1948 model B oil change

Allot has been said about detergent vs. non-detergent in these old tractors. From everything I’ve read, John Deere had advised changing over to the detergent oil in the mid 50’s. I believe it would be better to change since a multi-weight oil may help with “cold starting”. This model recommends a 15 weight in the winter and a 40 weight in the summer. Of course, it’s a bit frightening to switch to a detergent oil considering the sludge that’s most likely built-up. This is what I did which seemed to work:
1. Ran the tractor about 5 minutes to warm the oil.
2. Placed a “5-minute” engine cleaner in the oil and ran it (5 minutes).
3. Drained the oil. When I first took out the drain plug, the oil would not run out do to a “sludge plug” which I cleaned out with my little finger.
4. Placed the drain plug and placed 6 qts of diesel fuel into the oil filler pipe.
5. Unplug the coil and turn the engine a couple of times. Wait a few minutes and turn the engine a couple more times.
6. Remove the oil plug and drain the diesel fuel.
7. Take out the oil filter (wrench size 1 ¼ inch). You may have to “tap” the oil cap a few times to get it to drop. The filter was caked with sludge as was the housing. I cleaned the filter cap, bolt and filter housing with diesel soaked rag.
8. Placed new filter (NAPA # 1242). Be sure to dig out the old gasket in the ring where the oil cap seats. A small flat-tip screwdriver worked well for me.
9. Replace the drain plug.
10. Place any “cheap” oil in the tractor. I got a 10W40 “cheap” oil from Walmart. Run this about 20-30 minutes.
11. Drain the oil once again and change the filter again.
12. Use a better “multi-weight” oil. I used Rotella 15W40.
13. I plan to run this oil for 1 year and change the oil & filter again.

You may want to use this time to clean out the air filter oil reservoir. This also was caked with years of dirt and sludge. It will take almost 1 qt to refill the reservoir.

Paul, it sounds like you did a good job. Most seem to change to detergent when they do an overhaul. In Texas we ran 30 weight year round as the tractor never saw cold weather. Don't know if the tractor runs any better but I bet you feel better.

I do feel a little better. I wanted to ease the stress on the starter without using a single grade "light weight" oil. I guess overall, these "Poppin Johnny's" just needs a little bit of attention now and again to keep going. Thanks for your response and God Bless...