New Holland TC35D Top End

[ctjstr]

I don't like to use wd40 in the cylinders because of the wax residue that it leaves on the surface. Makes it hard to fit up the rings.

ron

Actually, I like it for dispersing water. I've also used it for years in cylinders with good results. I wet the cylinder down and then lightly wipe it out, leaving a thin film. I also put just a dab of it on the skirts of the cylinders. I've gotten away from the old tried and true method of oiling everything. I had problems with a couple sets of Total Seal rings when putting too much oil on them, and have had better luck since switching over to the WD40. It may also make a difference that I generally use a pretty fine hone, depending on the application. Not sure.

I just havn't had the wax residue problem you're referring to. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[IH3444]

I use WD40 for the same thing. When it wipes clean off inside cylinder, then the bore is ready to accept the piston. I do use a very slight film of regular oil, but very lightly wiped in on a clean towel. Never had a problem. Looks like you are well on your way, and only have to get the head gasket measurement. Some gaskets have a code, or thickness stamped on the very ends. Or you can just measure your old one, and match it up at the dealer. I though there wasn't much damage, sorry to see that a piston got roached.... Are you going to check the weight of the new piston, to the older ones? I have done a quick balance with only making all the pistons, and all connecting rods weight the exact same. It works very well, and smoothes the engine out quite nicely. This saves alot of bench time with a balance lathe, and the adding weight mess. To time consuming for me to mess with. If that was my bag, well, then that would be another story. Looks like it won't be long before that TC35 puppy is up and running around again.

 

[jimmer2880]

Please keep posting. I'm learning a lot Nice work.

 

[ctjstr]

I'm going to take a look at the new piston and weigh it compared to the old. There was a change in pistons in mid model production and the only way to know, at least from the parts catalogue, is the thickness of the oil ring, either 3mm or 4mm. Mine are 4, and I have a set of the 4mm rings on the way, plus one piston, already wrapped with 4mm rings, so I'll end up with one extra piston's worth of rings. Perfect in case I mess one up on the install. I could probably get by with leaving the existing ring sets on the #1 & 3 pistons, but normally if I pull a piston, I'll try and re-ring it just on principle, especially since I've honed the cylinder walls and all of them were ever so slightly out of round.

Head gasket according to the service manual comes in several different thicknesses, to account for different compression heights of the piston. Problem is, the parts catalogue only shows two different gaskets, so I ordered the one closest to my measurement. Its always tough with a head gasket because even if you can measure the compressed thickness, it doesn't necessarily tell you the uncompressed thickness and you'll get all sorts of opinions on how much the gaskets crush. The choices I had were either 1.3 or 1.4 mm. All my measurements were between 1.23 and 1.30, so I went with the 1.3

 

[Catmando]

Very educational thread for me. Thanks for taking the time to step us through your repair.

The rag that you put over the crank was enough protection to keep the grindings from the mains and rod bearings/surfaces?

 

[ctjstr]

In a perfect world, I wouldn't want the crank anywhere close to the honing. That's just bad juju waiting to happen. But in this case, short of pulling the crank, I had no choice.
The way this setup worked out, I could stuff a rag down on top of the crank and turn it so that as I washed the cylinder down, the vast majority of the 'stuff' landed on the rag. After pulling that out, I went down below and did everything I could to make sure there was nothing left to contaminate either the rod journals or the crank bearings. Not perfect, but I'm confident it will be o.k.

this is one of those deals where when you're doing your own work, you can take some shortcuts and get away with a few things that you wouldn't do if you were being paid to do the job by others

And then from the "when it rains it pours" category, we were coming home last night in my wife's Dodge diesel pickup when it just flat quit. Coasted to the side and ended up towing it home. Spent most of the day fussing with it and have narrowed it down to, unfortunately, the injector pump. This one has one of those not so great VP 44 injector pumps and its time to replace. Bad news is that it costs about $1000 just for the pump. Good news is that we have enough other junk laying around here that everyone still has something to drive. ****! I'll be stuck driving the vette. Hate when that happens.

 

[Botabill]

Thanks ctjstr for sharing this project with us. I can't think of any other thread anywhere on this forum (or any other) that I've learned more from and enjoyed as much. I'm sitting on the edge of my chair now to see how everything turns out. I want to see that baby up and running.

 

[john_bud]

O.K, here's the latest. I'm going to try and do the photos different, so we'll see.

Now the head's ready to come off. I've got the last head bolts numbered in orange as well as the lash caps on the top of the valve stems. Little bitty valve springs.

Presto! Head's off and we're looking down the block. Nothing too bad so far.

And here we are looking at the head.

There is no obvious blown head gasket and although I did find a few drops of antifreeze in the cylinders, I believe those occurred when I pulled the head off.
.

It looks to me like a blow between cylinders. Can be seen on both the gasket and head. Or is that just an artifact of the pictures?

I also sort of chuckled about the spring pressures. My ford diesels are (from memory) 35-55 # on the seat. It is a mental shift !

On the bright side, you have the tools for the job and a good helper.

Good luck,
jb

 

[ctjstr]

It was just an oddity in the pictures. That section of the head was absolutely flat. My measuring was pretty crude, using a dial indicator, but its what I had. My only real fear on the head is if there is a crack I missed because I didn't pressure test it.

In laying out the parts this morning, I realized I'm one set of rings short. When I ordered a set of rings, the order lady assured me it was a set of 3. Turns out that was wrong and a set is just one piston's worth. Here's another short cut. I'll use one set of used rings. I've checked the ones on number 1 and 3 cylinders and they both look good, although the front piston looks a little better then the rear, so I'll leave those rings on that piston.

I'll certainly say this; New Holland is VERY proud of their stuff. One ring set was over 50 bucks, each HALF of a bearing shell was about 7 bucks etc etc. The parts on my top fuel harley are cheaper!

 

[john_bud]

It's too late now, but in Ag country most machine shops can get single pistons and rings for 1/3 to 1/2 the FNH price.

Did you check ring gap on each cylinder? That's one cheap way to determine wear. Use 1 ring and check all 3 and compare the gaps at top, middle, bottom.

When I did the head on my last 172 diesel, there was the largest casting flash in 2 of the 4 intake ports and 1 exhaust. One was about the size of a dime sticking out. It's the hot rod in me, but that had to go! Probably did nothing but make me feel better....


jb