Update and question on my 86.

[Sycostang67]

I've been getting lots of little things taken care of, I replaced the rear brakes, hardware, and hub seals. I got all the lights working and the clock, also threw in a new tach sensor so the tach functions again. I bypassed the water separator and now the truck starts perfectly all the time. This thing is a blast to drive now. I still have one window regulator to fix and the stereo to install, but right now the smooth diesel clatter is music to my ears.

Here's my question, how long can I run with the water separator bypassed? I was thinking of going with a 7.3 filter head and using a wix filter with the built in separator. The only problem is finding time to hit the junkyard and hopefully locating one.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

You'll be fine - I drain mine every oil change (so between 3000 and 5000 miles) and all I ever see coming out is diesel fuel. Keep the tanks at least 3/4 full tho, to reduce condensation from moisture in the air.

 

[opusd2]

My 86 hasn't had the water separator for at least 15 years. With never a problem

 

[dyoung14]

It would be best if you put the 7.3 filter housing and run one of the wix filters with the water separtators built in

 

[Jake_IN]

My 86 hasn't had the water separator for at least 15 years. With never a problem

Completely off topic here but what happened to that tractor in your sig? From what i can see it looks to me like a 1066, if it is I use to run one of those all day long. Did the operator roll it? Or did something fall on it?

 

[opusd2]

It's a 966 that my brother bought off of a farmer for peanuts that we rebuilt and run on our farm now. What happened was that a hired hand wasn't paying attention when driving down the road with a full slinger and started to go into his ditch and over-corrected which rolled the tractor. Messed up one rear rim, killed the radiator support and steering column as well as twisting the tins and fuel tank and radiator.

So we replaced the cast pieces, rim, some tins ans straightened others. The fuel tank and radiator also had to be replaced. After all that the tractor was still under a $5K investment even with the repairs. And it runs like an ape! I think I almost like it better than our 1066 that we have, and that one is turbo'd.

 

[Jake_IN]

Glad to hear its still doing work, and that you got such a deal on it . Seems about every year around harvest somebody rolls a tractor from over correcting after a they drop a tire off the shoulder. Its easy to get in a hurry and just be screaming down the road and not pay attention for just a second or too. Good work though .

 

[opusd2]

Yeah, the guy walked away with just a broken arm and that was extremely lucky. Plus he had sense of mind to shut it down right away, which was great for the bearings. We dropped a cap and the bearing and crank surface was very clean.

It was a lot of fun rebuilding the tractor. Usually the work we do for other people are engine or TA rebuilds, clutches, those kinds of things. This was a welcome change.

And getting back on topic here, both the primary and secondary filters were pretty decent when we changed them out. You could tell they maintained the tractor well by that and the fact that the coolant conditioner filter had been changed recently. Believe it or not, a lot of farmers tend to forget that item.

 

[Sycostang67]

It's nice to know I can wait a bit to take care of that. I had some bad luck today, I went for a drive and the heater core blew out. Then I discovered I have 3:55 gears in my rear axle and 4:10's in the front. At least I found out before I installed the front driveshaft and tried to use the t-case.

 

[opusd2]

Yeah, that would have been a mess! If distance weren't such an issue, I'd trade you rear gears

 

[Matrix37495]

Offtopic, We've got a few of those old IH tractors. I was wondering what happened to that one. We still use a 1206, 1466, and 1486, along with a 460 to move stuff around. My boss restores old farmalls so we've got a few

On topic, I've been running without a water separator for a few years now. I heard all you have to do is change the filter a little more often....

 

[Sycostang67]

I have a spare full float sterling with 4:10's that I could swap in there but I really like the lower cruising rpm's of the 3:55's. This truck will spend the majority of it's time on the interstate pulling an enclosed trailer. I used to have a set of D50 3:55's I pulled from another truck, hung on to them for 5-6 years and finally tossed them last year sometime. I may just grab a 3rd member from a salvage yard next spring/summer. I did pick up a new heater core today, should have it installed tomorrow.

 

[opusd2]

I'd rather put an OD on my truck as opposed to changing the rear since the 4.10s are great unless you're on the interstate. Who knows, maybe I will just increase the tire size a bit to drop RPMS, but I still plan on keeping around 55-58 mph and letting the mini vans and import (and import sized domestic) shoeboxes pass me. I put a cd player in now, I'm fine.

But if I ever find the right deal on a 5 speed or bellhousing for one of my 4 speeds, I'm going that route.

And as for the off topic discussion on tractors, my favorite IH that we run is a 766 that my dad bought when I was just a munchkin. But I miss the IDI 560 that my brother traded to the local horse trader for a POS implement that was scrapped that same year. That 560 started no matter how cold it was, whether it was plugged in or not but plugging in the coolant heater definitely helped. And when cold she knocked like OJ's knees at his trial. But it always started.

All we ever did to it was replace the head gasket when we bought it, using some incredible Mercedes gasket spray that we also used on the 5.7 Olds diesels we bought and upgraded (which were incredible car engines if prepped correctly). Oh, and I upgraded the GP wiring to some very HD stuff. All the voltage you can get out helps, and overdoing it is my way of repairs.

 

[Sycostang67]

A 5spd isn't out of the question, if I find one I can afford before I swap the front axle then I will just swap the rear instead and stick with the 4:10's.