1938 John Deere B

dinselm95 · May 23, 2015

Bought my first green tractor last weekend. I'm a farm all guy so I don't know the first thing about them but I always wanted to learn.
Anyway I need some help.
First. The tractor had some engine work done and was recently put back together. I found some water in the crank case so I tightened the head bolts. Could that have been the problem?

Second. I've timed it a couple times just to be sure it right but what exactly is the RIGHT way to do it just so I know

And last. Which piston is supposed to fire at LH impulse?

Thanks!
And If there's anything else I need to know about these old unstyleds please let me know!

msteinblock · May 23, 2015

LH impulse would be left hand cylinder, flywheel side.

dinselm95 · May 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 08:29:43 05/23/15)
LH impulse would be left hand cylinder, flywheel side.

Okay thanks. It seems like it's not getting any gas either. What's my problem there

msteinblock · May 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 09:16:29 05/23/15)

(quoted from post at 08:29:43 05/23/15)
LH impulse would be left hand cylinder, flywheel side.

Click to expand...

Okay thanks. It seems like it's not getting any gas either. What's my problem there

How far do you have fuel? Does fuel come out of the bottom of the carb "wing nut"?

dinselm95 · May 23, 2015

msteinblock · May 23, 2015

hmm, well that was the easy part. Ya gotta start there though right.

more often than not when i don't have fuel, I find the issue before the carb. I'm not sure where to tell you now. Maybe in the carb? Choking and no wet plugs?

dinselm95 · May 23, 2015

I choke it every time and no wet plugs. That's when I realized...something ain't right

bigboreG · May 23, 2015

Sometimes the water can come from the push rod tubes. I hope yours are good. . .

Lon in NE · May 23, 2015

OK, first a question. Does it have antifreeze in it? If it does and it was water in the oil, it's not a head gasket or push tube leak. Old tractors do condense water vapor into liquid water. One of the things I do every spring is to loosen the oil drain plugs on the engine and transmission to drain any water that might have collected.

To time it, loosen the magneto, and tip it as far to the front of the tractor as possible, take both plugs out and turn it over, holding your finger over the plug hole by the flywheel. When that comes up to the compression stroke, the mark that says "LH Impulse" on the flywheel should be at the 3:00 position. With the engine setting in that position, go to the mag and SLOWLY turn it towards the back. Stop as soon as the impulse clicks and tighten the mag down. It should be in time. I'm assuming you have a WICO mag. If you have a Fairbanks-Morse, there are some more steps.

Mark-Ia · May 23, 2015

When trying to start your tractor, just open the throttle far enough so the arm on the carb just touches the spring.There is a line on the choke shaft that shows the position of the choke disk in the carb. Choke at 7/8 choke when trying to start, not full choke, they seem to start easier that way..

dinselm95 · May 23, 2015

Well found my gas problem. Old boy that had it before put the float In upside down. I had to laugh it's something I could see myself doing!
So I flipped it around and she popped a few times then died and now I can't get her started again.
I kept trying then she flooded. I let her sit then she just wouldn't start again. 😠

msteinblock · May 23, 2015

if flooded, put the choke off and throttle full open and start turning. I have one tractor that won't start until it is flooded... It's amazing how each tractor had its own personality. Each one likes to start differently, drives differently, etc. I am still trying to get "aquatinted" with a hand start unstyled D, talk about painful patience.

gtx1967jewison · May 25, 2015

If you did not use a torque wrench on the head bolts
you've likely destroyed the block & the studs ! You
can't just tighten them, there's a procedure & it
requires a torque wrench. Those blocks are very
prone to cracking with the wrong torque

thdrduck · May 25, 2015

My 39 needs full choke for 1 spin of the wheel at slow idle, then choke off and off she goes. Sometimes if I'm ready for it I can get the choke off in time on the first spin and she will take off. More then fast idle and you can spin her all day and never get it started.
GTX... that was kinda mean. If it was against the law to tighten head bolts without a t-wrench, most of us would be in jail. Just sayin.

dinselm95 · May 25, 2015

Yes. I did use a torque wrench.
And I got her runnin. Then she died and I could figure out why since I had just put about a half gallon of gas in it. Then come to find out. That half gallon ended up in the crank case.
Now what?!😤

FrankDDavis · May 25, 2015

If you got gas in the crankcase you have a problem with the carb float.
Frank

1938 John Deere B

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