Farmall H Engine Knock Found, But It's Not What I Thought - Farmall "Preparation H" Project Part 45

To those commenting to use Green Loctite Sleeve Compound, you've clearly never had to try and take apart an engine that has dry sleeves and sleeve retainer compound. The next poor sap trying to do an overhaul who doesn't know the history almost always ends up ruining the block. I've seen it numerous times in the machine shop. The only ones that were saved were the ones where people gave up and we bored out the sleeves in our boring bar. Tens of thousands of Perkins and Waukesha diesels were built with slip fit dry sleeves. All 71 series Detroit's were built with slip fit sleeves, the only thing that holds them in is the head gasket and Cylinder head. Assuredly, new sleeves and pistons will be of lower quality than you have now. All this points to inspecting the counterbore as best you can for damage, inspecting the liner flange for damage, check protrusion, bolt it together with a new gasket and it'll outlive ALL OF US.

First thing you need to do is separate the H from Christine, its running with the wrong crowd.

Oh dear, making Christine look like a real sweetheart. at least you know what the problem is. Don't forget to apologize to the machine shop for doubting their work on the head.

I think you got the best plan. If everything checks out re-assemble it with the good Fel-Pro head gasket. I never would have guessed the sleeve was moving up and down. A person would assume the new gasket would be good quality.

Head gasket and run it…. After checking and cleaning of course….. thanks for sharing. You are correct on parts for the old stuff for sure.

Your instincts are right on. Do the complete inspection and if there’s no damage, use the correct gasket and bolt her back together. She will be fine and last another 30 years.

Youza..😳 I didn't see this coming.. Thinking back to what i remember in the IH manual in the section about installing the sleeves, IIRC doesn't it say the sleeves should should slide into the block with little to no effort and if they are more of a press fit you are to freeze the sleeve to aid installation. If the sleeve isn't damaged in any way, I'd probably clean everything up and put it back together with the correct head gasket and run it. Especially seeing that this is more of a parade queen that exercises a couple times a year. Versus a work it's guts out everyday king of the farm... Great video and glad you found the issue!

My dad had an H with the same problem loose sleeve problem. He ran it for years and it still worked.

The good news is that it makes for more very interesting content. Good thing the sleeve was loose enough to lift up by rotating the engine. Saved some time tracking down the issue. Lots of good suggestions in the comments. Looking forward to seeing which direction you choose to move forward with this.

If liner height is good I would reassemble. Being in this business for 40 years I just don't trust the parts anymore. Very poor quality. I really thought it was the valve seat. Good call.

I don’t see what you have to lose by changing the gasket and running it. If it’s good you’re done, if not then you rebuild it. Aloha from Hawaii

Bolt the new gasket on and move to the next project. If the sleeve starts moving in a few years you know what the problem is. In the meantime start scouring the swap meets for new good branded sleeves and pistons. I bet the sleeve grows into place on its own and it never comes apart again.

Thanks again for the update Toby! Wow! That was an unexpected clarification on what the cause of the knock was. Well knowing that you gave a good new head gasket, not a ton of hours on the rebuild and if everything checks out I’d put the new head gasket on and see if it goes away. Not sure what you could do to hold the sleeve in. Who knows if you’d have the same issue with a new sleeve and piston to. Just my 2 cents. Can’t wait for the next video!

Holy Crap, The good old "process of elimination". I do not think anybody could have diagnose that any better than you did. And I agree with you even the name brand parts are starting to be crap. Great Work

I ran into a similar situation where the block had loose counter bores and was declared "junk" as the custom oversized sleeves would be too costly for a "proper" repair. So since they were dry fit sleeves, I chucked the sleeves that were loose up in the lathe, and put a very slight knurl on the OD at the top and bottom of the sleeves to give them just enough of an interference fit that you couldn't toss them from across the shop to install them. Strange how that "junk" block is still in service 20 years later with over 7,000 hours on it don't you think?

Thanks for the update. Would do a cleaning and inspection. If nothing out of the ordinary was found. Put the new gasket found from the flea market on. Back together. And run it. It’s your tractor and not someone else’s. It’s not going to be running on the road every day. You can watch it and see what else might happen. Glad at least you found the problem.

Great step by step analysis of the problem. I would go with the old stock because of known quality. Good luck.

My cousin had a 706 diesel with dry sleeves. The sleeves slid down in his motor after an overhaul the connecting rod hit the sleeve and destroyed it. He had to completely rebuild the engine again. As long as the sleeve is not cracked around the top I would not worry about it. The engine will never run long enough in our lifetime to ever give a problem.

Bearing and sleave lock-tite on the lower seat area and reassembly with a fel-pro head gasket if your protrussion checks good

Personally, I’d put liners in all four. And I’d definitely check the counter bores out for cracking like you already mentioned. I’d also re ring it while I was there. For piece of mind. I know it’s a pain chasing down issues on a completed project, but it’s very interesting, and we’re learning right along with you. I’m interested in what you find.