L3600 engine rebuild

[emac]

My L3600 with 1K hours sucked in a ton of dust when the aftermarket air cleaner ripped. Now I have tons of blow by. Starts and runs ok, just tons of smoke coming out of the crankcase vent. It has become progressively worse over the last year. I considered a couple of options and have decided to pull the motor and rebuild it.

I have split a tractor before, but never pulled the motor. From the manual, it doesn't look too bad. I am looking for some pointers on rebuild kits or doing the wrenching. I plan on taking it to a machine shop, once torn down, to check and place liners/pistons. This is my around the house tractor and does everything I need it to, so rebuilding just gets me back. Thanks in advance!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

There are no sleeves in that engine, you can do oversized pistons and rings.

 

[emac]

There are no sleeves in that engine, you can do oversized pistons and rings.

Thanks, I just assumed it did based on kits I saw online. I havent checked the actual numbers on the motor. Any suggestions for brand of kit? Should I stick with OE?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You have to be very careful with online kits as most will not be for your specific engine.
You already found out what bad / cheap aftermarket parts can do to an engine.

You need to get the engine out and measure cylinders, you might just need it honed and install new pistons and rings.
If not get it into a machine shop to know what size oversized pistons and rings are needed.
Give them possible sizes based on the available pistons and rings.
Just a quick look looks like the only available oversize is .50mm

Considering the few parts you'll need I would look at OEM parts first.
A must is OEM head gasket!
I don't have a specific aftermarket place I buy parts, Kumar Bros is pretty consistent with their part offerings.
I prefer OEM if it's affordable and available.

 

[lugbolt]

NIH is correct. I no longer trust aftermarket stuff either. Have had customers specify the cheap stuff, and I will either (A) back away from that job or (B) offer zero guarantee on any of the job. They're usually ok with option B.

Splitting and removing engine are real similar. Just a few more hoses and wires. Remove the front axle frame as an assembly and the engine is dangling out there on it's own. Then remove the steering pedestal assembly, a few pipes, hoses, wires, bellhousing bolts and the engine will fall off. Well we hope it doesn't, because they're kinda heavy and leave big craters in concrete.

from there, knowing it was dusted, I would highly recommend a complete disassembly and inspection. It may look ok and measure ok with micrometers and such, however we know dirt was inside the engine and there are a lot of places that dirt can just sit, eventually it breaks loose and causes even more troubles. This is a huge issue with atv/utv customers who sink their equipment. "Drain the oil til it's clean"...but the many nooks and crannies inside the engine hold some dirt and eventually it comes loose and takes out rod bearings crankshafts rods blocks pistons heads camshafts chains tensioners oil pumps--basically anything and everything. Tractor engines aren't cheap so IMO, I only want to have to do it once.

I did one of these many moons ago. Super good customer, parts to replace engine were on national backorder so we had to rebuild it. Took me about 30 hours start to finish, including a lot of the machine work (I had a home machine shop at the time, and what I couldn't do we paid a shop across town to do). He's got about 3400 hours on the rebuild and it's still fine according to him. But as said, it was a very thorough process. Cut corners, you also cut the lifespan of the engine.

 

[emac]

Thank you for the details. If I can 1k hours out of it, that will outlast me. I dont use this one much. Going to start on it today. My plan is to get the engine out and tear it down as much as I feel comfortable then to the machine shop. I will let them decide what I need to order. I will let them know it was "dusted"!

 

[emac]

Got it split today. It fought me pretty hard, but I prevailed. I am going to clean up, reorganize and remove the motor tomorrow. I should have backed the tractor into the shop, so my engine hoist could roll in easier. Shop manual is a good guide, but not complete for sure.

 

[PoTreeBoy]

I'd recommend taking several pictures. It may be a while before it goes back together, and if your memory is anything like mine . . .

 

[emac]

More progress today. I got the motor out and onto a stand. Removed the head. Cylinders appear to have some scoring. I had to fabricate a socket deep enough to get the front pulley nut off. Good use of Chinese sockets! A few more things to take apart, then off to a shop.

I cant believe the cost of the OEM clutch! Around $800 for everything! I am thinking of just repacing the TO bearing and disc. $600 for a PP. Tough decisions considering all the work it is to remove. I just dont know the lifespan of typical tractor clutches, I am sure it varies depending on use. I can be pretty tough on stuff.

All in all, so far not too bad a job.