Heavy motor oil for an old tractor

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Howdy everyone in bitog land.

My 1950 Case Model "D.O." tractor is burning oil like Saddam Hussein leaving the oil fields of Kuwait. I ran it yesterday for about four hours pulling a six foot disc harrow and it burned a gallon of 15W40, (I stop every hour and add oil). If I could rebuild the motor, I would, but rings, pistons and sleeves are hard to find and when you do find them, they are very expensive, (new old stock which is getting harder and harder to come by). I noticed oil pressure yesterday is down to around 30 pounds so the bearings are getting a little on the tired side as well.

I've tried 20W50 as well as straight 40 and 50 weight, but she burns them just as fast. I cannot use an STP type additive to thicken the oil as the tractor has a wet clutch and this would make the clutch slip.

Does anyone know of a heavier oil I could use to at least slow the burning and increase oil pressure and if so, where would I buy this heavy oil?
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
People must be able to see where you are in the fields from the cloud of smoke.

I would say use Walmart 15W40. Or rebuild.


It's getting to the point that when I drive ole "Mighty 'D'", I'm afraid the fire department is going to show up looking for the fire.
 
If straight 50 weight won't slow down the oil burning, then it must be very worn out. I think some old motorcycles used straight 60 or 70 weight, but that is likely to be very expensive.

As others have said, you may need to live with it if a rebuild is out of the question.
 
Both Autozones I visited today have tons of clearance 20w-50. $2 quarts and $10 jugs of many varieties.
 
Have you tried STP, or are you just guessing it will mess with the clutch? Are you sure its bad rings/bore and not just gunked up rings?
 
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Originally Posted By: default
Have you tried STP, or are you just guessing it will mess with the clutch? Are you sure its bad rings/bore and not just gunked up rings?


99 percent sure the motor is simply worn out. Last year, I did everything known to man to clean the rings short of taking the motor apart. I did the MMO soak, Seafoam soak, I ran water through the carb. All of this I did repeatedly to no effect. I even made a water vacuum bottle that would draw a steady stream of mist into the intake at all times while the tractor was running. No effect on oil consumption.

While I really don't mind adding the oil, my greatest concern is that with burning this much oil, carbon will build up inside the combustion chamber to the point I will have to remove the head and if I can't find a head gasket, that might be the end of "Mighty 'D'" which would break my heart. She and I have been together since the day I was born.
 
It really is a testimony to how well this old tractor was built. I cannot remember my Dad ever rebuilding the motor on this tractor. He and I rebuilt the motor on the 1933 Model "C" when I was in High School and together, we rebuilt the motors on a couple of farm trucks, but in my memory, we've never had this one apart.

Last year, I had the valve cover off to adjust the valves and I was expecting a sludge build-up under the valve cover. Everything was black, but it was clean as a whistle inside with not a single spot of sludge. This old tractor has been run in all weathers in mud and sand and it has not been babied till the last few years when I got the "Luv" machine, (if the "Luv" machine would pull the disc, I would use it instead). I stopped using it to pull trees a number of years ago as the rear-end is chain driven and I'm afraid one of these chains might break due to age and metal fatigue - hence once again the reason for the "Luv" machine. If the "Luv" machine dies, I can get another beater farm vehicle, but I can't get another "Mighty 'D'".
 
85w140 Gear oil
shocked.gif


(just kidding - gear oil would probably be the nail in the coffin )
 
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Are you sure it shares engine oil with the transmission and clutch?
My buddy has a TEA-20 of similar vintage and it has separate engine and transmission oils.
I don't know if you want to put STP into it anyways. Probably just buying the cheapest 15W40 you can find by the pail is a good course of action until you can source some parts for it, maybe it just needs rings?
Also you could try to get used oil for free from a big user of heavy equipment? Let it settle out for a couple weeks and run it again. I ran some rotella T6 from my tractor in my Neon as the oil only had 50hrs on it. I just let it settle in a pail for a week and then pumped it out.
 
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Originally Posted By: 2004tdigls
this is CD rated

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products.php?id_categ=14&id_subcateg=69&id_products=77

it can be ordered here

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/northamerica_locator.php

but quite honestly, you need a new engine


40W70 - Wow - thanks for the link

Yes, a rebuild would be great - problem is, they stopped making parts for these tractors in 1980 and all that can be found now is new old stock which is very expensive. I so hate to say this, but it might be time for a different tractor.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Are you sure it shares engine oil with the transmission and clutch?
My buddy has a TEA-20 of similar vintage and it has separate engine and transmission oils.
I don't know if you want to put STP into it anyways. Probably just buying the cheapest 15W40 you can find by the pail is a good course of action until you can source some parts for it, maybe it just needs rings?
Also you could try to get used oil for free from a big user of heavy equipment? Let it settle out for a couple weeks and run it again. I ran some rotella T6 from my tractor in my Neon as the oil only had 50hrs on it. I just let it settle in a pail for a week and then pumped it out.


The transmission is a separate lube system, but the engine oil circulates through the clutch housing and back into the engine. It's an excellent set up as this is the original clutch in this tractor and since I've been driving it, we've only had to adjust it one time. Imagine a 60 year old car with the original clutch.
 
I’ve patched together a couple Case LA engines, parts were impossible to get in the early 1980s. I first had the existing pistons knurled, and had spacers installed in the ring grooves so as to make a tighter fit for the rings. As sleeves were not available for the LA, I used s ball type hone and put a good crosshatch into the existing sleeves. You would probably want to have the head rebuilt at the same time. This doesn’t make for a long term super durable engine, but it goes a long ways towards resolving the oil consumption issues. The cost of this type of repair isn’t that high if you do the labor yourself. The trick would be to find a machine shop that will do this type of work.
 
I'd find the cheapest 20w50 possible. That engine must burn a TON of oil.

I remember my Uncle had an old Ford tractor with a loader. That tractor burned so much oil he carried oil and spark plugs with him in the field. The rest of the tractor was extremely rusty so rebuilding the engine wasn't really worth it.
 
Is there such a thing as a tractor junkyard where you could pull an engine from a similar tractor that is in better condition?
 
Artificialist, the answer to the junk yard is yes. there is one in Lennon michigan. we got a ih motor of a dealer in north branch a decade ago, they are still doing business.

ken

to the oil i would run any cheap 20w50, 15w40, 30/40/50/60wt oil.
 
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