Bought my first Cat crawler with a pony motor from nearby that had sat in a barn for 20-25 years. It looks in good shape, tracks roll free, both engines are free but the mag is dead. The pony and the mag are no issue, I have worked on several magneto gas tractor engines. Planning on draining everything, fresh oil, filters, etc, rebuild the mag and get the pony running. My problem is trying to get some thin oil into the cylinders to soak a while in case the rings are dry or stiff before I change the oil and start the diesel. I've only worked on small listers, Petter Lister, Hatz diesels and never anything this large (at least to me). Any way to get oil into the cylinders to sit a while before i crank this engine over without having to pull injectors? Is it a pain to pull the injectors and put the oil in there? I thought about straight down the intake and slowing turn the engine over allowing it to seep past the valves. Looking for ideas, Thanks.

I wouldn’t pour oil down either intake or exhaust. If it works like you want it to, you may wind up with enough oil in the cylinders to cause a hydraulic lock and then you’ll have to pull the injectors anyway to safely turn it over.

Pulling injectors isn’t too big of a job, just need a 3/4” open end wrench for the line nuts and a 1” socket and breaker bar or torque wrench to get the hold down nuts loose and retighten them later to 110 no more than 120#-ft. You’ll like to have a couple o-rings to replace the ones that will come off with the injector body and hold down nut. These are dust excluders, they don’t seal any fuel, so you can reuse the old ones or do without temporarily.

When you are reinstalling the injectors, clean any rust and dirt out of the precombustion chamber area and off the injector tip and body/adapter piece it screws onto. This screw connection between the injection “valve” as CAT calls the tips and the body is a loose fit and is not tightened past finger tight before you drop the whole thing into the precombustion chamber. Tightening the hold down nut seals the joint so it doesn’t leak fuel.

Line connection at top of injector body can be left slack to bleed air out of fuel system to prepare for starting.

I would file and set the points gap before removing the mag for service. That’s probably the most common problem.

Where you located neighbor?

Thanks CCJersey, I guess I'll pull the injectors after a good cleaning then start draining everything. I did consider the chance of hydro locking it. Not fun, happened to me once on my old B model mack after the can over the stack blew off in a heavy heavy rain storm. I'm over near Bowling Green Rome K/G .

Your just a stones throw away! I'm from Curtice, need anything email me.

"Rome wrote:

Your just a stones throw away! I'm from Curtice, need anything email me.

I appreciate that, might take you up on that when i get ready to start this thing.

I would not put oil or anything in the cylinders or take out the injectors, I would change fluids and just start it .

"caterpillar13" wrote:

I would not put oil or anything in the cylinders or take out the injectors, I would change fluids and just start it .

Wouldn't you have concerns with dried out rings and cylinder walls after sitting for 25 years?

no , as long as it rolls over freely you should be fine.
I have started several engines that have set for years, some in tractors that I use quite a bit and some are just toys