Case 400 Repairs

yaidunno

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Hi folks. I'm new to these parts, but have been around Case equipment since I was young. A brief introduction, I'm a mechanical designer by day and fabricator by night. Just got married this summer an most of my free time is spent taking care of our small hobby farm.

I recently acquired this 1955 model Case 401 tractor at an auction. Its not the prettiest machine but it should serve my needs well. There are a few issues with it that I will be working through and thought that I would document them here for viewing and discussion.

I will start by addressing the main issues that I've found.

1. Fuel starvation. Under load, the tractor spits and sputters and will eventually die if pushed. It fires right up, idles fine, and revs, so I'm of the opinion that the injectors and main pump are in working order. The fuel filters are dated form 1987, so they will be serviced and the lines cleaned. Unfortunately, the first filter from the tank seems to be unavailable, so I will be looking into retrofitting/making my own filter.

2. Eagle Hitch circuit is frozen. This was just a matter of freeing up a lightly stuck spool. Easy fix.

3.Significant leaking from hydraulic valve inputs and cover.
The shafts exhibited excessive wear and deformation. As seen in the photos, new shafts were made, saving the splined ends. I performed this same repair on my 1953 DC with great success. The other issue was the corner of the cover had been busted off at some point. I figured I'd give a go at fixing it before making a new plate. I'm glad it was able to be saved.

I'll keep this thread updated with fixes and repairs as I go along

-Bryan
 
(quoted from post at 09:03:33 09/27/17) first filter is a sintered bronze cleanable element. If any mold is present use acetone to soak it in

At one point in its life, the canister sat about half full with water and sediment. The filter that was in it was a corrugated brass core wrapped with a special brass wire. Where the wire was in the water, it completely eroded away. The brass body and the top hat are also badly damaged from some kind of blunt force.

There is a Purolator number on the filter mount, but the filter has long been discontinued, from my research.
 
That is a nice looking project. I like to see good machine work to bring the old tractors back to life. Thank you for posting and hopefully the forum can get you some good info.
 
Brian: Don't lose any sleep over the 1st stage filter, and as Darrell just pointed out, it is brass & was meant to be re-used. However, if for some reason it is missing, or not re-useable, simply consider that deep bowl to be a super sized sediment bowl. Water & anything heavy will sink, and if anything does get by, it will simply get trapped by the other 2 filters. Nothing will get by the final fuel filter. Beginning in the late 60's CASE went to just 2 fuel filters anyways.
 
(quoted from post at 11:05:49 09/27/17) Brian: Don't lose any sleep over the 1st stage filter, and as Darrell just pointed out, it is brass & was meant to be re-used. However, if for some reason it is missing, or not re-useable, simply consider that deep bowl to be a super sized sediment bowl. Water & anything heavy will sink, and if anything does get by, it will simply get trapped by the other 2 filters. Nothing will get by the final fuel filter. Beginning in the late 60's CASE went to just 2 fuel filters anyways.

Hi John

For the time being, I was planning on running as you suggested. My only concern with this is the low pressure pump would receive contaminated fuel. To be fair, it's been running like this for some time now. I have not taken that pump apart, so I don't know if its a plunger, gear, or diaphragm style. If its the latter, I would have no worries running unfiltered fuel through it.

Perhaps you could shed some light on the little side pump?

Thanks much,

-Bryan
 
Good fix on the cover, but the correct police will tell you that the hole you fixed was originally a counter sunk hole for a flat head machine screw. The third link gets close to that screw when attachment is lifted the whole way. If the link is installed the wrong way or not adjusted properly it will hit that corner. That is why it was broken.
 
Good fix on the cover, but the correct police will tell you that the hole you fixed was originally a counter sunk hole for a flat head machine screw. The third link gets close to that screw when attachment is lifted the whole way. If the link is installed the wrong way or not adjusted properly it will hit that corner. That is why it was broken.
 
Can you please share more information on how you made your shafts? Did you weld the splined part back on or silver solder them
together.
 
JHH,

Now that you mention it, I did notice just a bit of countersink in the remaining hole. I thought it was odd, perhaps a repair done at some point in its life. Your explanation makes perfect sense though. I will change it to a countersink when I put new O-rings in the right and left valve bodies. Thanks much for the heads up!

(quoted from post at 21:43:36 09/27/17) Can you please share more information on how you made your shafts? Did you weld the splined part back on or silver solder them
together.

Certainly. Not having the ability to reproduce the splines, the shafts were measured for length, and then the splines cut off. The small solid shaft was simple to repair. A piece of 1/2" TG&P was piloted into the stub spline shaft and welded up. After that, its spun in the lathe and polished. The hollow shaft was removed from the arm, measured, and cut. A new piece was spun in the lathe. I then used a small piece of the 1/2" TG&P for an internal guide to weld things up true. As with the first piece, it was spun in the lathe and polished.

I had a few minutes last night to complete the bushing repair on the hydraulic levers. There was about .030 wear on the shaft and a bit in the lever bore. It made for some very sloppy levers. The shaft was turned down to 11/16", and the levers were drilled and reamed to 13/16". Applicable size bushings were made on the lathe and pressed in place. There is now .001 clearance between the two pieces, and they run as smooth as butter with some fresh grease. Very pleased with how they work now.


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The first filter was a very fine wire mesh on the suction side of the low pressure fuel pump. Normally, it if is clogged (even with varnish) you will get fuel starvation symptoms such as you describe. If you run without it, you are allowing unfiltered fuel into the low pressure pump. I don't recommend that. The other two filters are on the pressure side and protect the injectors. If you look around enough, you might find a used filter somewhere that you can salvage.
 
The .001-.0015 is more than sufficient for lever operation. The grease grooves are still in place on the pin, so it has room to lubricate the entire bushing. The levers had 1/2+" of wiggle at the knob before the repair, and I'd estimate them to be at or under 1/32" now and silky smooth. I can't stand sloppy, worn out levers and pedals.

(quoted from post at 04:27:35 09/29/17) The first filter was a very fine wire mesh on the suction side of the low pressure fuel pump. Normally, it if is clogged (even with varnish) you will get fuel starvation symptoms such as you describe. If you run without it, you are allowing unfiltered fuel into the low pressure pump. I don't recommend that. The other two filters are on the pressure side and protect the injectors. If you look around enough, you might find a used filter somewhere that you can salvage.

Hi Larry, I completely agree, and don't like the thought of running contamination through the transfer pump. There is a dealer that states they have one NOS filter available online. I will give them a call today. If that's a no-go, I will look into making my own or retrofitting something of similar size in place..

Last night I got a chance to put on the new final filter and new front tire. I was a bit skeptical if it would solve my fuel delivery issue, but i'll be damned, the tractor runs great now. For good measure, I also cleaned the relief valve and tank vent the night before. Neither of those had any effect on its running condition, but I'm still happy I went through them.
 
Last night I completed the heavy duty PTO guard to move the top link bracket. I'll be shortening the link itself tonight and seeing how it works.


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Nice job on the pto guard. I'll toss out a couple of suggestions. You need the hole that is in your stamped steel guard on your replacement. This is how you get to the relief valve on the hydraulic pump to adjust it. With the hole you can get to it with out talking the guard off the tractor. You also need to replace the cast part that you have bolted to the guard with a steel look alike. The cast part is what breaks when it is used with heavy three point implements.

Eli
 

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