Hello all! I have been researching on this forum for quite some time and have found a wealth of information that has helped tremendously, but I need some more knowledge.
I have just joined so I can hopefully find some answers. I have recently rescued a 955L from the thought of being scrapped. I brought the old gal home and I am trying to give her some love to get some more life out of her.
She has been setting for a few years after the previous owner let her overheat with a clogged radiator. He cracked the head, so they pulled it down on the spot and changed the head. He said he spent $2000 on the head and $1000 on the water pump. They fired it up and it was still dumping water in the oil and combustion gas in the antifreeze. That was enough to make him mad, so they loaded up the machine, hauled it home, and put it out to pasture.
After perusing craigslist for something completely unrelated, I found her and had to bring her home. I made the two hour drive a few times to drop the oil and get her running long enough to load on the lowboy. That was an adventure in itself, as the steering booster was frozen up on one side, so I had a one sided adventure getting her on the detachable.
The hour meter surprised me at 3800 hours. Must be broken. Wait a minute, it works! Definitely bringing it home! Tracks in decent shape, rollers a little worn, but would be OK for what I need.
The fuel was rotten. It was also slimy. Oh boy.... I had it running for about 5 minutes before it plugged the filters. Nasty, nasty stuff. I changed filters and got it to prime up and run some more. Had to keep the cap off the radiator because of all the combustion gas, but it ran enough to move and load.
Got her home and started pulling her apart. I found that the input plungers on the booster had rust from condensation. Got the rust off the booster input plunger and made sure the steering clutches worked. It was a big relief to feel power from both sides!
This means that it was time to attack the engine. Got the loader in the air and the sheetmetal off. I finally got to test the capacity of the pit in the farm shop. That sure beats the heck out of working in a space I can almost lodge myself into.
I decided to pull the oil pan off after dropping the belly plates. I am expecting to find cracked sleeves from the overheat. I drop the oil and the pan and see water dripping past the number one and two pistons from the bottom. I pumped up the radiator to 20lbs and water was dripping, so off comes the head.
Water is setting on 1, 2, and 3 pistons. What the heck is this? Gasket is great, but I look up and see water around the precombustion chambers on 3 of 4 cylinders. The chambers were loose! They came out with channel locks! I am already into the engine, so I pulled the sleeves and I am resealing everything with new rings and rod bearings.
So this gets to problem number one- the bosses inside the head are pitted, and I am not sure how to get them to seal against the bottom of the chambers. The "gaskets" are steel spacers.
By the way, I pulled the fuel tank and am getting it dipped. Twice...
Problem number two is the track tensioner. The tracks were tight when I first saw the machine. Now one side is limp and the other side relaxed a bit. The limp side has adjuster problems, so I pulled off the guards and found my spring was broke right at the end. There is not even a full revolution of what broke off. I will replace it eventually. Maybe.
The problem is with the vent holes. There are two vent holes that are oozing grease. I tightened up both the valve and the fill. It seemed to slow it down but will not pump tight. Is this bad valves?
Sorry for the novel, but I would appreciate any advice!!
I have just joined so I can hopefully find some answers. I have recently rescued a 955L from the thought of being scrapped. I brought the old gal home and I am trying to give her some love to get some more life out of her.
She has been setting for a few years after the previous owner let her overheat with a clogged radiator. He cracked the head, so they pulled it down on the spot and changed the head. He said he spent $2000 on the head and $1000 on the water pump. They fired it up and it was still dumping water in the oil and combustion gas in the antifreeze. That was enough to make him mad, so they loaded up the machine, hauled it home, and put it out to pasture.
After perusing craigslist for something completely unrelated, I found her and had to bring her home. I made the two hour drive a few times to drop the oil and get her running long enough to load on the lowboy. That was an adventure in itself, as the steering booster was frozen up on one side, so I had a one sided adventure getting her on the detachable.
The hour meter surprised me at 3800 hours. Must be broken. Wait a minute, it works! Definitely bringing it home! Tracks in decent shape, rollers a little worn, but would be OK for what I need.
The fuel was rotten. It was also slimy. Oh boy.... I had it running for about 5 minutes before it plugged the filters. Nasty, nasty stuff. I changed filters and got it to prime up and run some more. Had to keep the cap off the radiator because of all the combustion gas, but it ran enough to move and load.
Got her home and started pulling her apart. I found that the input plungers on the booster had rust from condensation. Got the rust off the booster input plunger and made sure the steering clutches worked. It was a big relief to feel power from both sides!
This means that it was time to attack the engine. Got the loader in the air and the sheetmetal off. I finally got to test the capacity of the pit in the farm shop. That sure beats the heck out of working in a space I can almost lodge myself into.
I decided to pull the oil pan off after dropping the belly plates. I am expecting to find cracked sleeves from the overheat. I drop the oil and the pan and see water dripping past the number one and two pistons from the bottom. I pumped up the radiator to 20lbs and water was dripping, so off comes the head.
Water is setting on 1, 2, and 3 pistons. What the heck is this? Gasket is great, but I look up and see water around the precombustion chambers on 3 of 4 cylinders. The chambers were loose! They came out with channel locks! I am already into the engine, so I pulled the sleeves and I am resealing everything with new rings and rod bearings.
So this gets to problem number one- the bosses inside the head are pitted, and I am not sure how to get them to seal against the bottom of the chambers. The "gaskets" are steel spacers.
By the way, I pulled the fuel tank and am getting it dipped. Twice...
Problem number two is the track tensioner. The tracks were tight when I first saw the machine. Now one side is limp and the other side relaxed a bit. The limp side has adjuster problems, so I pulled off the guards and found my spring was broke right at the end. There is not even a full revolution of what broke off. I will replace it eventually. Maybe.
The problem is with the vent holes. There are two vent holes that are oozing grease. I tightened up both the valve and the fill. It seemed to slow it down but will not pump tight. Is this bad valves?
Sorry for the novel, but I would appreciate any advice!!