D4 7U Seized?

If you shut it down, most likely it isn't seized from lack of oil. Could be.........but not likely. Just how low was it when you checked it?

Any chance it got water down the exhaust or otherwise has water/coolant in it which is now frozen? Could also have water in the clutch housing which has frozen.

Do you crank it with the pony motor or do you have direct electric start? What does it do when you try to crank it?

I've overhauled an engine or two that lost oil pressure and were run to destruction. It becomes a race to failure between pistons seizing and coming apart and connecting rod bearings galling. If you can put a wrench on the crankshaft somehow, try to turn it a little. With seized pistons, you can usually get a tiny bit of movement on the crankshaft if the pistons are at TDC/BDC. If a bearing is seized, I don't think you will get any movement on the crankshaft at all. Could also take side covers off the engine and reach in to shake the connecting rod bearings and inspect for signs of heating and bearing material flaking

It was pretty much empty when I shut it down but that's because the gauge popped all the way off where it comes out of the engine. I don't think it took too long at that point for the oil to come out. I wasn't pushing dirt with it or pulling large logs when I had to shut it down, so the machine wasn't being over stressed when this happened. And I had been off of the machine a few minutes before and didn't notice anything out of ordinary. I noticed a loss of power right before I shut the engine off.

It could be water because I noticed yesterday that the pony motor exhaust is exposed, and I'm not sure why exactly unless the cap fell off. Could it be from that? I just had the machine converted to direct start about three months ago. When I try to crank it makes a clicking sound and nothing moves very much. I didn't hit it very hard because I don't want to burn anything out. I can turn the radiator fan by hand but the crankshaft won't move.

I'll try some things when I go out today and let you know what I find.

That loss of power just before you shut it down is not a good sign.Your engine may have been seizing up at that time .Just to make sure its not a starter or electrical problem giving you a false reading ,I would remove the starter ,and try to bar over the engine through the starter mounting hole with a big screwdriver or pinch bar prying on the ring gear .If engine is seized you know it imediatly if it turns over you have a electrical problem or starter pinion may have locked up the ring gear .

Thanks for the replies guys. I checked it out yesterday and the crankshaft does move a tiny bit. I know this might be kind of a hard question, but with seized pistons what am I looking at in terms of the cost of parts for repairs? Can the work be done up there or should I take the engine off the tractor and bring it to the shop? I have the reference manual that shows how to remove everything. I have friends who can help me out with the work, but I'd like to know some kind of estimate. I appreciate it. I've put so much money into this machine already it doesn't make sense to not keep it going. Plus the body is in fairly pristine shape even though the engine was neglected in a lot of ways before I got it.

I don't know what your weather and your tolerance for misery are like, but it would be possible to block up the front of the tractor and remove the equalizer spring to allow removal of the oil pan. There is a thread Bill Glen put up a year or so ago detailing the process he went through to replace some spun crankshaft bearings after his 933 loader was started with frozen water in the bottom of the oil pan. The whole job was done with the engine in the loader, but I cannot remember if he even took the head off since his problems were mostly bearings.

Might also be possible to "recover" the whole machine and put it in the shop with a suitable machine. Sure is nicer to work with all the comforts of home!

Bill Glen's unit was a 955. I remember being pretty heavily involved with advising recovery on that one. There were a lot of nay sayers that doubted recovery was possible without complete tear down and overhaul.

I'm not sure where you are located. I may have a lead on a complete 7U engine. Let me know if you want me to follow up on it.