Waking up the ol' Cub

[Willy]

Just make sure you use lots of hydraulic fluid as lube when you reassemble.

Yep. That was something else I was thinking. I really don't remember soaking that o-ring again before final assembly. Everything else definitely got a hydraulic oil bath though.

[Willy]

Took the pump back apart, drowned all the bits in hydraulic oil and after a little "cheating", got it all back together and mounted on the Cub.

The cheating was me breaking out the dremel with a fine stone on it and putting a tiny bevel (about 1/64" give or take a hair) on the 1/2" part of the shaft where the o-ring slides on to it. That gave it a better start on getting on there instead of trying to get over that sharp edge that was there. Instead of me fighting with it, It just popped right on there this time around. Those quad rings seem to be a little harder to get started like that. Hopefully with two "lips" riding in slightly different spots on the shaft it'll seal better. The old o-ring definitely was wore a bit flat on the inner diameter.

[Willy]

The Big Boss came down to the shop to supervise this afternoon.



I changed the oil and filter because of the hydraulic oil contamination along with priming the oil pump.

Then I drained out the rest of the old hydraulic oil out of the touch control unit and put about a quart and a half of new oil in it. That should take care of that until I can get the air out of the system and the lift in the lowered position to recheck and add as necessary.

[Willy]

Well, I got it back together this afternoon in an attempt to start it. After fixing a self inflicted gas leak from the fuel bowl, I made sure it was in neutral, pulled the choke out, turned the ignition on and hit the starter. A couple of turns of the starter, it hit 2 or 3 times, then the bendix kicked out. Hit it again and it just turned the engine over with nothing else. Then, I smelled gas. Looked under the tank, no leak there. Then I looked at the carb and it was dripping out the carb air inlet. Pushed the choke back in and tried it a few more times with nothing else. Then that shady battery started packing it in, so I turned it all back off and put the charger on the battery, while I took care of a few other things.

A bit later, the battery was charged back up, so I tried to start it again. I was watching the carb this time and as soon as the engine started spinning, gas came leaking out again. I see the purchase of a carb kit in my very near future and probably a new battery that will turn it over for more than just a few seconds. But since it did hit a few times and tried to start, I'm happy with that for now.

[Don McCombs]

Buy the battery first. Since the carb is an updraft type, gas coming back down on a no-start situation is normal.

[Willy]

Thanks Don. But should it just keep dripping out of the carb for 10 to 15 minutes? (I've got the air cleaner tube off for now until I get it running)

I've got my doubts that I'm getting the top screws tight enough as the heads are pretty boogered up (technical term). I've got the carb back apart now and trying to locate a kit for it at NAPA. They want the number stamped on the carb and mine just doesn't have one. I looked at the manual and I know where it's supposed to be, it's just not there on the top of the carb next to the fuel inlet (or anywhere else I can see). I'm going to bring him the IH part number for the replacement carb listed in the parts manual along with the carb and we'll see what we can do.

As for replacing the battery, I'm pricing them now.

[Crimson Tim]

But should it just keep dripping out of the carb for 10 to 15 minutes?

No.
Check float adjustment, float itself (does it leak? Is there fluid inside it?) and the needle valve and seat if it just keeps leaking like that.

[Willy]

I took it apart and reset the float adjustment. And when bolting it back on the manifold, proceeded to strip the bolt threads with little effort. I went to NAPA and got a helicoil kit, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow.

If it aint one thing, it's another.

[Willy]

It's been a few days. I've got the carb back on it and a new battery as well. I haven't really had time to put much effort into trying to start it as it seems like I've hit one of those everything needs to be done around here spells that happen every few weeks. Right now it's a full on leaf mulching effort.

I got a 52" blade for an ATV yesterday that I'm going to adapt to use on the Cub. I caught it on a Black Friday sale online for $80 and figure that worst case, I'll put it on the wife's ATV. First though, I've got to get the ol' Cub started up.

[Willy]

Tried starting the Cub with the new battery and a short squirt of starter fluid and still no joy. So, it's time to get serious on it.

Next time I get a chance to work on it, the hood's coming back off and I'm going to start at the beginning and run a compression test on the cylinders and check for spark at the plugs. Something that I should have done at the beginning as I had assumed that since it had sat from '03 to '12, then started up and ran okay, it would be fine this time. We all know how assumptions work out. In my defense, I didn't have access to a compression tester until I picked one up at Harbor Freight yesterday evening.

Wish me luck, I'm going in....

[Willy]

And I've carried my 1979 vintage Motors manual that my Dad gave me back then for Christmas out to the shop. There's a tractor section in it.

I'm no longer asking it to play nice.

[Willy]

One thing I've forgot to mention is that during the first attempt to start it, the lift went into the down position on it's own. Now I can fill the Touch Control unit (after I get it started).

[Willy]

Ran a compression test a bit ago.

Dry Wet
#1 45 60
#2 60 80
#3 50 70
#4 50 60

And while turning the engine over I put my hand over the exhaust pipe and could feeling it sucking and blowing which told me I've got some stuck valves. And with the compression going up after adding oil to get the wet readings, I suspect some stuck rings as well.

I sprayed a bunch of Kroil into the cylinders and over on the valves and after about 20 mins, followed that up with a good dose of Marvel Mystery Oil to sit overnight and we'll see how it does in the morning.

I'm fairly certain that it can't be too rusted up as since the '02 rebuild it's either been parked in the barn or the shop and not out in the weather.

[Willy]

Peeking through the spark plug holes, I can see the valves moving now. Unfortunately, I've got a lot of non-Farmall stuff going on now and it's probably going to be a few days before I can get back to it.

And I think my start switch is having some contact issues and it's not wanting to work every time and sometimes I have to pull the heck out of it for the starter to work. I've taken old Delco solenoids apart and cleaned up the contact surfaces to get them back up to snuff. Wonder if I can do the same with a Cub switch? I'd much rather refurbish an original part than just replace it.

[Slim140]

You can take the 2 screws out and remove the switch off the starter and clean it. There's not a lot going on in that switch, it's pretty simple but should help if cleaned.