IH utility 300 stuck motor???

[stevewatr]

Bought a IH utility 300 on the cheap, Owner parked it after the power steering failed a second time. He said it was running last spring. Left outside all winter, but we had a very mild, almost snow free winter, the engine was covered with a tarp, no vertical exhaust for water to get into, but when I tried to crank the starter, it appears locked up tight, fan blade barely wigggles about 1/8". Pulled all spark plugs, only one had signs of slight rust. Squirted Marvel mystery oil in all cylinders, let sit, tried again over couple days, no luck. Put a large pipe wrench on a shaft that comes out the front to drive the loaders remote hydraulic pump, put a cheater pipe on that, applied lots of force, still locked. Filled up all cylinders with clean diesel fuel, tried starter every day over the next week, no luck. Noticed diesel fuel now dripping from under rear area where engine bolts up to clutch area. Yesterday manually raise the loaded, aired up the tires, and tried towing it. I moves okay in neutral, also moves okay in gear with clutch depressed, so we tried rolling it, then popping clutch.....no luck. I was going to pull the head, but wanted to run this by more experienced people first. It just seems strange to me that sitting for one year would have seized things up this bad. Can anybody think of somthing else that might lock it up?? Rolls with clutch in, so I assume that rules out tranny. I do not think it has a TA, because there is no vertical lever to engage it. It does have a linkage that appears to be disconnected, or missing parts located just rear of where the clutch pedal linkage attaches. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[DJ54]

Was the radiator full of coolant..?? Could be the head gasket seeped, and let a little coolant into a cylinder, and seized it.
I'd be tempted to pull the head, drop the pan. and tap the pistons out. If there is not all that much wear in the sleeves, and not rusted that bad, you could probably hone the cylinders, and clean them up.
Hate to spend someone elses money, but I'd spring for a new set of rings. I prefer Hastings. They are a softer ring. We always believed it was better for the rings to wear, than the cylinder. Everyone has an opinion, that just happens to be mine.
You can go to Case/IH Case IH Agriculture Equipment & Farm Tractors and select "parts & service." Scroll down to the second paragraph, and select "search for parts" highlighted in red. On the next page, enter your model number. A menu will appear, with every section of your tractor in an exploded view. Look for clutch, and TA, and it may help you identify the linkage you mentioned.
I don't believe the TA would cause a problem like this. More then likely that one slightly rusted cylinder.
Also, popping the clutch on a stuck engine, has been known to bend a lot of connecting rods..!!

 

[rdbigfarmboy]

Im a fan of atf and acetone equal mix. pour it ful let it set couple days refill as needed then pull it. leave the plugs out. if that dont work its scrap or rebuild

 

[Oldtractorfixer]

I would yank the head but stop and look before you go any further. If you have a rusty cylinder and you can get any movement at all you may be able to manually clean the rust out before you damage the rings. Can you get any movement even a degree out of the crank? If it is a stuck piston only oil clearance should give you at least a tiny bit of crank moement.

 

[stevewatr]

Was the radiator full of coolant..?? Could be the head gasket seeped, and let a little coolant into a cylinder, and seized it.
I'd be tempted to pull the head, drop the pan. and tap the pistons out. If there is not all that much wear in the sleeves, and not rusted that bad, you could probably hone the cylinders, and clean them up.
Hate to spend someone elses money, but I'd spring for a new set of rings. I prefer Hastings. They are a softer ring. We always believed it was better for the rings to wear, than the cylinder. Everyone has an opinion, that just happens to be mine.
You can go to Case/IH Case IH Agriculture Equipment & Farm Tractors and select "parts & service." Scroll down to the second paragraph, and select "search for parts" highlighted in red. On the next page, enter your model number. A menu will appear, with every section of your tractor in an exploded view. Look for clutch, and TA, and it may help you identify the linkage you mentioned.
I don't believe the TA would cause a problem like this. More then likely that one slightly rusted cylinder.
Also, popping the clutch on a stuck engine, has been known to bend a lot of connecting rods..!!

