Cracked engine block!!!

[balper]

If he can take (the engine) apart & put it back together to save himself some $. I have no doubt that ,a good welder can repair this crack.

I believe that it will be hard to stop the crack with welding. You can "fill" the already cracked area but you (or any pro welder) can't see how far the crack goes as there may be parts that might not have surfaced yet. Thus the crack would continue once the block gets any tension.

If you weld it be sure to avoid any tension, I wonder how one can manage this? I wouldn't be able to

 

[MikePA]

All to bouncing cracked to engine supports that eventually cracked the block.

The rust inside the cracked support indicates it was broken for a while, perhaps before you bought the tractor. Looks like someone tried to fix the support by welding it instead of replacing it and didn't do a good job of welding. Then they painted over everything.

 

[jpbear]

Thanks for all the replies. The crack was done by me and it was probably there long enough for it to rust. I am the one to blame. There is no defect in the block. Purely operator error. I use my machine hard I have to admit. There has been no fixing or welding on the frame. That is all factory plates and welding. The frame is also cracked on the other side in almost the same place but the block, on that side, is not cracked.
I have decided not to have the block welded due to the fact that there will always be stress on that spot. Really don't want to go through that much effort and still have it leak. So I will get a bare block and replace it. All work will be done by myself.
I am going to get a new/used tractor and then fix this one up and sell it. I have a need for a bigger machine and now I can justify it a little more. Probably looking for a TC40 w/ FEL & backhoe. Thanks again for all the info and experience.
Joe

 

[gsxrsquid]

when welding a crack in cast iron you must drill a hold at the end ofthe cracks and anywhere the crack branches off. Failure to do this will just allow the crack to continue after welding.

 

[JerryG]

jpbear,
If you can't find a block locally, you might give these people a try. Used salvaged tractor parts including John Deere, Ford, Kubota and other Japanese tractor part dealers

 

[Egon]

How does one determime where the crack ends and the hole is to be drilled?

Egon

 

[kenmac]

How does one determime where the crack ends and the hole is to be drilled?

Egon



I would say you would have to magna-flux the block . We use to do this on race car heads ,etc, to determine if they were cracked & how bad the crack was

Good luck in your search for a used block.Mabe you won't have to purchase a new one

 

[Iowachild]

The rust inside the cracked support indicates it was broken for a while, perhaps before you bought the tractor. Looks like someone tried to fix the support by welding it instead of replacing it and didn't do a good job of welding. Then they painted over everything.

Now here is a theory I can relate to!

 

[john_bud]

Thanks for all the replies. The crack was done by me and it was probably there long enough for it to rust. I am the one to blame. There is no defect in the block. Purely operator error. I use my machine hard I have to admit. There has been no fixing or welding on the frame. That is all factory plates and welding. The frame is also cracked on the other side in almost the same place but the block, on that side, is not cracked.

Joe

Joe,

I hate to say it, but you will never have a successful career in politics. Nope, not with that big wide and deep streak of personal integrity.

jb

 

[AlanB]

You would dye Pen, or eddy current inspect to find the end of the crack.

They make a new repair insert to fix cast iron. It is a form of tapered threaded inserts and I believe you then weld over them. It is an advanced form of stitching in that the pin actually goes in and bites both sides, and if I remember the description correctly, actually pulls the two pieces together.

Sounds like you have a plan already to fix it, but if interested, I will hunt this product down again.

If it were mine, I would be tempted to repair in place, and see how it worked out. (obviously pulling the braketry, pulley etc. etc. out of the way.)

I think this is the one we were playing with, I will try and call my buddy that was telling me about them (he does this type of oddball work all the time) and see if this was them, but anyway, here is an avenue.

LOCK-N-STITCH Inc. homepage: Cast iron crack repair, cast iron welding, thread repair inserts

 

[Soundguy]

Wengers of PA is another good place to try to find a salvage block.

