Oh dang this is turning in to a project.......1959 to35 with 23c diesel. Could use so

jayknight · Mar 18, 2019

So I bought me a lil tractor trying to resurrect it.........Guy claims its a running good tractor get there tank is empty.......should have walked away there.....anyways the silver tongued devil talked me out of a grand......I checked the oil at the time of sale and it was used and black but over filled some. Figured oh well the front seal on the pump leaking......Rebuild pump check......Heard these rigs had issues with timing chain.....opener up tensioner is on the bottom of cover...replace chain and tensioner check....well since that was bad wanted to check piston condition....pulled head and there was evidence of valve replacement and obviously piston had hit a lil valve a few times.......now I need to do some extra thinking.....I bought gasket sets with plans to re-ring and hone and take chances on the top of piston I've run worse.........so I go to pull of oil pan drain oil looks like good oil diesel stuff dark black.......I undo the bolts and pull the pan about 2 gallons of milky oil come out......granted the weep hole was no plugged and the cotter pin was in place.......the dip stick in the back was clear gear oil when I bought it now not showing on the dipstick.........So now the question is do I run now or just move along and replace the clutch and tranny seals re-ring and drive away happy with all this extra "earned knowledge".....Can any one explain how this was in the clutch housing and not weeping.......please help me decide

Jay

Cougsfan · Mar 19, 2019

I'd say you have two choices, walk away or do a total teardown and overhaul. I have the same tractor and did the teardown and overhaul route. Everything I needed for the motor was available except cam bearings. I could put you in touch with a guy who can get all the parts and knows these tractors inside out. Expect to pay about $4000 to $5000 for parts for a complete rebuild doing it right. I have a pretty nice tractor now. I wouldn't blame you if you walked away, but they are good tractors.

Cougsfan · Mar 19, 2019

My tranny input shaft seals were shot and transmission oil ran out of the clutch cover every time I went down a hill. It is a 2 stage clutch and changing the inner seal on the input shaft is a bit of a trick.

jayknight · Mar 21, 2019

Cougsfan said:
My tranny input shaft seals were shot and transmission oil ran out of the clutch cover every time I went down a hill. It is a 2 stage clutch and changing the inner seal on the input shaft is a bit of a trick.

4000-5000 is a little steep for me on this project ouch. Can you tell me a little about the input shaft I've read several different stories on it and it seems pretty straight forward but....... I likely need to change the clutch so while split I was planning on replacing engine and tranny side seals.....

I also pulled the pistons and had some broken rings the liners have nothing you can feel on them and only one piston is really bad. The valves faces are stepped pretty bad......maybe could save.....but I'm thinking all new....

Cougsfan · Mar 22, 2019

That was for everything I got. The tractor had 2500 hrs the broken hour meter when I got the tractor, and I used it a LOT after that (for 18 years) before I decided to overhaul it. I decided to fix virtually every thing wrong or worn on the tractor. Pistons, rings, sleeves, bearings, injectors, new valves, springs, valve grind, timing chain, gaskets, oil pump, primary fuel pump, glow plugs, etc. plus other parts for the rest of the tractor (New clutch, clutch alignment tool, Hour meter, gauges, tach cable, tranny seals, front yoke bushing, steering wheel, tie rod ends, PTO seal, filters, and other little stuff I have forgotten about.). The total bill was something over $4k. The only thing I had the mechanic do was time the injectors.
This was about 8 years ago, but am not sure the prices for those parts have gone up as much as inflation.

The tranny input shaft has a shaft within a shaft, one for the pto and one for the wheel drive. The outer seal is easy to replace but you have to disassemble the double shaft assembly to replace the inner seal. The double shaft assembly comes right out of the front of the tranny easy enough, but to take the inner shaft out from the outer shaft to replace the inner seal was not intuitive. It has been so long that I don't remember the details, but I do remember I couldn't figure out how to do it and go to the mechanic to get instructions.

One thing I definitely remember that the bolts that hold the input shaft flange to the tranny looked a little iffy so I replaced them. The new bolts I had were just maybe 1/8" longer that the originals but I figure that would work fine. When I got it all back together, the tranny was locked up! I messed with it a couple of days, tearing it apart and putting it back together, before I finally figured out that one of the slightly longer bolts was pressing against a gear in the front of the tranny, and locking it up in a manner similar to how a disc brake works. I can remember being stumped by that for days:duh:!

You will need a clutch alignment tool, which should readily available too.

The Standard 23c is a good reliable engine. The biggest complain is that they can be hard starting. Mine isn't unless the injectors lose their prime, then it is a bugger to start. So never run it out of diesel.