# 1952 Allis WD 45 oil pressure



## 1954ford (Dec 25, 2011)

I bought a 52' wd45 this past summer. growin up we had a wd45 wide front. been lookin fer one and came across this narrow front and just couldnt pass up the deal. anyway i notice that the oil pressure gauge was not workin. it looks fairly new. i havent used the tractor much just to pull straw wagons, and do a lil bush hoggin. I finally changed the gauge this evening and noticed that at idle shes running between 0-2psi. and at full throttle it runs bout 15psi. so my ? is why is the pressure so low at idle? And what are normal operating pressures? obviously shes got good pressure or otherwise i would have junked the motor by now. Can anybody help? 
 Thanks
matt


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## Country Boy (Mar 18, 2010)

If nothing has been done to the engine on the unit, it may just have a ton of sludge built up in the bottom of the pan that is clogging the pickup for the oil pump. My Farmall H had that issue, which I corrected when I overhauled it back in college. The pressure gauge didn't have numbers, just a red zone and a green zone, but the needle would hardly move off the peg when the tractor was running. After the rebuild, the needle now sits towards the far end of the green zone, and builds almost instantly. There was over an inch of sludge built up in the pan from all the years of using non-detergent motor oil back in the day. If you can, I'd pull the pan and have a look at it and the oil pump. If your gauge is right, you don't have nearly enough oil pressure in that engine.


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## Duey (IA) (Jul 23, 2010)

*Oil pressure*

Cam gets oil first, then mains, then rods, excess from pump goes through filter then back to pan. Gauge is between filter and engine so the filter determines gauge reading.

Your readings sound about right for a engine with some wear in the bearings. WD45 started in 1953 to 1957. WD engine has a push rod cover plate on mag side of engine.

Brief History



Beginning production in 1953, the WD45 had the same general look as the WD tractor which was produced earlier - but was much more powerful. This was due to the new 4-cylinder "Power Crater" gasoline engine with a 4 x 4-1/2 inch bore and stroke. Some people feel this was one of the most significant tractors offered by Allis-Chalmers in those days. Nothing in its weight or power class could match its performance. In 1954 they began offering the WD45 with the new "Snap-Coupler" system for hooking up implements. Basically it had a funnel mounted under the rear of the tractor which guided the implement tongue into the spring-loaded latch. The operator simply backed up to the implement tongue, listened for the "snap" of the coupler, attached the lift links and was off to the field without ever leaving the comfort of his tractor seat. 



In 1956, the WD45 became the first in the AC line to have power steering. This feature was well received by both dealers and farmers. This tractor was offered in dual-front, adjustable axle, single front-wheel and cane models. The last WD45 was made in 1957, after making a total of 90,382 tractors (gas and diesel models combined). In 1956 a gas duel-front WD45 had a list price of $2,380. 

Duey (IA)


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