D2 5U Restoration

That is a nice D2 to restore as it looks complete, it will be good to watch your progress, I restored a D2 5U about 2 years ago and hopefully it will be coming home in August as it is still 2,000 miles north of me, they are a nice tractor to drive.

Before you pull that pilot motor off I suggest you remove both cylinder heads first to check the bores and valves, it only takes a few minutes and you can reuse the head gaskets 90% of the time if you are careful, you might find a few hours soaking the pistons with a good loose juice like 50% Diesel mixed with 50% ATF, then a gentle tap on the pistons with a block of wood may be all it takes to free the pilot motor, you will have lots to do as it is and hearing at least one motor running will be a confidence booster. Grab the pilot motor flywheel and try and move it, if it moves more than 1/4" in any direction then you may need to pull the motor apart to replace the crankshaft bearings, but if the movement is minimal I'd replace the crankcase oil and work towards trying to fire up the pony unless you have been told by the previous owner it has major internal problems. Get hold of a D2 Owners book ASAP as it will show all the lube points, before firing the pilot motor up you will need to make sure you have oil or ATF in the pilot motor starter clutch / pinion.

If you do a search through old posts on D2 / D4 pilot motors you will find every topic covered that might affect you, basically if the pistons move in those motors and you have a good magneto, clean fuel and a clean carby they will run even on very low compression, you might find that tractor frees up easily with a good soak of loose juice, try the easy way first before taking parts off is my advice.

Good luck
Mike

You have a nice complete looking tractor there which is always a good start nice wide grousers or pads as you fellas call them

Mike Im trying my best to get organised for August but it was on the news the other night we have had the driest wet season on record it will most likely be a bit late as I cant be away from the farm to long I gotta stay around and water it will do my best though

seeya

Paul

Mike thanks for the pictures of the planter and the D2 we will get there one day just the stars all have to align fir things to happen and they didnt even get close this year we had about 12 inches of the 40 plus we were meant get of rain

Paul

That's OK Paul, don't worry, luckily Joe likes having that D2 in his shed even though he has no room for it, you were hoping to take your Mack to Alice Springs weren't you to the Trucking Hall of Fame get together, that will be a big disappointment for you, no doubt your mates in Kerang were looking forward to seeing you again too.

Hi Pete, yes, a picture does say a thousand words, doing the steering clutches in a D2 is more than a few days work because you find other issues as you go that need attention like having to replace all the bearings on the cross shaft and final drives too, plus a broken track spring needed replacing and the brake linings, I learn't some new tricks and some new words working alongside Joe, he has done a lot of these D2 repairs over the years and was fitting a electric starter to a D2 3J while we worked on my 5U, plus we refurbed the track frames on a D6 8U as we went, the guy is a legend, best Bush Mechanic in north Queensland.

I don't want to hijack this thread but the photo's will show it is definitely not a 2 day job and hence I speak from experience when I say to keep it simple initially when working on any old non running Cat.
Regards
Mike

Great pictures Mike,
Joe's the guy that works barefoot right. I remember the post from a couple years ago.
Roger

Thanks for the good advice, I removed the heads on the pilot motor (like Mike suggested) and found that the one cylinder that had the exhaust valve open was full of rust and the wall seems pretty badly pitted. I made an attempt at freeing the piston with ATF and diesel, but the piston wouldn't budge. I even had my brother pull on the fly wheel while I smacked the piston with a block of wood and a mallet. Im out of ideas so now I'm assuming I have to take the pilot motor off of the tractor to free the piston and rebuild the motor. I searched the forums, I may not be looking for the right thing, but is there a specific way of removing the pilot motor? It doesn't look like it can go straight up with out hitting the compression release...

-Louis
Oh and what type of mag did these pilot motors have originally?

First you have to take the dash off. Then there are 8(?) nuts holding it down to the main. Some are way under the cylinders, a couple require extensions and swivel as they are between the pony and main. Compression Release linkage will probably need to be partially disassembled. When it is free, it will lift and tip slightly back as you lift it. Search for Uncle Rich thread as he documented lots of a U series disassembly, his thread makes for good reading!