New member = new OC3 owner = broken piston problems

brdfrd · May 05, 2015, 02:44:16 PM

Hey folks,

New here, obviously. I just picked up a '53 OC3-42, serial number 3500030, to help clear an old farm we bought. Everything seemed to be in order, picked it up and trailered it home. The ride home stirred up crud in the tank, and after cleaning it out 3 times, got it to run again.

Seems to work well for clearing the overgrown brush as planned. Then I did something--not quite sure what--popped the clutch, or jammed it in gear too quickly. It happened kinda fast, just as I was getting the hang of it--when the engine suddenly started to make an awful clatterring, from up front somewhere. It was strange, because whatever it was that happened didn't seem too dramatic. Shut it down quickly and inspected everything externally, no holes, no oil pouring out. I'm a bit afraid the sudden load on the engine might have broke a rod or something. I started it on a low idle and was able to move it close to my barn for inspection. It's got good oil pressure, but it makes the clattering at any rpm, just not so noisy at idle.

So, now I've got a project instead of clearing the property. I expected as much, just not so soon. I ordered up the manual so I'll have an idea what I'm doing... I guess the first thing is to pull the tin off and make sure all the pistons are going up and down, followed by a compression test and valve inspection. Happy to entertain guesses as to what might have happened--I'll post more educated questions in the appropriate area once I have a few things narrowed down.

Thanks all, Brad

Lowspeedlife · May 07, 2015, 01:19:47 AM

Welcome Brad, sorry to hear about your troubles. If your OC3 has a hydraulic pump in front of the engine you might look there before tearing apart the engine. Also the fan might be something else to check on, a bad bearing might give you a rattling noise.
It looks like a nice machine from your avatar. Good luck & let us know if we can help.
Scott R.

brdfrd · May 07, 2015, 01:19:37 PM

Thanks Scott,

I did occur to me to take the belt off and see how it sounds. There is a some play in the pump as the fan can be wiggled a little by hand, but it isn't sloppy. And, yes it has the hydraulic pump up front--I noticed there was a little play in the couplings, so I'll try to see if I can check the alignment on the drive shaft for the pump. I'm going to have to wait until after Mother's Day to dig into it though. I'll post more in the OC3 section when I get a chance to check it out.

Thanks, Brad

mr.precision · May 08, 2015, 01:23:26 PM

On my HG42, which is similar, the driveshaft has (2) U joints which clatter like hell when starting the engine. They are located under a semi-circular panel, between the clutch housing and differential, and if that's where your noise is coming from you be able to hear it easily.
Does the noise stay the same when you push in the clutch?

brdfrd · June 07, 2015, 12:13:29 AM

Finally made some time to try to sort things out on my OC3. I had pulled the mag and the gov off and "thought" I marked them carefully, but it wouldn't start when it when back together. So, I had ordered the manual and started from the beginning and got everything timed correctly--made new gaskets for each, since they had clearly been seeping.

Once I got it running, the clatter really seemed to be coming from the front. So, I took the fan belt off to be sure it wasn't the water pump, which was a little loose. But, of course, it wasn't. Just turning it over with the starter and the wires off, it's slow enough to hear a single clank with each revolution. Not looking to good at that point... I'm thinking it's a busted rod or piston. I checked the compression and it wasn't too bad, until I got to number 4, zero. Damn. Popped the tappet covers off to eliminate the possibility of a stuck valve, of course, I'm not that lucky.

That was all I had time for today, but as I'm thinking about it, the bad cylinder may not even be the noise issue--they could just be coincidental issues. Anyway, looks like the head is coming off, and I'll be lucky if I get a chance to use it at all this summer.

Brad

brdfrd · June 10, 2015, 01:25:14 AM

So, I removed the head tonight... I'm afraid it couldn't be much worse. The number 4 piston is smashed and the connecting rod continued traveling on it's pre-determined path with the wrist pin slamming into the cylinder wall. The cylinder is gouged pretty well.

Pulling the engine for boring the cylinders over-sized, or sleaving the one, isn't really in the cards right now. I know it's not a great idea but, I'm thinking of removing the rod, plugging the cylinder, and running on 3--or honing it the best I can and hoping for the best. I really can't screw it up any more at this point.

Anyone around eastern PA have a spare Hercules IXB3 laying around?

Brad

eliwhitney907 · June 10, 2015, 08:06:36 PM

wow that really sucks sorry to hear it man. I know if my engine ever has a critical failure I plan to fully repower it with a small modern diesel, I will have to of course fabricate all the engine mounts but the beauty of it is how it connects to the transmission by driveline. therefore I would not have to worry about matching bell housing so long as I have a clutch type PTO. I could even use a standard PTO if I didn't mind fabricating a lever I could reach from the operator seat and dedicating 1 hand to its operation. find them as an package on old pumps mostly in my area. can get really good engines off light plants at auctions fairly cheap but would have to get a PTO to match the bell. I like perkins and john deere for small reliable diesels.

fortunately for me my engine currently runs very well.

I have a compression tester I use before I buy equipment anymore. it really don't take long to test each cylinder

brdfrd · June 11, 2015, 12:49:56 AM

I didn't test the compression, but I did operate it before I purchased it. It seemed to have enough power and there were no tell-tale knocks or odd noises. It seems I might have been a little ham-fisted learning to use it once I got home. There was a point where the engine got loaded up when the blade hung on a stump, I double clutched and tried to shift into reverse, which didn't go smoothly. It wasn't that dramatic an incident, but the second it engaged in reverse, it started to clatter pretty badly.

I could put a different engine in, but that's a whole other project I don't need to get into right now. I don't have my shop set up yet, and that would put off getting a new roof on the house. As much as I don't like half-assing it, that's the option I'm stuck with right now.

eliwhitney907 · June 11, 2015, 04:03:07 PM

we have a D9 at work has a dead hole. the piston is intact though it just has no compression. the only concern I would have if yours will run on 3 is if you remove piston and connecting rod may cause imbalance and take out other components. that D9 has been running on 5 for the whole 18 years I have been here. I think it would be better to put a piston in the hole as long as it wont hang up then removing it completely. just an opinion though hard to say when out of the box like that.

eliwhitney907 · June 11, 2015, 04:53:00 PM

another concern I just thought of you would want to disable the valve on the dead hole so gas couldn't get into the cylinder. the gas would slip right past the bad piston and get into your oil. you would essentially want the valve to stay closed.... I have not had a herc apart yet so couldn't say for sure how you would accomplish that.

eliwhitney907 · June 15, 2015, 05:15:16 PM

I looked at my oliver over the weekend.. that bell housing is so small I am not sure I could find a engine that would fit between the frames. hopefully I wont have to as like I said my engine does run really good. I bought a complete gasket kit for it and I plan to tear it all the way down and overhaul it preventively.

my best advice at this point is to try and find a parts machine what you could rebuild the engine on. of course that would be "another project" good luck hope you get something figured out for it.

try calling Zimmerman if you haven't he may have a new cylinder head laying around.