Farmall M coolant in oil

Alan Arvin

New User
I have coolant/antifreeze leaking into the oil pan/crankcase on my 51 M. All I have to do is remove the head bolt nuts and off comes the head - everything else has been removed. There are generally only 2 reasons I can think of that is making it leak - a bad head gasket or a cracked head. Before I commit to removing the head - is there anything else to check as to why it leaks besides these 2 reasons. I've replaced head gaskets on other brands of tractors before but not a Farmall. Thanks.
 
Cracked sleeves are another possibility though they are dry sleeves, they can leak into the tiny space between the sleeve and the native block if the block is cracked and just resleeved. Jim
 
I took the head off and there was a small amount of antifreeze on #3 piston/cylinder - the one I thought may have had the leak. The head gasket, block, head, didn't really have a positive indication of a leak but the coolant gave it away. I will check the sleeves for cracks, etc. to be sure. Thanks Janicholson.
 
After cleaning the head, have it pressure checked, or magna fluxed to be as certain as possible it is not cracked. Jim
 
Why would u not pull the oil pan off first thing , throw a cardboard under it , go to sleep, then check it first thing in the morning for leaks on the floor.
 
When I was a kid I had a m that did same thing. Being just a kid I pulled head off and had head rebuilt ($450). With new head gasket same sht. Rustred is right should watch in oil pan first. I took tractor to consimen auction so never knew what it was. I have a 450 D I found a hair line crack between a lifter bore and water jacket. I was able to reach in with a long rod and jb weld and stopped it.
 
I would pull the oil pan off and with coolant full watch up in there around the sleeves and look for drips. you'll be able to tell if it's coming from inside or outside of the sleeve. Also, If you pull the head..DON'T re-install it without having it resurfaced.
 
I don?t know what your plan is for the head before reinstalling, but I would recommend having the head pressure checked. Just an additional peace of mind that the problem will be addressed before reassembly. As a side note, it is interesting that you are posting under two different user names.
 
If the parent bore behind the sleeve has a crack and some yaho uses some gorilla snot thinking he has solved the problem he has not if he just slapped in a new sleeve over the crack then new sleeve will also crack . Only fix is to bore the block and press in a heavy wall repair sleeve then bore to take the new replacement sleeve with the proper fit . With this old stuff NOTHING surprises me at what someone may have done . And everybody is and expert on how to fix .
 
I've done it correctly or not at all. I have seen (as you have) almost all the possible "this will work perfectly" repairs. The perfection was now mine to actually fix. Jim
 
How bad is it leaking? If the leak isn't too bad, I would try adding block sealer to the cooling system to see if that works. The sealer that I used worked with water and then replaced the water with coolant.
 

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