Oh-oh!

Quote: " I've always heard it recommended that when coolant gets in the oil, the main bearings should be replaced as well."

So have I. Especially if the tractor has been run with coolant in the oil long enough to get a good guesstimate on the leak rate!

True, Steinbeck said, "Bearings can knock until (the Lord) comes." But he was writing FICTION!

I think your most realistic option at this point is to borrow a tractor from a neighbor to do your plowing, unless you can get the tractor rebuilt in time.

Or, you can run it into the ground. It just may last long enough to do your planting and plowing and then when things are "laid by" you can do the rebuild then.

But every cell in my Bohemian body recoils at the latter suggestion. You run the risk of doing a great deal of damage. It is infinitely more practical to borrow a tractor.

Between us, the three closest neighbors and myself have TWELVE tractors to run only about 500 acres of land!

Of course, one is an 8N which has the fuel system rusted closed and so it doesn't really count.

Even so we all seem to be real good at BUYING tractors and very poor at SELLING them.

I will pull the oil pan and pressurize the cooling system to see which pistons are leaking.

Not sure what my next step will be. I usually do not like to use Barr's leak unless it's an emergency - I may have time to pull the head and replace the sleeve or o-ring that is leaking. But - If one sleeve/o-ring is bad it seems like the others can't be far behind, so if I'm going to do the work to fix one I should probably fix them all. Is this a safe bet?

I don't want to run it with coolant getting into the oil, but I did want to ask - worse case will I damage the bearings if I run it this way?

Maybe the best bet is to try Barr's leak and use the tractor, then schedule it for a rebuild over the summer once the plowing is done.

I'll post back with my results.

If the sleeve has been eroded completely through so that the coolant is coming through the sleeve wall, antifreeze will soon cause the piston to score. This can also happen when coolant gets picked up from the bottom of the sleeve with o-rings leaking. A scored piston can come apart and do major damage. I had one where a piece of piston skirt got between the rod and block and pushed a hole in the side of the block.