This post is about the dry sleeved IH diesel engines used in 806,1206,856,1026,1256 and1456 tractors. These are the D361,DT361,D407and DT407 engines.
The sleeves in these engines are "dry" they do not have any coolant against them. They are a replaceable block liner.They are very thin with a narrow flange at the top that fits a counter bore in the top of the block. The fit or press of the sleeve in the block is very important because the heat dissipation from the cylinder has to transfer through the sleeve to the block. IH designed this system with critical specifications . Many times I here of these engines running for many many hrs. (one D361 in particular with 31,000hrs) with no cylinder issues other than normal wear. Then the engine is overhauled and it starts knocking in 2 or 300 hrs of service. What happened?
Most likely the new sleeves were not installed correctly. The following is about such a case of a D407 in a 856.
This engine was recently overhauled. 4 of the sleeves are broken or cracked at the flange.Three pistons have chunks broken off the edge and pices of sleeve embedded in the top. Luckily the head is ok. This is caused during installation. The driver used may not have fit the sleeve or they were driven down with a block of wood and or the block bore was not clean. The press was correct.It took the correct pressure to remove them.
The sleeves in the D361,DT361,D407and DT407 engines need to be pressed in evenly using a press or sleeve puller/press like the one shown in the picture. The press or tightness of the sleeve in the block is critical.
The sleeve protrusion should be checked with a depth gauge to make sure the sleeve will be bottomed or within .002" of being bottomed when the sleeve is pressed in.In some instances it may be necessary to add a shim.
A sleeve driver puck should be used to press the sleeve in to a .005" protrusion above the block deck.I use a machined plate that fits inside the sleeve and is machined so that when the plate is pressed down tight to the block deck the outer lip of the sleeve is .005" above the block. All six sleeves need to be within .002" of each other. When the cylinder head is torqued down the sleeves will be pulled in an additional .002"-.003" making a perfect crush seal of the head gasket and sleeve.
To check the press watch the pressure on the hand pump gauge required to pres the last few strokes to seat the sleeve. The service manuals give the pressure ranges for the different engines and also the formula used to convert pump gauge pressure to pounds of force for the ram you are using. If you choose to freeze the sleeves. Just put them in a deep freeze overnight. Dry Ice works too but try not to get them colder than 0 degrees. The block can be warmed up to a max of 150 degrees. This makes installation a lot easier and I recommend it. If you do this, the pressure to seat the sleeve will be far less. So to check the "press". Attach the sleeve puller ( like you are going to remove the new sleeve.). Set up a dial indicator on the block with the plunger on top of the sleeve. Make sure the sleeve and block have acclimated.( both are at room temperature). Check your service manual for the press force of your engine and your puller ram. Pump your pump on the puller up to the minimum press force. If the dial indicator does not show any movement. The press is correct.
This is a crucial part of a successful overhaul for these dry sleeve engines. If the press is too loose ,the sleeve can move up and down with the piston. If you try to pound the sleeves in with a mallet and a block of wood you will likely break or crack at least one sleeve or the sleeve can become distorted and cause piston scoring.. You may not even notice it until the engine is back in service. The heat and pressure when under load will cause the undetected crack to open and eventually a piece of the flange will break off and fall into the cylinder causing the engine to knock when the piece of sleeve lying on top of the piston strikes the cylinder head or valves.
At that point you just threw away the cost of the overhaul kit.
Hopefully this will help avoid some frustration.
Joe