Hi,
First let me start off by saying I am by far NOT an expert on John Deere tractors, or for that matter, anything mechanical. I can fix things if I have clear instructions and everything goes according to plan. That being said, I have a 1938 John Deere 'D' that my dad re-built in the early 1980's that had lost it's spark. I had the magneto gone through by a friend of my wife's Great Uncle, both of whom donate their time to a local antique machinery museum. While we were putting it on today and trying to get it set right, my wife's uncle said that there was no compression on the flywheel side of the engine, as there was no hissing of the petcock as we turned the flywheel, nor could we feel any suction or air pushing out as the piston moved. It's just basically "dead". The other side seemed to operate as it should and you could both hear and feel the compression as the air moved through the petcock. No question the pulley side of the engine has compression.
My question is if anyone knows of a way we could try to free the stuck valve without having to pull the head off of the engine?
A little background on the tractor:
Like I said, my dad re-built it in the early 1980's, with the help of our neighbor, who started working for John Deere as a mechanic in 1939, and was still working for them at the time of the re-build. Now, we could very seldom start the tractor by hand, but we could pull it a few feet and it would pop right off and run like a charm. Dad never finished the paint on the old girl, so it never got started alot, but we would usually get it going a couple of times a year. After he passed away in 2008, I continued to start it once a year, but it seemed to run a little more roughly each year, until a few years ago when it wouldn't start at all. The gas tank had some rust and crud in it, so I ended up taking that off and cleaning it out, and putting a carb kit in it. This summer I finally got it together, but there was no spark. That brings us to where we are now. We put the magneto on today, and we have spark, but like I said, no compression in the flywheel side cylinder. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated as I would really like to finish what my dad started. Thanks.
First let me start off by saying I am by far NOT an expert on John Deere tractors, or for that matter, anything mechanical. I can fix things if I have clear instructions and everything goes according to plan. That being said, I have a 1938 John Deere 'D' that my dad re-built in the early 1980's that had lost it's spark. I had the magneto gone through by a friend of my wife's Great Uncle, both of whom donate their time to a local antique machinery museum. While we were putting it on today and trying to get it set right, my wife's uncle said that there was no compression on the flywheel side of the engine, as there was no hissing of the petcock as we turned the flywheel, nor could we feel any suction or air pushing out as the piston moved. It's just basically "dead". The other side seemed to operate as it should and you could both hear and feel the compression as the air moved through the petcock. No question the pulley side of the engine has compression.
My question is if anyone knows of a way we could try to free the stuck valve without having to pull the head off of the engine?
A little background on the tractor:
Like I said, my dad re-built it in the early 1980's, with the help of our neighbor, who started working for John Deere as a mechanic in 1939, and was still working for them at the time of the re-build. Now, we could very seldom start the tractor by hand, but we could pull it a few feet and it would pop right off and run like a charm. Dad never finished the paint on the old girl, so it never got started alot, but we would usually get it going a couple of times a year. After he passed away in 2008, I continued to start it once a year, but it seemed to run a little more roughly each year, until a few years ago when it wouldn't start at all. The gas tank had some rust and crud in it, so I ended up taking that off and cleaning it out, and putting a carb kit in it. This summer I finally got it together, but there was no spark. That brings us to where we are now. We put the magneto on today, and we have spark, but like I said, no compression in the flywheel side cylinder. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated as I would really like to finish what my dad started. Thanks.