Soundguy

 

[AlanB]

Ok, I am on the phone with Bobby Fields now, and that is the product that he was showing me. Mention his name if you go that route, it is Competition Machine and Welding and he is looking to set up to do demo's for this product. He has a demo block that he had shown me and it is really cool the way it pulls the pieces together.

Anyway, it is somewhat tedious to do the drilling and tapping, grinding etc. but he said that you end up with an excellent permanent repair.

I doubt it is "cheap" but.... then again I doubt a new block and changing it over is very cheap either.

Hope you get it fixed, however you decide to go.

LOCK-N-STITCH Inc. homepage: Cast iron crack repair, cast iron welding, thread repair inserts

 

[normde2001]

Unless money is no object, if you are not an expert welder, and oil leakage is the only problem, I would try JB Weld, or other, better fillers in a heartbeat. What do you have to lose, and you might save $1,000's of dollars.

 

[kmdigital]

In case you didn't see it, there is a very cool video on the Lock-N-Stitch web site regarding welding cast iron. It really explains why you can't just weld cast iron and expect it to work without cracking.
Expansion/contraction

 

[gbick]

kmdigital, There was a wad of learning in that video. That is exactly the kind of tutorial I delight in finding here. Thanks for sharing. Greg.

 

[bamatoolmaker]

I weld cast iron a couple of times every month.We modify and repair iron molds and dies all the time.I would rather replace them with new tooling but that is not a economical solution for my customers.If you can weld steel you can weld cast iron.The biggest problem when welding cast iron is opening up internal gas pockets.When this happens the crack or hole gets bigger.A Lincoln or Miller welder will do the job nothing fancy.Use the highest nickel content welding rods you can find.Set the machine 50-70 amp. neg.DC and practice.I learned how one weekend and had not used a welder in 20+ years.Most of the other posters had good points and I am going to watch the video some day.Speaking from my own experience and I have welded engine blocks.The quality of the iron,the cleanliness and removing the stress points are critical. I say stitch weld it and it should outlast the rest of the engine.I am not trying to be disrepectful in any way to anybody.Oh yeah I also recall the Brits refer to your rear as a bum.

 

[sandman2234]

Six months late and 5 pages later, I decide to enter a small bit of info...
I used a Duetz 30-06 to spread some dirtpiles that had been sitting for a long time. The owner of the tractor had recently had a shop replace the clutch, and the bolts from the bell housing to the engine worked loose. The tractor decided to come apart while I was on it, and the bolt holes in the block cracked as the tractor split itself. They took the tractor to a Head and Block repair shop, and they welded the bolt holes back together, and it is running to this day, and that was 15 years ago.
Hopefully you will have as good of luck with the repair.
David from jax

 

[Soundguy]

Funny.. back on post# 14 I mention stitching.. nobody says 'boo' about it. Jump ahead to post # 32.. and it's a 'new' idea...

Soundguy

Ok, I am on the phone with Bobby Fields now, and that is the product that he was showing me. Mention his name if you go that route, it is Competition Machine and Welding and he is looking to set up to do demo's for this product. He has a demo block that he had shown me and it is really cool the way it pulls the pieces together.

Anyway, it is somewhat tedious to do the drilling and tapping, grinding etc. but he said that you end up with an excellent permanent repair.

I doubt it is "cheap" but.... then again I doubt a new block and changing it over is very cheap either.

Hope you get it fixed, however you decide to go.

LOCK-N-STITCH Inc. homepage: Cast iron crack repair, cast iron welding, thread repair inserts

 

[billbill1]

Being the tightwad that I am, I would try and fix it and keep using it. I would drill a small hole at the end of the crack to stop the crack from spreading and have a good welder (that would not be me!!) take a shot at welding it up. Have him fix the frame at the same time. If that didn't work, then I would look into spending the money to find a block. You won't know until you try-if it will work or not. Oil isn't that expensive, as long as it's not flowing out, add some more and keep on tractoring. That's my one cents worth (like I said, I'm a tightwad!!)

 

[Egon]

Funny.. back on post# 14

Sometimes thems the breaks, er Stiches!