Rebuilding Farmall M Engine, Bolt Questions

I tore this M engine apart years ago and it's been on the back burner for several years now. Fast forward to yesterday I was getting the new pistons in and tightening down the rod caps and thought to myself, normally there is some sort of sheet metal tab you bend over to keep the rod bolts from backing out. I couldn't find any though. I used red loctite and torqued them down but the more I think about it, should I have those sheet metal tabs in here or am I good to go? Also when wiring my main bolt I'm not proficient in if there is an exact way to wire them. Does what I did look ok? Sorry for so many questions and thanks in advance for any help.

You should route the wire as to pull/turn the bolt to tighten, you have the pull to loosen, make
sense?

The locktite will be just fine. The wire is to be used exactly the opposite of your attempt.
Wrapping Wire

(quoted from post at 07:12:25 03/16/16) The locktite will be just fine. The wire is to be used exactly the opposite of your attempt.
Wrapping Wire

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Thanks for the info. That wire diagram is perfect. I will be redoing this. Glad I waited to do the other 2 mains. Thanks guys.

Did the original build of this come with the sheet metal tabs on the rods cap bolts? Just curious. After reading it sounds like red loctite is good to 500F. I don't think my oil will ever get that hot.

Yes, the rods had the tabs, the mains the wire. The wire wasnt much better than what you have there, and no where near as good as the
link Jim provided. I havent used the wire or the tabs in 95% of the letter series engines Ive built, just LocTite. I did have a couple I
reused the tabs and wire on, because the owner wanted them reused/replaced.

(quoted from post at 07:51:52 03/16/16) Yes, the rods had the tabs, the mains the wire. The wire wasnt much better than what you have there, and no where near as good as the
link Jim provided. I havent used the wire or the tabs in 95% of the letter series engines Ive built, just LocTite. I did have a couple I
reused the tabs and wire on, because the owner wanted them reused/replaced.

Click to expand...

ok great info once again. Thanks guys. I'll be back when I have more brain busters. lol

You did a good job with the wire the bolt cannot fall out and just what would make it come loose or are there gremlins in the engine with a wrench to take bolts out so the engine would fail. So far I have never seen any evidence of a gremlin that would hide in there to cause a problem. Maybe where you live they are still around do they live in the oil to survive. Just wondering.

As for myself the tie wire is ok BUT you have to lace it to pull and make it tight . Now as for the Loc tite i would have not used it . If your Torque wrench is of good quality and is up to date on being checked all bolt holes and threads chased there is no need for it . If you have a fastener that will not thread in with your fingers then your torque will be wrong and not bind the head to the mating part and this will allow movement over time and thus allow the part to come loose over time. Having a good set of BOTTOMING taps and a good se of thread chasers or die's is something you should have in your tool box . Call me fussy but i chase all bolts and nuts and holes , yes it is time consuming but i don't like stuff falling apart . Use of RED loc tite can cause problems if you have to take something apart and not know it has been used . One can end up twisting off a bolt due to the holding power of the red .

Back in the late 60's i bought a new 806, my cousin bought a new 706 with the German diesel, there were both good tractors, but one noon hour my cousin changed, oil went in for diner, came out before he put the plug in, he put his finger in the hole, not knowing why he did it, but there was a bolt laying in there.It looked like a rod bolt, He took the pan off, and it was a rod bolt, had a 3500 hours on it, so they do come out, But talk about luck!

Yep bolts do fall out when they are not put in tight . when things are mass produced any number of things could happen , the air wrench that tightened up that rod bolt may have had a problem maybe the threads in that rod were bad and the bolt did not bind to the cap and after hours of rattling around in there it wored the threads enough to fall out , Bolt might have stretched just enough to come loose . Same way with head bolts more then once i have seen head bolt loose that no wrench was needed to remove . Maybe the guy that put that bolt in had a bad head due to a hyd. lunch or the shift change and he had hot plans and not thinking about what he was doing at the time . People make mistakes . Just like setting valves , hey i have messed up and missed a rocker arm while doing valves if someone is standing there yacking . So now i mark each valve i set with a yellow crayon then i know it is done same with head bolts plus i go over each bolt three times after i have them down and mark each when done on the third pass. Now knock on wood i have never had a rod bolt come out yet , had a few rods break while flying around at speeds that were not meant to be turned but the bolts were still in place, had a few cranks break and make new inspection holes in the blocks and the rod bolts were still in what was left of the rods. I have seen rod bolts break and left the threaded part still in the rod. So IHOP if you do your job correctly and your torque wrench does it's job then the bolt will not fall out , it may break the rod may fail , the bearing may fail . today you don't see any safety wire in car engines or tractor engines or any of the engines i work on . About the only place ya see safety wire is on aircraft . Sun's up and shining and i have to go put a ah well don't let this get out a two cylinder John Deere engine back together that he took apart FIVE years ago and does not know how to put it back together , so i have a JIGSAW puzzle to work on as we are now finding that OH we are missing pieces and PARTS SOOOOOOoooooo it is will this fit here or does this go over here .

what gave you the idea to use red locktite? your pickup truck has nothing but the proper torque to keep it's rod bolts from falling out. like the tractor vet alluded to, I'd hate to be the next guy to overhaul it. I haven't used those locking tabs for years.

Case IH can still get the washers that go under
those bolts and get bent up. I bought some about
five years ago when I rebuilt an M. They were proud
of them - I want to say I paid $2 a piece or some
stupid amount.

I would agree, check the wire and a properly torqued bolt should not need a locking tab.