Archive through November 01, 2012

[digger]

Harry B.
That's why I specified what bearing I used personally. That wheel is comes with a heavy duty bearing which I remove and use the OEM.
I pump it in until it starts oozing out somewhere. Grease is cheap!
Especially when you find 30 gallon barrels of IH 251H E.P grease for $48.00, LOL

 

[jchamberlin]

Matt & Harry: Once the axle is in place there isn't a whole lot of space to fill up with grease.
I planned to install a zerk on the wheel hub, but after Marlin's and Dennis' posts I'm considering ways in which 90W could be introduced into the same space.

 

[hydroharry]

Charlie - thanks for clarifying. That Super HD bearing and your testimony for years of use looks and sounds like the the only thing to use.
And 30gal of grease for $48 sounds like a reasonable price - but does that include the barrel? Or do you pay a deposit and return the barrel when empty?

Jeremiah - yes I saw Marlin's and Dennis' posts but how do you keep the gear oil from running out and getting all over the wheel?

 

[dfrisk]

HARRY - A thin swipe of your favorite gasket-in-a-tube would be needed around the OD of one of the sealed bearings CHARLIE posted the pic's of before you installed them into the wheels, plus a thin swipe around the OD of the spindle. The bearings can actally slide around on the spindle some. If you shim them too tight on the spindle you stress them axially and shorten their life, but that should hold off most of the leakage. Depends on how well you seal them up and shim them.

I haven't tried it yet, I normally just make sure they have plenty of grease around the ball bearings and run them. But the problem with grease is once the balls or rollers make a path through the grease they get very little lubrication anymore. Oil with the ability to flow well keeps them lubricated much better. I don't think the oil would leak out between the inner bearing race & spindle that much anyhow, but would try to leak between the outer race & wheel which could be sealed really well.

 

[jchamberlin]

Forgive what may be a dumb question, but I think the head gasket is leaking on my K321A, and I KNOW that the engine is consuming oil --more under load, although I don't notice a lot of smoke.
Am I correct in assuming that there is a dirct relationship between a leaking head gasket and the oil consumption?

 

[nbextermueller]

Jeremiah,

They only direct relationship I can make between is that the engine is getting worn out.

In fact the relationship could be the opposite from the question, the worn rings and oil burning could have lead to a blown head gasket.

 

[dfrisk]

JEREMIAH - I would disagree with saying there's a relationship between burning oil and a leaking head gasket. NIC is probably correct saying the engine is worn out and needing work.

A leaking head gasket will leak oil out of the gasket and coat the top deck then burn the oil into a sticky mess, but very little oil, maybe a teaspoon on a hot block makes a BIG mess.

Was the head gasket an OEM Kohler with the fire ring inside the combustion chamber or an after-market without the fire ring? Was the head flat when the gasket installed? Were the head bolts/nuts retorqued after a half hour of running? Was the timing and carb adjustments correct? Those are all things that blow head gaskets.

Is/Was the breather under the carb assembled correctly, and clean and functioning correctly? How long since the last crankcase vacuum test was done? The one shown in the Kohler manual using a U-Tube manometer. Are there any oil leaks like from the frt & rear crankshaft seals or the oil pan or bearing plate behind the flywheel, or the governor shaft coming out of the big brass nut? If the engine isn't smoking, showing that it's burning the oil there's a chance the oil use is due to leaking. Some oil consumption is typical for all engines. Some more so than others.

Notice the two things, blown head gasket and oil consumption have two different sets of cause & effects.

 

[hydroharry]

Jeremiah - so based on what Nic and Dennis say do you still think you "might" have a leaking head gasket? Or was your question more like "could my increased oil comsumption be the result of a blown head gasket?" - to which, if I understand Nic and Dennis, it's unlikely.

 

[jchamberlin]

Nic & Dennis: Thank you for the answers and the insight.

Harry, My question was more along the lines of "could my increased oil comsumption be the result of a blown head gasket?" --although you put it better than I did. Like you, I concluded from Nic's and Dennis' response that my oil consumption is not likely to decrease by much if I simply replace the head gasket.

Nic is correct in assuming that the engine is worn, I was just wondering if replacing the head gasket alone would be enough to "stem the flood" as it were. It is probably leaking in ALL the places Dennis mentioned.

I will proceed with my original plan to tear it all down and see what I find. I'm hopeful that I won't need to bore it 0.010" over, but we'll see how tapered the bore is when I pull the piston out.

Again, thanks guys.

 

[bwittman]

Jeremiah,

If you can figure out how to install a Stemco seal, or something similar, like the trucks use, I would be all for it. I agree with all this "use the best quality bearing and an ample amount of the best grease" talk. Still, packing a wheel bearing is a dirty, sticky, nasty job, that always seems to pick up the maximum amount of dirt possible when re-assembling the wheel.

 

[canderson]

hi all i have a striped oil drain plug on my IH 982 with the onan. how did you fix it??? thanks chris a.

