I forgot to say that cylinder took about 30 seconds to start firing. I know this from putting my thumb on the combustion chamber cover. The other two quickly get to hot to touch and that one was just getting warm.
I think the engine was solid other than that sleeve. 60psi oil pressure and ran cool.

mllud · May 10, 2020

Making some progress since the disaster.
Engine major overhaul. All new gears and bearings in the transmission.
They ground gears in the transmission instead of fixing the clutch. I have never seen transmission gears ground this bad. About $850 on the engine and about $650 on the transmission
Pitiful ignorance.
I know the pool ball shift knobs aren't stock but I don't like the small stock knobs. Ill keep the old ones for a buyer if I ever sell it. it will probably be sold after I'm dead. I'm building a dependable tractor for myself.

mllud · May 10, 2020

This was not an occasional grinding a gear. There are small chips and fractures in the teeth.
The set screw in the shifting fork was sheared. You could set the peddle properly then it would slip after a little use. They put a new clutch in but missed the real problem with the sheared set screw.. So they just jammed it in gear. That much grinding takes time.

mllud · Jun 29, 2020

Well I'm making some progress. The engine is running again. My first timing attempt failed. I had to pull the timing gear cover and try again. I think I was 120 deg. out. I have about ten minutes run time. Sounds so good.
I also rebuilt the transmission. All new gears and bearings. It was on the edge of failure. bearings loose and ground gears.

The set screw on the fork for the throw out bearing was sheared. It appears they may have replaced the clutch but that didn't fix it so they just ground gears.
I spent about $650 on the trans.
From the seat forward there isn't anything that isn't new or rebuilt. Accept starter and alternator.
I'm going to replace bushings and hoses as needed on the backhoe and loader frame. New spindles on the steering

It went from a $3,700 purchase to $6,000. Ill know what I have. I'm getting anxious to use it.
The rear end seems smooth and quite. Planitaries have clean oil.

Ill admit i bought a turd. You dont get lucky every time. Its always a gamble unless its new. I love the new kobotas but dont want a dealer only servicable tractor.

I just noticed im repeating some of my photos. Im getting old. That's my excuse