Mike, it's beautiful , awesome job, feels good don't it. Something about the satisfaction you get , when a rebuild comes all together. It looks Awesome!
It's alive! The 140 breathes again!
3
Well after three years of tinkering around restoring the family 140 it finally came to life, bellowing smoke, but still it lives!
I finally got to a point where I needed a working motor to continue on, so I put the old motor (not the original) back in to see just how bad it was, and to be able to continue working on the tractor. I had to jumper it from my truck as I have not yet found a battery of its own. First off the start solenoid was bad. The JD dealer closed 5 minutes before I got there, so I just bypassed that problem. A few seconds on the starter a little choke, a cloud of smoke and she was running! Not bad after 10+ years of just sitting outside in the snow and such.
I was at least able to make some checks on my wiring harness to make sure that was all good, adjust the control cam and check for hydraulic leaks. I still have some air in the hydraulic system that I need to bleed out though. The engine is however in bad shape. The head gasket is leaking. It's burning oil. And has a knock, but this may be due to the timing being slightly too far advanced. I was able to get it to idle down to 800 rpm. I at least can work on the rest of the tractor and rebuild the original motor this fall.
Many thanks to all for your help in this project!!!
![]()
![]()
![]()
I finally got to a point where I needed a working motor to continue on, so I put the old motor (not the original) back in to see just how bad it was, and to be able to continue working on the tractor. I had to jumper it from my truck as I have not yet found a battery of its own. First off the start solenoid was bad. The JD dealer closed 5 minutes before I got there, so I just bypassed that problem. A few seconds on the starter a little choke, a cloud of smoke and she was running! Not bad after 10+ years of just sitting outside in the snow and such.
I was at least able to make some checks on my wiring harness to make sure that was all good, adjust the control cam and check for hydraulic leaks. I still have some air in the hydraulic system that I need to bleed out though. The engine is however in bad shape. The head gasket is leaking. It's burning oil. And has a knock, but this may be due to the timing being slightly too far advanced. I was able to get it to idle down to 800 rpm. I at least can work on the rest of the tractor and rebuild the original motor this fall.
Many thanks to all for your help in this project!!!
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
2
Well, I had some time to work on the 140 again today and decided to pull the head off and see what was going on. As you can see the cylinder is wet with oil. The carbon build up was not as bad as I had expected. The good news is it is still a STD piston. A quick check of the bore and I think I can get away with just a .010" oversize. The thing that has me wondering is the wear on the piston toward the valve side. Is this normal given the age of the motor? There dosen't seem to be any evidence of pre-ignition. There is a lot of slop side to side of the piston to cylinder wall though. Now to find a good machine shop in the Northern KY, Cincinnati OH area!
![]()
Notice the gap on the valve side of the piston!
![]()
Notice the gap on the valve side of the piston!
Mike,
I am about to start a rebuild on my 70' Patio. It was burning a tremendous amount of oil even after I corrected an issue the PO did to the breather. After pulling the head and the valves, I found my valve guides were well worn out of specs. My cylinder bore is also checking at a point that I hope to get by with just a .010” overbore. But, I will not order parts until I bore and verify it cleans up completely. I also have a good amount of wear in the piston skirt, which allows the piston to rock in the cylinder bore. The wear you are seeing on the valve side, may just from the piston rock if your piston skirt is worn also.
Good luck on your rebuild! Are you going to do most of the work yourself? Looks like in your profile you are fully capable. Do you have your A&P? I picked up mine right out of high school (many moons ago - LOL).
Photo is of my 70' K321 - Teardown started.
![]()
I am about to start a rebuild on my 70' Patio. It was burning a tremendous amount of oil even after I corrected an issue the PO did to the breather. After pulling the head and the valves, I found my valve guides were well worn out of specs. My cylinder bore is also checking at a point that I hope to get by with just a .010” overbore. But, I will not order parts until I bore and verify it cleans up completely. I also have a good amount of wear in the piston skirt, which allows the piston to rock in the cylinder bore. The wear you are seeing on the valve side, may just from the piston rock if your piston skirt is worn also.
Good luck on your rebuild! Are you going to do most of the work yourself? Looks like in your profile you are fully capable. Do you have your A&P? I picked up mine right out of high school (many moons ago - LOL).
Photo is of my 70' K321 - Teardown started.
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
