1958 420 John Deere, Oil filter advice needed

Dsmythe · Feb 22, 2018

Thank you all in advance for your help.
I have a 420, I am changing the oil for the first time. I drained the crankcase. The oil smelled of gasoline.
I just got the carb back on, I had it rebuilt by the good folks at YT and have not even hooked the gas line back up yet. This tractor has been sitting under a shed for over a year. We had a lot of health problems that limited my outside activities(Wife had 4 surgeries last year).
That being said, the oil seemed really thin also. I took off the filter case. There was no seal at the bottom of the case also there was no "lower sealing plate" under the filter. Is this completely needed? I have had no problems with leaks at the oil filter case at all. Please help, I am trying to get this tractor back on "The Road".
Thanks again Dsmythe

Mike M · Feb 22, 2018

You might have an old packing in the groove they get hard as a rock. I ground a special screwdriver to dig them out. I like to used a new packing at every filter change.
Without that lower plate the filter is usually not being supported good enough or sealing good enough to work.

jdfun320 · Feb 22, 2018

I have the bottom sealing plate ( M-88T ) free if you pay the mailing cost. Let me know if you want one. Thanks, Tom Ziegler 573 535 8952

Hayfarmer · Feb 22, 2018

fuel in oilk probably came from carb float leaking, if carb has been rebuilt hopefull new oil will be ok

Lee B · Feb 22, 2018

Always best to eliminate any chance of overnight gasoline corruption by always shutting off the fuel manually when leaving it for extended time. Carb float works fine for a few hours, but I suspect that extended time off causes the needle to get cocked in the bore as the float cools and a small leak then is impossible to prevent by any other means than shutting off the fuel supply. New needle and seat no help at all. Overnight it is moved sideways too.

Of course if you develop the habit of running the carb out of fuel at the end of the day like I do it then this gas in oil issue is also permanently shelved. And you get the benefit of not having gum develop on mixture needles as well which is the better reason to run them dry before putting them away.

Dsmythe · Feb 22, 2018

jdfun320;
Thank you, that is a very generous offer. The filter that was in the tractor was a John Deere filter, it was cardboard top and bottom. I bought 2 new filters when I bought the new orchard muffler. They both have a metal top and bottom. Will these be strong enough by them selves to support the elements?
Thank you all again for your help.
Dsmythe

M-MAN · Feb 22, 2018

Yes you need that plate. Yes it will work without it but you're cutting down on the amount of oil that's being filtered and it doesn't filter much to start with. If the carb was rebuilt properly there will be a new sintered brass plug in the bottom that will prevent it from happening again.

buickanddeere · Feb 23, 2018

. Check how much of the oil filter spring and washer set is missing. Usually the flat washer gets tossed with the first filter . Then the rest of the replacement filters for the remainder of the tractor’s life . They just sit there with the oil bypassing them.

1958 420 John Deere, Oil filter advice needed

Dsmythe

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Mike M

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jdfun320

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Hayfarmer

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Lee B

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Dsmythe

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M-MAN

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buickanddeere

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