# Piston Sleeves



## First_8N (Oct 21, 2021)

Hi, I'm kinda new to the tractor world. I just bought an 8n with a Dearborn loader attachment and 12v conversion. It smokes like hell and at full throttle it's showing 20ish PSI. It fires right up, no knocking or ticking or tapping. Runs very very smooth, just smokes heavy blue smoke. It actually is spitting oil out of the exhaust where tge manifold meets the pipe. I'd like to change the sleeves and pistons/rings. My question is, when I buy a sleeve/piston kit, are the sleeves a set size, or are there different sizes? Thanks for any input.


----------



## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Howdy First_8N, welcome to the tractor forum.

Different sizes. You will have to wait till you pull your old sleeves to measure wall thickness, etc. This will help you determine if your engine has been bored in the past.


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

First_8N said:


> Hi, I'm kinda new to the tractor world. I just bought an 8n with a Dearborn loader attachment and 12v conversion. It smokes like hell and at full throttle it's showing 20ish PSI. It fires right up, no knocking or ticking or tapping. Runs very very smooth, just smokes heavy blue smoke. It actually is spitting oil out of the exhaust where tge manifold meets the pipe. I'd like to change the sleeves and pistons/rings. My question is, when I buy a sleeve/piston kit, are the sleeves a set size, or are there different sizes? Thanks for any input.


I thought the 8n's only came with gasoline engines, that's an automotive type block.... If that's the case, there are no "sleeves" in it like a diesel. The entire block has to come out and be bored oversize at a machine shop.


----------



## 560Dennis (Aug 31, 2021)

Suggestion :I do a leak down test on cylinders if that hasn’t suggested.record the measurements.
Or suggestion do a vacuum test on intake ,record that. 
Compression test
leak down tells the most you hear where it leaking .Tell you where oil is pulled in from like guides or rings. 
best I can tell ya


----------



## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

Bob Driver said:


> I thought the 8n's only came with gasoline engines, that's an automotive type block.... If that's the case, there are no "sleeves" in it like a diesel. The entire block has to come out and be bored oversize at a machine shop.


Bob, 
Ford installed sleeves in basically all of their tractor engines till somewhere in the late 50's. These old Fords with sleeved engines were relatively easy in-frame rebuilds if they hadn't been messed with. They switched to parent bore blocks for economic reasons.


----------



## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

BigT said:


> Bob,
> Ford installed sleeves in basically all of their tractor engines till somewhere in the late 50's. These old Fords with sleeved engines were relatively easy in-frame rebuilds if they hadn't been messed with. They switched to parent bore blocks for economic reasons.


There are a rare few 8Ns with diesel because of the Fordson and those diesel engines being available from 1951 and forward. On Ford tractor sites, there were tractor splits of a Ford 8N rear to a MF 35 front, ez matching bolt and spindle, just plug-n-play. Or an EZ engine swap of a Dextra 3 cylinder F3-144 into the 8N. Ford even did those on special orders. Likewise the F3-152 was done similar. Ford made some of those diesel engine parts, sent to Perkins to complete the engine and then back into Ford tractors and trucks in the states. The F3-152 on a few made engines were very troublesome. Frequent rebuilds. Should you find an 8N or NAA with a F3-144, it's a keeper. Not so with the F3-152. 

Ford / Newholland F3.144 Engine Complete Fordson Dexta Runner ESN: 1624142 | eBay


----------



## Bob Driver (Nov 1, 2017)

BigT said:


> Bob,
> Ford installed sleeves in basically all of their tractor engines till somewhere in the late 50's. These old Fords with sleeved engines were relatively easy in-frame rebuilds if they hadn't been messed with. They switched to parent bore blocks for economic reasons.


Thanks Maverick.... Did not know that. Always good to learn something on this forum. Looked around on the inter-web a little and was wondering...... In the 8n, you can opt to either put in a sleeve kit, or actually have the liners bored over size? 

Also was wondering about a piston I saw for 8n/9n..... Is that a second oil ring under the wrist pin the picture below?? Kinda reminds me of the "skirted" 2-piece crown pistons that Detroit used in their old 2-strokes in a vain attempt to control oil consumption. Those old DD 2-strokes didn't really burn oil, they leaked it through the "slobber tubes". If you saw a DD 2-stroke parked and there wasn't 3 oil spots under it, it was because it was out of oil.


----------



## bmaverick (Feb 20, 2014)

My Pa had an 8N. It was the first tractor I grew up using till he sold it to help pay for a year of my college.


----------



## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

Bob Driver said:


> I thought the 8n's only came with gasoline engines, that's an automotive type block.... If that's the case, there are no "sleeves" in it like a diesel. The entire block has to come out and be bored oversize at a machine shop.


Correction; It is a modelA engine(modified) but, the 8n's had sleeves, a car engine piston will fit the tractor if you take out the sleeves.....rings for either setup are available.


----------