 

[nhasson]

All this wheel bearing talk...When I rebuilt my 149 I ended up buying wheels from the tractor supply store that had a grease zerk in them (and tires on them). They were powder coated a bright white so I had to sandblast them so I could paint them IH white. Other than that, I reassembled them, greased the heck out of them and regrease them every other time I use it. They had good bearings in them from new and I hate the mess, but I grease until it comes out somewhere, wipe it up and go from there. Not the OEM tread though. But much better shape than the ones that came with the tractor. Just my .02. Nick

 

[mgonitzke]

Brian-
It's very difficult to get dirt in your freshly-greased bearing when you clean the wheel and spindle before reassembly

 

[dfrisk]

CHRISTOPHER - I'm going to assume you stripped the threds out of the oil pan. The threads on the Onan are not a taper pipe thread, they're more like an Acme thread and the plug seals with a gasket. I think the factory plug hole is too large to drill & tap 1/4" NPT threads into the pan, the 1/4" NPT needs a 7/16" drill bit which won't drill out all the stripped threads. I think you'll have to drill the hole to 9/16" and tap 3/8" pipe threads and install a 3/8" NPT pipe plug. Taps that big start getting expensive but they're cheaper than a new oil pan or welding up the old pan and tapping new OEM threads.

I haven't had to do that to my Onan but I did have to do that to the transmission oil pan on my old 250 CC OSSA dirt bike and it was fine for many years afterwards.

I did strip the hex off the oil plug on my Onan about 2 yrs ago. I was finally able to get a good newer pair of Vice-Grips to hold onto the plug to remove the old plug. I went to my local off-brand green & yellow lawn mower dealer and got a new drain plug from them. It fit great, but instead of the hex only being 1/8" high it was TWO Inches high, I cut the hex off about 3/4" high and now I can get any wrench solidly on the flats of the hex. Plus the new plug was only about $3.50.

 

[hydroharry]

Nick - are those wheels and tires the ones shown on the 149 in your profile. Look like nice wheels and they have the wide offset to the outside (like the wheels on narrow frame tractors).

 

[prtombaugh]

As long as the discussion is bearings and wheels, maybe I can slip in a tire question. I recently bought an early (#62xx) Original and it had the below pictured tires. Did Originals ever come with gum dipped Firestones?

 

[lcarter]

On the thought of grease, since the front wheels of the cub never rotate very fast (as related to cars, etc.). Would the use of a high temperature grease be the wrong way to go? I would guess that a high temperature grease means it can withstand a higher temperature before it breaks down, but does a high temperature grease mean it doesn't coat or flow as well at low temperatures? If that is the case should we use a low temperature grease (if there is even such a type) that flows better for the rpm and temperatures our wheels operate at.

On that point does anyone know if grease actually becomes a liquid to lubricate (at the point of metal to metal contact in the bearing) or does it always remain as a semi-solid. If that is the case then we should do as Charlie suggested and load the hub with grease so we make sure there is always grease in contact with the bearing. If not then the grease may actually be in the middle of the hub versus out where it needs to be.

 

[rmcshane]

Paul-Couldn't tell you if those are factory, but they are sure cool. I bet they are pretty hard to find.

 

[nbextermueller]

Brian W.

I have always packed bearings using a quart size Ziplock plastic freezer bag. Just drop in the bearing, scoop or squirt in ample amounts of your favorite grease, zip it closed, and squish all the grease right in the bearing. When finished, open it open and use a rubber glove to grab the bearing and slide it where I need it. Minimal mess and grease loss. You can keep using the baggy until you've managed to tear a hole in it.

Larry,

If you've ever read an oil post of mine, you should know what's coming... I used Lucas Oil Red 'n Tacky #2 grease. It slightly separates at room temperature letting oil get to the good places. But also will easily mix back together as the wheel turns. And yes, your right. High temp grease withstands higher temps.

In my opinion, if your going to use anything other than a multipurpose grease for the greasable spots on a cub, use Marine grade grease. At least it will keep water out better and resist wash out during your cubs monthly wash. (You are washing your cubs monthly right?) kidding....

Edit: you should be filling the hub with grease. Would you rather have $5 worth of grease in there, or any empty space that gives room for water condensation, air, dirt, rust, and other things that are not grease? At $30+ a pair of bearings and down time to fix broken ones, seems like its worth my $$ to keep them filled up.

Also, unless your wheels have 2 grease fittings, how are you getting grease to the other bearing without filling it up. Last I checked, assuming only does one thing, make an a$$ out of u and me...

 

[lcarter]

Thanks Nic for the idea of using the baggie for greasing the bearing. I think I shall pull and regrease all my Cubs front bearings and fill the hubs also since I am done with the Cubs until spring (when it snows here we ooh and aah until it melts that afternoon).

Your explanation of the differences in oil was the best I have ever heard. On that thought could it be that using synthetic oil and the lack of small oil particles be the reason for less oil use, would this also have anything to do with the recommendation for low ash oil in the Kohler engine? That is if the ash and their smaller size(?)is the culprit in the carbon deposits. Believe it or not I do spray my cubs off after each use (water only, not soap).