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John Deere 210 engine rebuild

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mackendw

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi:

Starting to do an engine job on my John Deere 210. Kohler K241AQS engine on it. Was smoking like a banshee all last summer. Burned about a quart of oil a week.

Picked up a set of STD rings for the engine, a ball hone, piston ring expander, valve clamp, a set of measurement calipers for measuring the piston sleeve and piston, crank journal and an expanding ball tool for checking the diameter of the valve sleeve.

Spent the weekend stripping the engine "stuff" off (points, carb, belts, pulleys, etc.)

Will post pics as I get them loaded from the phone.

Appreciate any feedback/pointers as I go thru the process..

thx.
Wendell
 
#2 ·
My 314 smokes and blows oil out the breather. It's time for an overhaul.
 
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Discussion starter · #3 ·
here are some pics of the head with it removed and the piston and valves - no cleanup having been done...yet. Note that the piston is STD (bonus!). there is no slop in the piston ie: side to side movement. there is a quite thick buildup of oily goo/carbon on the side of the block on the exhaust valve side. took quite a bit of scrubbing with carb cleaner to remove it. you can see on the piston buildup of carbon near the valves as well. there are chunks of carbon in the areas under where the valves should be closing against...so this might account for the oil getting into combustion chamber and making its way out around the head gasket.

next step is to pull the engine out and mount it to my new stand...then I can finish the tear down.
 

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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Just finished picking the engine off the tractor. Man this is one heavy beast. Oil draining out of the block...then onto further strip down. question on washing the block down. I have the carb off now, fuel pump, valve cover. If I use a pressure washer is the water going to be an issue? I'll be removing the piston, rod, to do measurements so I'll make sure I get all the water out. and re-oil it so it doesn't rust in the air.

Here are some more pics of the progress...
 

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Discussion starter · #7 ·
the engine in the machine is a short block replaced in the early 1990's. the valves are in decent shape. the intake one is like new. the stem has nothing on it at all. the top had some carbon on it but that came off with some carb cleaner. there is some black discoloration on the stem of the exhaust valve but it is smooth and came out of the sleeve with no effort. I buffed it with a wire wheel on the stem and am soaking it in simple green overnight. will lap them back into the valve openings tomorrow. I'll post a pic of the exhaust valve to get a feeling from the community if you guys think it is reusable.

when I took the pan off it was stuck on like crazy. the installer who put the short block in must have used adhesive on the gasket to make it sticky on. had to scrape most of it off the pan with a flat blade.

will take the piston and rod out tomorrow.

question on the wire grate over the flywheel. there are 4 phillips head screws holding this on. they are seized. I heated them up with a torch and tried hitting them with a hammer with a screwdriver in the slot to break any rust free. no go. any good ideas here on how to get them loose with out grinding a notch on them and using vice grips to grasp them and wiggle them back/forth?
 
#12 ·
Make sure to have a brand new sharp #3 Phillips bit on those air screen screws. I just took them off a 1980 212 with K301 this last week. Been on 40 years. Stuck pretty well but the Milwaukee M18 Fuel impact driver got them out.
 
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#13 ·
HeyYou said:
For stubborn screws, an impact driver is your friend. Whack it with a hammer, and it'll either break 'em loose, or break 'em off. :D
Click to expand...
Well dang I paid $120 for my snap-on impact driver.............

As for cleaning the block. Yes pressure wash it after you soak it with degreaser. Then use a blowgun to dry out the crank bearings and everything else. Then spray it down with WD-40 making sure you spin the crank and get the bearings soaked with WD as well as wiping the connecting rod journal, and make sure you wipe the cylinder walls down good too.
 
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Discussion starter · #14 ·
doing the work in my smaller garage/shed (10X16). hard to wheel this little beast (mounted on an engine stand) outside to pressure wash it. I used engine degreaser and coated the areas outside the carb, camshaft/gears, piston/valves. Let sit for 20 mins...wiped off good after using a brass brush to loosen the chunks of crud built up. Lot of stuff built up in the fins of the block. clean those out completely. do I need to do anything the metal before painting? ie: will there be any residue left from the degreaser that will prevent new paint from adhering?

have the piston/rod out now. piston looks pooched to me. scored pretty well on the top rim area adjacent the exhaust. that mean new one needed? see the pics
 

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#16 ·
You would need to measure and check the fit of the piston in the bore. Widest part of the skirt is what touches first and is subject to wear. It is probably aggrevated by overheating. Check the block diameter top and bottom in lots of places and see how much taper there is. If excessive taper re-boring and oversize pistons is the best solution.
 
#17 ·
Mack, I wouldn't get concerned about the scoring on the top of the pistons. Your rings do the actual sealing, theres about .010" clearance in the bores to the pistons, and pistons tend to move around some in that clearance. Probably bits of carbon in the head broke free and that's what scored piston. Your measurement, as Pete mentioned, will determine if you can reuse pistons or not. Measure and compare to spec. That will determine your next step. Bob
 
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Discussion starter · #18 · (Edited)
OK, here are the measurements I took of the cylinder bore: (updated)

X Y
-- --
3.2547 3.2515
3.2507 3.2539
3.2590 3.2598

Max OOR: .003 (which is OK)

Max Taper on X axis: .005 (not good)
Max Taper on Y axis: .008 (not good)

I did the measurements a couple of time getting used to the tool so they should be correct. This means machine work I take it....:sick:

I had issues interpreting the micrometer (metric) and had to convert values to inches.
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
so if I put a new piston and rings in after honing the cylinder and removing the ridge at the top of the cyl in the process, is the amount of taper I have going to wear out the rings quickly? or should I do bore work now and get an oversized piston?
 
#20 ·
Yup, going between metric and imperial dimensions are a pain! I would have converted the specs to imperial, but really no difference.

To answer your question, "is the amount of taper I have going to wear out the rings?" No, but they probably won't seal either! Your engine is out of spec and needs machine work. Bob
 
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