Starting issues (no power) on 1974 John Deere 110

dwoolley · May 15, 2019

radios1 said:
put a tablespoon of oil in the cylinder and check the compression again..

That worked. It jumped up to 60 psi. My tester is from Harbor Freight which I found out is notoriously inconsistent and will read about half the psi. I am going to buy a new one and see if that gives a better reading. Just curious why putting the tablespoon of oil in made the psi jump from 35 to 60.

radios1 · May 15, 2019

dwoolley said:
That worked. It jumped up to 60 psi. My tester is from Harbor Freight which I found out is notoriously inconsistent and will read about half the psi. I am going to buy a new one and see if that gives a better reading. Just curious why putting the tablespoon of oil in made the psi jump from 35 to 60.

that means you have VERY worn rings, and the oil is harder to push past the rings, so it gives you better compression. a rebuild, or an engine change is required, no doubt now!.. sometimes you can buy a used engine in good shape for less of the cost of a rebuild.. it COULD be just stuck rings, from sitting around not running. which may clear up after the engine has run a bit..

dwoolley · May 15, 2019

radios1 said:
that means you have VERY worn rings, and the oil is harder to push past the rings, so it gives you better compression. a rebuild, or an engine change is required, no doubt now!.. sometimes you can buy a used engine in good shape for less of the cost of a rebuild.. it COULD be just stuck rings, from sitting around not running. which may clear up after the engine has run a bit..

Alright. That is fine by me. I have always wanted to rebuild an engine anyways. Thanks for the help!

radios1 · May 15, 2019

dwoolley said:
Alright. That is fine by me. I have always wanted to rebuild an engine anyways. Thanks for the help!

your welcome. hopefully, it IS just stuck rings though!.

dwoolley · May 16, 2019

radios1 said:
your welcome. hopefully, it IS just stuck rings though!.

Turns out rebuild kits are ridiculously expensive compared to just buying a working engine off of ebay. How do I know that I'm getting the correct one? Obviously, I know to replace it with the same engine model from Kohler (K241 10HP), but I've been seeing engines that have the standard piston, 0.010", 0.020", and 0.030". I'm guessing I have to get the exact same piston size, not sure on that though as this is uncharted territory for me. Anyone know how to figure out if it will work with my tractor? Also, has anyone had experience buying an engine off of ebay instead of rebuilding one?

radios1 · May 17, 2019

with your knowledge and experience, you are much better off buying a complete and running engine off ebay. the standard piston means the engine has never been rebuilt. I'd go for the 0.010 engine, since you know that it has been rebuilt once. each size up from there means it has been rebuilt more than once, and you can only do that so many times before the cast-iron sleeve has to be replaced, since you remove metal with each rebuild. the K241 10 HP is what your tractor comes with, so it'll work. I've seen replacements for that at 18 HP. they run about $1200 though. and sellers on ebay are required to accurately describe what they sell, and ebay enforces this, it's no problem buying from ebay.. btw, here's someone that used a harborfreight engine in his JD110. John Deere 11 harbor freight repower part 4 - YouTube