My dad has a 1950 8N (front dist) that he uses for mowing a small field a few times a year. He probably puts 20-30 hours a year on the tractor. Hes getting a little older, and Ive been helping him catch up on some maintenance on it.
One thing I noticed is there is oil in the coolant. The coolant is pretty scummy and brown. He says he changed the coolant a couple years ago, so this build up has happened over not much time. There isnt coolant in the oil, and Ive read on the forum that the oil in coolant is caused by a bad head gasket letting blow by get into the coolant. So thats the first issue.
The second issue which I think is also related is it overheats. He says when he mows he can only make it about 1-1.5 hours before the tractor starts running hot (Im not sure what hes basing this on). He says the tractor starts losing power, until it eventually shut down, and wont run again for a few hours. Im thinking this issue could also be head gasket related. But could maybe also be ignition related?
So Ive read about it, and it seems like a pretty easy job to change out the head gasket. As long as the head isnt warped or anything else. So should I push him to change the gasket, or can he keep running it this way for a while longer? I dont want to wait too long and damage something else.
One thing I noticed is there is oil in the coolant. The coolant is pretty scummy and brown. He says he changed the coolant a couple years ago, so this build up has happened over not much time. There isnt coolant in the oil, and Ive read on the forum that the oil in coolant is caused by a bad head gasket letting blow by get into the coolant. So thats the first issue.
The second issue which I think is also related is it overheats. He says when he mows he can only make it about 1-1.5 hours before the tractor starts running hot (Im not sure what hes basing this on). He says the tractor starts losing power, until it eventually shut down, and wont run again for a few hours. Im thinking this issue could also be head gasket related. But could maybe also be ignition related?
So Ive read about it, and it seems like a pretty easy job to change out the head gasket. As long as the head isnt warped or anything else. So should I push him to change the gasket, or can he keep running it this way for a while longer? I dont want to wait too long and damage something else.