Im a fan of atf and acetone equal mix. pour it ful let it set couple days refill as needed then pull it. leave the plugs out. if that dont work its scrap or rebuild

I would yank the head but stop and look before you go any further. If you have a rusty cylinder and you can get any movement at all you may be able to manually clean the rust out before you damage the rings. Can you get any movement even a degree out of the crank? If it is a stuck piston only oil clearance should give you at least a tiny bit of crank moement.

Wow, as usual with this forum, lots of good replies! Thanks!

The coolant level is good. The fan blade moves a degree or 2 when bumping the starter, so the crank bearings are not frozen. I've heard of the acetone/tranny fluid solution, but after a weak of soaking in diesel fuel with the plugs out, I'm thinking chemicals alone are no longer the answer. I'm thinking of drooping the oil pan, and popping off the head, then maybe the banging on each side paralell to the wrist pin of the rustiest looking pistons might do the trick. I'll be uploading video of the beast soon, and will posr a link here. Thanks adain everyone.

 

[stevewatr]

You can go to Case/IH Case IH Agriculture Equipment & Farm Tractors and select "parts & service." Scroll down to the second paragraph, and select "search for parts" highlighted in red. On the next page, enter your model number. A menu will appear, with every section of your tractor in an exploded view. Look for clutch, and TA, and it may help you identify the linkage you mentioned.

Hi DJ, just checked outn that link. Cool beans! The lever/shaft that goes into the housing on the tranny that is disconnected is the TA clutch release lever. What I don't get is if I have a TA, and parts like the TA lever are missing, or do all 300 have the shaft there, and it is left unused on non TA models. Any thoughts??

 

[art]

The ATF and acetone is one of the best I've worked with and far better of a creeper then fuel. I'd have to say the amount of rust that could have come from this winter would be marginal.
Those tractors came both 6 and 12 volt and sure do crank slow with the 6 volt.
From time to time the starters will get locked into the fly wheel so I'd loosen that and see if the bendix ishung out.

 

[stevewatr]

The ATF and acetone is one of the best I've worked with and far better of a creeper then fuel. I'd have to say the amount of rust that could have come from this winter would be marginal.
Those tractors came both 6 and 12 volt and sure do crank slow with the 6 volt.
From time to time the starters will get locked into the fly wheel so I'd loosen that and see if the bendix ishung out.

A guy named Jim on another forum told me to drop the starter, and use a pry bar caught on a tooth of the ring gear to move the crank, so,this morning I pulled the starter, and stuck a crow bar in the opening, and pryed up on the ring gear, and got ti to turn. It felt like it was stuck, but it did not seem too bad. I then noticed it was moving the rear wheel, as I moved the ring gear, even though it appeared to be in neutral. I depressed the clutch, and was able to rotate the motor easily with the pry bar a quarter turn, then the tranny appeared to drop out of gear. So I thougt I was in the clear, but then with the starter reinstalled, it turned about 20 degrees and stopped dead. My battery may have been low, so I through it on a fast charge, and am heading back out there now. I am going to remove the starter, and use the pry bar to see if I can rotate the motor a full revolution to make sure it not somthing in the valve train, then I'll try remounting the starter and giving it a fresh battery to suck on!

 

[stevewatr]

I removed the starter, and used a pry bar on the ring gear. With a little force, i was able to start it turning, then it got easier. Rotated a quarter turn that way! Got excited and remounted the starter, but it only spun slightly,maybe 15 degrees, then seemed stuck again. Pulled the starter again, and found i could not budge it any further. Pulled the valve cover and found 3 exhaust valves stuck open. Squirted some MMO on them, and gave them a few taps. One popped free, but the other two are stuck good, I can tap them down further, but they just stay that way, so I started pulling the head. Should have it off by tommorow afternoon.

 

[stevewatr]

I have started uploading videos of this project. If you like, you can click on "subscribe" above the video, and elect to be emailed whenever I post new videos to the series. I have found the reason why the motor is stuck, three exhaust valves stuck open, and the cylinders were slightly stuck.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-t8UgRqvXc]IH Utility 300 Project Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]