# International 2500 series B hydrostatic



## DangerousDave (Apr 16, 2018)

I reciently acquired an International Harvester 2500 series B hydrostatic diesel tractor.
It's a D239 4 cyl engine with 3 point & PTO and no backhoe. (I also have a Case 580k)
I have found a little bit of information on this tractor, but not a thread that is specific to the series B hydro diesel. I'm courious how many others are out there, it would be cool to have a thread with specific information.

I bought mine sitting dead in a field with an international 1850 loader, a bush hog auger, and a 6' blade for $1000. I got it home and pushed in the shop, I'm going to start by changing fluids and cleaning the fuel system. The fuel filters were really bad, to the point the cartridge filters had pin holes rusted through leaking fuel. I also understand the fuel tank crossover is a problem on these tractors, so I'll inspect and flush the tanks and lines. 

Does anyone have oil capacities for engine and hydro, as well as fluid types and procedure for changing fluids? I've read several threads where people have changed hydro fluid and had trouble bleeding the system?

The dipstick by the heal of the left running board is full to the top, I'm planning on draining it tonight. (I hope it's not full of water) Does the hydrostatic drive and the hydraulics use the same reservoir? Where does that fill, and what is the capacity? 
What engine oil is recommended?

I bought filters at NAPA.
Mine uses 2 cartridge fuel filters with glass bowls. NAPA Cartridge filter part #3166 $10ea
(There are spin on fuel filters listed too, part #3472 and #600028)
Engine oil filter is a NAPA #1768 $13
Hydro filter is a NAPA #1668 $16
Air filter is a NAPA #2669


----------



## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

The D239 is a "smoker".. if you can get it to run, don't be surprised.
IF the injection pump is a Bosch VA.. the parts a few & far between.. I can help w/ the fuel system, when you get that far..
Do you have any idea WHY it was left in the field?
Broken transmission, bad fuel system, engine locked up.??


----------



## DangerousDave (Apr 16, 2018)

Thanks for the reply pump guy.

The story is that the hydrostatic hi / lol selector lever got stuck in neutral and he couldn't get anyone to work on it. He said it ran and operated fine until then. It is indeed stuck in neutral so that is another issue to address if anyone has advice on that?

As far as getting the engine to run I brought a charged battery and attempted to to start it, it acted like it wanted to start but the fuel filter was leaking and the bowls looked pretty bad so I winched it on the trailer and hauled it home to be serviced before attempting to start it. 
I believe it is a Bosch pump. I plan to clean the fuel tank and lines, install new filters, bleed it to the pump and see if it will start.

I'm going to change the fluids first, any advice on that would be appreciated. I have a manual on the way but I'm not very patient. LOL
I would like to know what fluids to use and where to fill it.
I'm assuming 15-40 in the engine and hy-tran for the hydrostatic drive.
I read some ware 10qt in the engine and 36qt in the tractor can anyone confirm?
I'm also assuming the hydrostatic drive, hydraulics, use the same fluid reservoir? 
Does the rear axle share that oil as well or is it a separate sump with gear oil?


----------



## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Wait until you get your repair manual, then take a careful look at the charge pump circuit where it reaches the valves for forward and reverse. You do not want to be putting UTF in the transmission twice, and it will more than likely need to be drained.

Carefully inspect the pipe that snakes along the inside of the transmission, and the condition of the seals and valves used to switch directions. The charge pump can fail and the forward/reverse valve (and switch lever) just freezes. Pipe cracks frequently, same story. O rings break and valves get stuck. Hoses crack, fittings leak, and the list goes on. A lot of detailed inspection will be required. Old contaminated oil fouls up the works, and major rebuilding is in order. 

Read the threads on the 2500A series. Also do a net search on IH hydro transmission rebuilders, the IH units are all pretty much the same and there are a couple of vendors that have the no longer obtainable parts custom made for their use. That will save a lot of hair pulling. Pumps alone are in the thousands now unless you get one through one of the full service rebuilders.


----------



## DangerousDave (Apr 16, 2018)

Well, I went out to the shop this morning to get a lid for a 5 gallon bucket (That was at 7:00) when I walked in the door the tractor was calling me so I walked over to have a look. Still puzzled by the stuck in neutral problem I figured I'd pull some sheet metal off and see if I could start narrowing down the problem. Once the sheet metal was off I moved to the linkage. Low and behold after I disconnected the linkage the High / Low arm on the transmission shifted! The shift lever arm was just seized to the shaft. After a little cleaning, a 1/4 can of PB Blaster, some wiggling, tapping, removing a snap ring, some heating, and Discharging one fire extinguisher I was able to free the shift arm and remove it. I feel a lot better about proceeding with working on getting it running now... oh it's 11:00 now and I'm back at the house with the lid for the bucket, told my wife it took a while to find it.


----------



## DangerousDave (Apr 16, 2018)

The tractor is up and running! 
After all new fluids and filters I bled the air out of the fuel system and it fired right up. It smoked a bit until it warmed up and burnt some oil off the exhaust then it cleared up. Everything mechanical seems to work fine. There is a bit of a whine from the hydrostatic but I'm guessing that's normal. I'm still a little puzzled about how the fluid level works. I've got 15 gallons in it, after sitting overnight the oil level is about an inch from the top of the dip stick. Once it's running it pumps the hydrostatic section between the engine and the rear section full of oil and drops the level of the rear section to the bottom of the dip stick. I think I'll add a bit more fluid but it will be very close to the top of the dip stick tube after sitting over night.


----------



## Dinn (11 mo ago)

RC Wells said:


> Wait until you get your repair manual, then take a careful look at the charge pump circuit where it reaches the valves for forward and reverse. You do not want to be putting UTF in the transmission twice, and it will more than likely need to be drained.
> 
> Carefully inspect the pipe that snakes along the inside of the transmission, and the condition of the seals and valves used to switch directions. The charge pump can fail and the forward/reverse valve (and switch lever) just freezes. Pipe cracks frequently, same story. O rings break and valves get stuck. Hoses crack, fittings leak, and the list goes on. A lot of detailed inspection will be required. Old contaminated oil fouls up the works, and major rebuilding is in order.
> 
> Read the threads on the 2500A series. Also do a net search on IH hydro transmission rebuilders, the IH units are all pretty much the same and there are a couple of vendors that have the no longer obtainable parts custom made for their use. That will save a lot of hair pulling. Pumps alone are in the thousands now unless you get one through one of the full service rebuilders.


Can anyone tell me why I have reverse and no forward on my hydrostatic international 2500 B


----------

