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What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 8:40 pm
by burn_your_money
Ok, I am working on my neighbour's tractor. The issue is coolant in the oil. We were hilling potatoes and then she started to get real smokey. I kind of figured it was gas in the oil. Well when I went to drain the oil coolant came out first so I realized I was in for more than I bargained on. Anyways, the shroud says Super A, the plate under the seat on the left rail says FAA and the SN is 270690 and the engine is stamped FAAM 271115. I've included a picture of my gas tank because I understand that helps with identifying things.

I'm trying to find a manual for this tractor, and also am needing to know what parts to order. So far I'm in an oil pan gasket, head gasket and valve cover gasket at the least.

Any help is appreciated. I've included some pictures (click for full res) if that helps any.


Image Image Image Image Image

Re: What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:35 pm
by Jim Becker
You are working on a Super A. It is a wet sleeve engine. Each cylinder has an o-ring at the lower end of the sleeve. Coolant getting into the oil usually gets past either the head gasket or one of the sleeve o-rings.

If you have the head off, you may be able to inspect the gasket and find signs of a a failure. You may also be able to clean all the coolant from the lower end, carefully refill the water jacket of the block close to the top and watch for evidence of any new leakage at the outside of a sleeve.

Re: What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:46 pm
by burn_your_money
Thank you Jim.

I still have the head on. I'm going to try putting 10 PSI in the coolant and see if I can see where it comes out. I think the issue is that the last oil change this engine was given detergent oil and it's freed up some issues that have been nicely hidden away for some time.

Are any of the rod, main, or head bolts TTY one time use or can they all be reused?

What is the procedure for removing the valve train? It looks like it is held on with 3 bolts (and I read the centre one is hallow for an oil feed). What will I set the valve lash at?

This engine does not have a water pump correct?

Is there anything else I should do while I'm this far into the engine?

When I called in to CaseIH looking for a headgasket I was given the option between a 3 and a 3 1/8. Neither of us knew what that was about. I went with the 3 assuming that it was the bore, which I roughly measured at 3".

Sorry for all the questions. Hopefully I'll be able to answer a bunch of them on my own with search now that I at least know what I'm working on.

Re: What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 10:17 pm
by Jim Becker
Fasteners can all be reused if in good condition.

Valve train comes off with 3 nuts. Be gentle with the hollow stud when reinstalling, it easily twists off. Valve gap is .014 hot. Details are in the Owner's Manual. Look here:
http://www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Super%20A%20-%20Super%20AV/Super%20A%20-%20Super%20AV%20Owner's%20Manual/Super%20A%20-%20Super%20AV%20Owner's%20Manual.htm

Engine did not come with a water pump. If one has been added, the fan belt will go around 3 pulleys rather than 2.

I wouldn't look for other things to fix if the obvious looks OK.

Original bore was 3", replacement piston/sleeve sets are available at 3 1/8. You won't know until/unless you open it up. There are also different gaskets for engines with a water pump. Look at the pictures in this old YT thread. In fact, the whole thread is on the same problem you have, read through it.
http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=528060
Non-water pump gaskets have a bell shaped hole next to each cylinder. The water pump version has a smaller round hole in each of those locations.

Re: What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:05 am
by Denny Clayton
In addition to the link above in Jim's post for the owners manual, here is a link to a parts manual. Go near the bottom of the page and click on Super A manuals and follow it to the parts manual.

http://www.farmallcub.com/[ Sorry, direct links to manual section is not allowed. ]/index.php

Re: What tractor am I working on? A, M, Super A?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:10 pm
by burn_your_money
Ok so I've made some more progress on the tractor. I confirmed that it was just the headgasket that was leaking so I proceeded to pull the head. To me it looks like whoever did this last time used too large of a headgasket but I haven't matched it up to the new one yet. I took a picture to show y'all since you guys actually know what you are looking at. You can click on it for full res.

Image

Cylinder 2 was the trouble cylinder

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I'm planning on cleaning up the head and block surface with a wire wheel. This should be safe given they are both steel correct? Any recommendations on what to coat the headgasket with? I was thinking of using Hylomar.