220 engine rebuild

Hello Everyone, New member here and was glad to find a place with so much AC knowledge. I am also new to posting on forums in general. I'm not sure if a new thread was right for this or if I should have posted this on the 210 discussion. I'm starting the re-assembly process on a 220 engine and in looking for information I found a post on this site regarding the 210 engine overhaul from Jim's Automotive and Machine, and a lot of good conversation. The engine I'm working on is an exact experience of what he had, fresh overhaul and trashed pistons and liners. The parts I have to do the current overhaul are from Reliance. The manual i have for reference is a Jensales reprint with AC-S-2-20 on the cover. In taking this one step at a time I am now to checking piston to cylinder clearance. The book calls for minimum .0065. I'm getting .0035 out of the box. The information supplied with the kit was not of much help and just stated to inspect parts and install per OEM instructions. I'm planning on having the liners honed for more clearance. This tractor is going to see field use so my goal is longevity and reliability. What would be a good number to achieve this? Sorry to be so long winded. I will have more questions along the way and I also welcome any questions on what went on with this the first time around.    

Make sure the sleeve spins freely in the bore without the o-rings.  Also, I was told to use vegetable oil to lube the o rings to minimize swelling that motor oil can cause.  If you're getting these measurements with the parts not installed, then I am not sure.

Jim's auto one was failed due to the injection shop misassembling the injection pump leaving him lost on timing marks. Not sure why so many shops struggle with the DC pumps. 

Thank you all for replying. This project will take me a bit and I will have more questions and updates along the way. I will look over the clearances discussion on p 17 before going any further. The liners are not installed yet.

Thank you for all the information. I will be taking the rods to be checked and get liners honed for clearance. One more thing I'm unclear on is flipping the rods around when installing them. Is this to put the solid side of the bearing where more support is needed?

Hello JM185,

When you say you believe today's alloys  expand less than days of old, what do you base this on? Not saying you are wrong, just wonder how/what you know for fact.

You have brought up a very good point.  We are basing our opinion on what we have generally seen in the engine rebuilding industry over the last 40 years.  Piston to cylinder wall clearances have overall become tighter and tighter with the ever-changing alloys used in pistons that allow for more controlled heat expansion.  But you are right, we have no data to prove our point, so we are going to do an experiment to either prove us right or prove us wrong.  I still have the old original A-C pistons and I have the first set of Reliance pistons from my failed engine.  We will cut them apart to see what if any steel struts they may or may not have within.  Then we are going to do precise measurements of the expansion at various temperatures.  We will document what we find in a YouTube video for the world to see.  Stay tuned, I excited to see what we find.

I can get my hands on a set of six FP Diesel (Federal Mogul) pin bushings for about $100 including freight to you.  They will have extra stock allowing them to be bored to the correct size to fit your pins and to the correct center-to-center rod length.  The Agco bushings would also need to be done the same way.  Almost all engine manufacturers require machine work to properly fit piston pin bushings.  Give me a call if you would like us to get a set of FP Diesel bushings for you.

Dr Allis posted a response to the video we did on my engine stating the camshaft needs to be updated and a 4" long grade 8 bolt installed to retain the gear.  I'm assuming A-C had issues with the gear either coming off or breaking the nose of the camshaft.  This long bolt would certainly solve those issues.  

the new camshaft with the 1/2 key and bolt is designed to put the nose of the camshaft in compression to add strength and prevent breakage.

Is there a washer involved with the camshaft bolt to capture the gear as well or is it strictly a bolt for tensioning the camshaft nose? I just want to make sure I understand this correctly. I have new rod bolts coming and will check the roundness of the big end with the new bolts torqued to spec. As far as piston material goes, all my book says is they are an aluminum alloy with a tin coating. Regarding the discussion of piston clearance and the muddy waters of what the aftermarket parts are made of, is there a general guideline of what too loose is? I feel knowing the limit on that may help others in deciding what to choose on their rebuilds. A saying a read once that I believe was an article on bearing clearance, "if it's too loose, you know. If its too tight, everyone knows." I prefer to error on the safe side but that has limits too. I just thought some insight in that area would be helpful.

When I did my 210 engine, the camshaft was already drilled and had the long bolt and washer already installed.  I removed the gear and then I sent the camshaft and lifters to Delta Camshaft in Tacoma WA to be reground.  It and the lifters came back looking and performing like new.  I think they could also drill and tap the end of the camshaft for the bolt.  This would be much cheaper than a new camshaft and lifters and you would still have your original "Made in the USA" camshaft and lifters - not something from offshore.  Give them a call, they are good people: 800-562-5500.  The pistons from Reliance are definitely not tin coated.  How much clearance is too much?  In my opinion I'd say anything over .002" extra will greatly reduce the life of the engine.  But as you stated about the bearing clearance, it will be much less likely to come back with a scoring issue.  Would my engine have not scored if it had extra clearance?  Maybe.  But the root cause of the problem would have still been there and would have eventually surfaced somewhere else.

I find this discussion very interesting. 20 years ago I bought a 220 with a fresh rebuild from an estate. The owner never heard it run. Long story but I swapped this engine into a 210. I have used this tractor very little because after about 30 minutes of light field work it drops a hundred RPM or so and seems to labor. Was told that it could be a fuel issue but this discussion has me wondering about piston clearance and/or ring gap. Nephew has opened l his own engine machine shop rebuilding everything from tractor to race, to heavy truck engines. He is meticulous. Recently rebuilt a 9L JD engine with a factory kit and still found a ring or two with to little end gap. I'm starting to wonder if I should have him teardown my 210 engine to check the clearances. I don't have much work for it since there are a few other big orange horses in the barn. 

Too tight of skirt or ring gap won't pull down a 100 RPM. It pulls down and STALLS !! all in about 2 or 3 seconds.