# Utility 300 engine stuck??



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

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.


----------



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Its possible that the head gasket was leaking coolant into the cylinders, causing it to rust tight. That happened to my dad's friend with his Allis Chalmers 190 one year. I'd also check to see if the starter isn't jammed. Our 350U from new on would jam the starter occasionally, locking up the engine. You would have to loosen the starter from the bell housing and wiggle it up and down with a pry bar to get it loose. It has been through several starters and a couple ring gears, and even an engine overhaul, and it still does it. I think there is a problem with the castings on these tractors that results in a misalignment between the starter and the ring gear.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> Its possible that the head gasket was leaking coolant into the cylinders, causing it to rust tight. That happened to my dad's friend with his Allis Chalmers 190 one year. I'd also check to see if the starter isn't jammed. Our 350U from new on would jam the starter occasionally, locking up the engine. You would have to loosen the starter from the bell housing and wiggle it up and down with a pry bar to get it loose. It has been through several starters and a couple ring gears, and even an engine overhaul, and it still does it. I think there is a problem with the castings on these tractors that results in a misalignment between the starter and the ring gear.


Funny you should mention the starter. 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 (Oct 8, 2011)

*Bummer*

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 (Oct 8, 2011)

*IH 300 motor stuck, things are looking up!*

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[/ame]


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

*Serial number mystery*

Well the head is off at the machine shop, awaiting it's turn in the jet cleaner, and bake oven. I oredered new intake valves, all new springs, and new guides. Decided to pull the pistons to better inspect them, and ran into a few snags.

First, I have been assuming thus tractor is a 300 utility, and thought it had a C169 motor. turns out it is a C175 motor. It is stamped right onto the block. So then I questioned if it might not be a 350 utility, then I found info that suggests they may have used C175 in the 300 near the end of the run. I had already ordered the valves, guides, and springs before realixing my error. Was mad at first, but then found the C169 and 175 share the same head

Problem now is to figure out exactly what piston/cylinder this motor uses. I found on the IH site they list only one number for the C175, but when crossing to a Clevite/Mahle number, they list 2 differant ones based on serial #.

The tops of the pistons I have are the "firecrater" style, but I think the differance might be in the wrist pin diameter. 

Went to pull the oil pan, and get this, it won't clear the large support arm that comes from the front axle towards the rear.

Do I actually have to remove the front axle assembly to get the oil pan off

Here is another weird thing. What I can see for serial numbers does not coincide with what the online parts manual says I should be seeing.

The manual states all 300u engine serial numbers start with 9501 with a c169 prefix, and 350u engine numbers start with a 501, and a c175 prefix. My engine serial number appears to be 3615?2, the ? looks like either a 5 or a 6. This number is stamped into the block in a flat area just above where it is embossed C-175. Also below where the firing order is embossed, there are numbers seperated by little screw heads *3*17*0*.

The tractor serial # on a tag on the clutch housing is also not making much sense to me.
The parts manual says the chassis serial numbers for both the 300 and 350 should start with 501, but mine appears to be 18267, then a long space followed by a letter R. The suffix codes in the manual say the R would designate a tractor with Torque amplifier attachment, and if mine has a TA, great, but why is it missing the lever?

I'll post part 5 of the video soon.


----------



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

You don't have to remove the axle to get the oil pan off, I had mine off to fix a hole in it caused by the front axle. The rear pivot ball in my axle had come loose and egged out the hole pretty bad over the years. It got so bad that the nut securing the ball was able to hit the oil pan, wearing a hole in it. I put a jack under the front bolster of the tractor to support it, and then removed the ball socket from the underside of the tractor, and, in my case, removed the ball. You won't have to remove the ball, but you will need to flex the axle down some in the back to get it to clear the oil pan. Here's some pics for reference:

Rear of the axle loose and able to be flexed:










Another shot:










Hole in the oil pan:










Worn ball:


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> You don't have to remove the axle to get the oil pan off, I had mine off to fix a hole in it caused by the front axle. I put a jack under the front bolster of the tractor to support it, and then removed the ball socket from the underside of the tractor, and, in my case, removed the ball. You won't have to remove the ball, but you will need to flex the axle down some in the back to get it to clear the oil pan.


