International 240

I've got another question about my 1960 IH 240. checked out the tranny fluid and it was a little milky. Guy i bought it from said old internationals are known to take on some water now and then, although my dad always drove them growing up and doesn't remember having that problem. Has anyone else heard this? or had this issue? also when i flush it out what do you suppose works best to get all the water out? when i fill it for good should i use 90 weight? the owners manual says all kinds of different weight oils to use and i'd like to use whatever is best. Thanks again guys.

Yep, had lots of water in my old H, 10 years older than your tractor. Sitting outside makes it worse. I drained everything, and I lifted off the tranny cover, and scraped out all the solids, dust, collected debris in the bottom. Had quite a bit. I think a heat gun [Walmart, ladies hair department, cheapest hair dryer you can buy, about $10] would help soften everything up and drain better.

Everything is known to get moisture in the cast iron housings periodically due to condensation. normally it evaporates soon when the machine is working and heat is generated. If it doesn't work hard enough for long enough the moisture will mix with the oil and make it milky. Every time that this crazy weather brings moist warm air following cold, all of my housings have "sweat" on them and I know that it is inside too, as they are all vented. So yes change your oil but expect it to become milky again, unless you develop a workout regimen for it.

Had this problem in my 350utility drained the thing out let it set
overnight dripping. Next step was taking my garden sprayer
with diesel in it set the tip to a wide spray and blew about 2
gallons into every place I could reach through the filler hole I let
all this nasty drain while I was doing it. I next filled it with gear
oil and ran it on the 5 ft bush hog oil has just a slight
discoloration to it now.

The big difference between your tractor and your Dads is the usage. I bet that your Dad's =tractors was used a lot more than you do yours.

Like others have posted just about all open vented transmissions will get contestation inside of them. When these tractors where being seriously used they usually would get warmed up enough to evaporate the water out of the oil. Now that many of these tractors are doing very light duty they never get warm enough to evaporate the moisture out of the oil.

The only thing I have noticed is that some tractors seem to collect water more than others. I have thought it might be because some tractors warm the oil up faster than others.

An example of this is the JD utility tractors after the 10 series. They rarely have condensation issues. They also have a higher capacity hydraulic pump/system. So the hydraulic oil warms up pretty fast on them. This is actually an issue in the summer if your using them hard. I can remember using a JD 2640 plowing. The transmission case would get hot enough that it was uncomfortable to hold your legs against it.

So on your IH 240. change the oil and flush the case the best you can. Then try to use it more or at least run it hard every now and then to warm the oil up.

Thanks a lot for all the information guys. i will be sure to drain it asap. and also work it hard at least once a week. (i guess that gives me a better excuse lol) any suggestions on what weight gear oil? I'm in new york outside of buffalo so its decently cold right now but the temperatures always changing. i was thinking 90 wt?

I'm near Erie pa not all that far from you I use 80/90 wt in my
300 u and 350 u I have no problems and run hytran in the
hydraulic system not sure what yours call for. They both pull
out fire wood and plow snow in winter things get warmed right
up plowing snow. I live just the right distance from the lake to
get swatted with snow when the wind blows the right direction