I have recently inherited (sorta) the tractor that I grew up with, and learned how to drive on.

It's a 1940 ish (?) WD-45 Allis-Chalmers Gas tractor. The tractor was bought very used ~20 years ago, and has had a very hard life on my fathers farm.

About 3 months ago the trusty WD-45 pulled its last Kilbros gravity wagon (loaded) into the shed, and has now been retired to the tree line.

I want to restore this tractor, but at the current time, I do not have the means to move it or repair it.

As I had suspected, the headgasket had blown, proven by the excessive amount of milky white oil, and the absence of anti-freeze.

To the point:

I'm toying around with the idea of draining out that milky garbage, and filling it to the brim with used oil from my 7.3L PSD. Can anyone see any value in doing this?

Or should I just leave it be?

 

I'd do what you said. The stuff that's in there will corrode the engine. Drain oil will be better and have a lot less moisture in it.

 

why would you put used diesel oil that has tons of soot in the crankcase of the tractor engine i would just drain both fluids and add clean oil but leave out the coolant

 

Consider this, drain the antifreeze and get the block dry as good as you can. Get several qts of Walmarts cheapy and put that in the engine. It would be to your advantage to get the old girl running long enough to circulate the oil or pull her with the engine turning over to circulate the oil. I would turn the engine for several minutes. Your diesel oil will have some sulphuric acid in the form of combustion residue which won't be good for the old engine.

 

I should clarify that the motor is awful near seizing, and that I'm not really wild about trying to fire it up once more. Upon it's death there was a whole lotta bangin' goin' on! I'm pretty sure one of the cylinders is close to hydro lock.

The only reason I was considering the used oil out of my truck was because I rarely run the stuff out past 4K mi, and a good portion of those miles are all highway. The other reason is because funds are a bit tight, and this would be a cheap alternative.

I guess I could drain the block and the oil, pull the plugs and suck out what ever may be in the cylinders, and then fill all the holes up with oil or diesel fuel. Then I guess I could fill the crank as full as possible with cheapy oil.

Parts for this tractor are becoming ever difficult to find, so I don't want to risk any more than I have to, as I really want to restore this tractor to factory line quality.

 

supa, I have a WD45 and they are nice old tractors. Since yours is close to mechanical failure, I would be curious to know which oil filter it has been using. A new style filter was introduced that increased filtration greatly. But because old AC tractors used a bypass filtration system, this resulted in a significant decrease in lubrication. AGCO which owns the old AC line, supposedly recalled the new style filters. But they are still sold by WIX/Dana/NAPA.

Here is a link that documents the problem with the new style filter: http://www.oktractor.com/filter/
I have witnessed the difference between the two style filters first hand. I found the Fram C159 filter to be of the old style and that's what I use on my tractor.

BTW, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is a good aftermarket for new repair parts for these old tractors. oktractor and tonystractors are two online suppliers. I have done business with tonystractors, but both have a very good reputation.

One of the best resources for AC tractors is Unofficial Allis. Both of the suppliers I linked to are paying supporters of the site. You can get just about any information you need about AC tractors on the discussion page.

Also there is a ser# reference link you can use to date your tractor. WD45 production began in 1953.

 

I wouldnt run that engine any more if there was a lot of knocking and banging going on, plus its got a blown headgasket. Its time for a rebuild, running it anymore is almost sealing the fate of the motor, if it throws a rod or worse it will cause massive damage, such as a cracked/broken block, destroyed valves, destroyed head, destryed piston and rod, and proably a already worn crank damaged beyond anything a crank grind will help. You rebuild it know, and you can salvage a lot of parts.

Why risk it? Its almost certain it will self destruct next time its run. Beleive me, its not pretty when an engine explodes.

 

FE, My exact thoughts.

The reason that I was considering dumping in the used 15w40 Delo out of my truck, I just figured that it had to be better than whats currently in it.

I was planning on filling the motor untill it literally will not take any more in efforts to keep the corrosion to a minimum untill I get the facilities to rebuild it. This may be a good year or more down the road.

Horsepuller, This old WD-45 sure has some history behind it on our farm, and has logged an easy 500 hrs a year for the 20 years that we've owned it. It is with out a doubt the most durable and reliable tractor that was ever made in my opinion.

The most major repair I ever performed was 3 starters, a new Zenith Carb, and a set off plugs and wires, and one coil. Every thing is original and all the serial numbers match up.

I cant remember the exact number of filter, but we used the old style Purolator on this tractor with nothing but el-cheapo 30wt. The failure of the motor was not due to oiling issues, but due to my Father's bright idea of welding the fan belt pulley to the crank about 5 years ago. . The weld got too hot and created a front main leak and possibly damaged the bearing.

The tractor is so well used, that steering column shaft has worn out the bushing out at the seat end and has worn an additional 3/8'' into the metal socket.

 

Well then for corrision prevention I would say just dump the old stuff in, itll do fine. The welding on the crank has me reall worried, there could be damage to the journal, main saddle and bearing. Its possible youll need a new block if the main saddle is damaged.

 

Yeah, I said that to my Father at the time.

I do know at the very least it needs a crank and a flywheel!

 

Live and Learn!

 

I have not thought about our ol' WD-45 in 40 years. We had many brands of tractors but this was the first we had with live PTO. You could run a shreader or bush hog and stop when you wanted. I pulled the crank to start it many times. Great tractor.