Thanks Country Boy! I was already toying with the idea you mention, because I loosened the three big bolts at the rear of the brace, and noticed if I stuck a crowbar in there I could nudge it a little, figured if I take the weight of the front end, it might just drop enough to clear that one stud.

Here is video, part 5 in the series, shows the brace. you'll have to copy paste the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ujnNdKgvi8&feature=youtu.be


----------



## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

Concerning the #s,is it possible that it has a rebuilt/replacement engine? I ran into the same problem when I was doing the head on a continental 4 cyl. Ended up measuring bore/stroke/piston pin,etc.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

jhngardner367 said:


> Concerning the #s,is it possible that it has a rebuilt/replacement engine?


Yeah, somthing just aint right. Guy over on Red Power forum seems to know more about the numbers and says the tractor number makes it seem like its a 350u from ;58, but the engine number I gave him is stamped in the location where the casting number should have been, as if the casting number was ground off neatly, and this other number was stamped in. But he just brought to my attention that there is another number to the right of the C175. Funny I never even saw it until I went back and looked at the video again. Its partially obscured so I will go get the whole number tommorrow. He said that should be the location of the engine serial, but if it starts with 25, it is too low of a number for a 350 with a serial in the 18000's.

More bad news, got the pan off by jacking her up. that worked great, but removed a rod cap and I see/feel scoring on the crank rod journal...............this is getting uglier!


----------



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Its very likely that the engine or block was replaced at some time in the past. If the block is original, the engine serial number usually matches the chassis serial number (at least it did on my Farmall H and my 574). If the numbers don't match, then somebody did some switching at one point. Could have cracked the block or something. The head also has a serial number that should match (did on my Farmall H) if its original to either the tractor or the engine. If you plan to keep the tractor for a long time, I'd just go ahead and rebuild the engine. You can pick up aftermarket rebuild kits instead of spending an arm and a leg from Case IH. That way you have a good, strong engine in the tractor instead of a questionable one that might blow up on you at some point in the future.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> Its very likely that the engine or block was replaced at some time in the past. If the block is original, the engine serial number usually matches the chassis serial number (at least it did on my Farmall H and my 574). If the numbers don't match, then somebody did some switching at one point.


Well, I got my answer today. Nice IH enthusiast on Redpower website told me where to find the engine serial, and it is 28808, and the tractor is #18267. From what I gather, it is not unusual for the numbers not to match on the Utility series. Anyway, this makes my tractor a 1958 model 350 that left the factory with a torque amplifier. If it is still in there now remains to be seen, but what I think is really cool is that that tractor was made right before they stopped production on the 350! Highest number he knows of for the 350 was 18346.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> You don't have to remove the axle to get the oil pan off, I had mine off to fix a hole in it caused by the front axle. The rear pivot ball in my axle had come loose and egged out the hole pretty bad over the years. It got so bad that the nut securing the ball was able to hit the oil pan, wearing a hole in it. I put a jack under the front bolster of the tractor to support it, and then removed the ball socket from the underside of the tractor, and, in my case, removed the ball. You won't have to remove the ball, but you will need to flex the axle down some in the back to get it to clear the oil pan. Here's some pics for reference:


Had the oil pan cleaned up when I stopped buy the machine shop to bring him by a new intake valve so he could check the angle before grinding the seats. Guess what he found under the crud??? A weld/grinded area where your hole was! Guess this one suffered from the same issue. The nut seemed tight, so maybe the ball was replaced after they welded up the pan.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

I'm now going to start a new thread because I now know this tractor is actually a 350 utility, not a 300. I now have 6 videos of this tractor project uploaded to youtube.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-oGPWmmFrg[/ame]


----------



## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

Glad to see you are coming along on the project!


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Country Boy said:


> Glad to see you are coming along on the project!


Thanks! and thanks again for the tip on getting that oil pan off.

Steve W.


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Parts 7 & 8 are online, had a problem with a bad rotocap:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyp6nHOnGzY[/ame]


----------



## stevewatr (Oct 8, 2011)

Here is a link to the new thread I started after discovering it is a model 350U, the rest of the video links are being posted there:

http://www.tractorforum.com/f192/58-ih-utility-350-project-20887/#post155785


----------

