Is a cool running powerful 426 Possible?

Good afternoon guys.  In September my dad passed and left me his 220 allis. I have  a small hobby farm (15 acres) and I was thinking of buying a 6 16 plow to grow.  I grew up on his 1000 acre farm ( that my brother still farms) and spent many a year clipping with the tractor which is why I assume he has given it to me.  I LOVE Allis and he had as follows  220, 7080, 7060, 200, 190xt 7000.  D21 he sold before he got his 220.  Without a doubt the 301 Allis is one of the finest diesels ever created. The 426 however....My brother has all but given up on them.  If I cant figure out why they all run hot, wont start, wont create boost, and have NO power under 2000 rpm he is just going to park them and buy a 1586 IH.  The 220 has new turbo, sleeve kit, cam, rebuilt pump and injectors pop tested at 3k. Everyone says always acts like I'm crazy, but I can rebuild the 301 and make it sing.  The 7080 is a monster when it is above 2200 rpm, under that and it will barely move itself.  My brother is contemplated putting compound turbos on it to make power to lug but as some have told him, best not to do anything to the "Harvey hand grenades" Really like to use my 220 and for him not to go to the red side... but outlook is not good.

Sorry to hear of your dad's passing. Sounds like my kind of guy. The 301 is a great engine, sounds great running day or night. I think the 426 was a good engine , but like anything it had it's limits. Several things cause one to run hot, loose fan belts, worn pulleys, impeller worn, timing off, missing foam around letting fan lose suction, stopped up radiator. Just to name a few. I would start trying to eliminate what is causing it. If your brother wants to go red, I would wonder if he really was kin! LOL HTH Tracy

That's a whole bunch of complaints all in one paragraph and kind of vague. "They all run hot"?...…"They won't start"?...."They won't create boost"????…… " They have NO power under 2,000 RPM and he's just going to park them and buy a 1586.  I won't even address the remaining complaints.  #1. Tractors that are 35+ years old running hot can sure be a lot of things. Like a dirty radiator inside and outside. Lack of foam around the entire radiator so air has to be directed thru the radiator core. New thermostats. Slipping fan belts and worn pulleys. (that 220 has to have really TIGHT fan belts or I know they will slip at full throttle). And on a 7000 series there is always a good possibility the temp gauge is reading high making you think it's hot when it isn't. Now if you want to argue about that, go right ahead cause I've changed out dozens of temp gauges and senders just for that complaint. I've also been down the road of "my radiator isn't dirty" and after I spend 3 hrs washing it out then it's clean thru the core where the air must go. #2. They won't start??  You must mean they start with difficulty??  Again 35 yr old starters and cables and on and on and on. You may as well buy the Farmall because on a 10 degree day I'm sure it will pop right off easy. That's their nature and they are 17 to 1 compression ratio.  Funny a guy who lives in Kentucky doesn't know what cold even is when it comes to cold starting. There are a lot of Customers who live way farther north of you that know how to get an AC started when they need it. #3. They won't create boost?? Really like ZERO boost ?? That 7080 must make some boost over 2,000 RPM and 18 psi would be a minimum under full load.  Your 220 should make probably 12 to 14 psi boost at full load depending on what turbo is on it. I would have installed a 7000 series turbo if it was recently replaced. If you have performance issues like this, they need to be addressed and not whine about "no boost".  #4. They have no power under 2,000 RPM. Well, a well tuned 220-7030 thru 7060 turbo spool up point is 1700 RPM. Maybe the advance on your injection pump is advancing too soon? The 7080 is a little more like 2,000 RPM and that would be normal. You really don't want to lug these engine below those numbers anyway, as it places the bottom end of the engine under much stress and strain. The 7000 series and up all have a "wet" clutch and that it what it is made for.  That wonderful Farmall has an old technology dry clutch. Good luck abusing it !!   I'm really leaning towards telling you to get the Farmall.  I can see your complaints will never be satisfied.

Sounds like very poor mantaniace program to me, little things that don't take much time can make a big differerce

Betting life won’t be any better running red.   Like Doc said the rads maybe dirtier than they appear.

These tractors run in dust, pollen and a lot of other stuff. They get plugged up quickly!

Our 8050 was running a temperature too,so i took the radiator off and when they cleaned it at the radiator shop,it fell apart. Put in a new one and it doesn't even think about running hot,even when you are working it in a 90 degree day.

Thought my 7060 was running hot, sending unit was bad. Easy fix for once!

Yes. IH did that on the late great 5088-5288-5488 and it didn't work all that good. They took in air from the top of the hood and blew it forward thru the radiator inside of a box that made it hard to clean when needed. Imagine chopping corn and having leaves get sucked onto the top of the hood. Enuff said.

Well, there's another potential new member who is probably sorry he asked. 

Tbone95 wrote: Well, there's another potential new member who is probably sorry he asked.

It's just being blunt, maybe too blunt but hopefully he'll relay the message to his brother that he needs a maintenance program. Now if he had said it's just too far to get parts to keep AC on the farm, I can could sympathize. Maybe I'm blunt because I've heard the same argument from a good friend that only runs Allis without ever having anything else and has pretty much a zero maintenance program with all his equipment. It gets old when I haven't had any of these issues at all or if I do I figure out the problem and fix it and the next guy has nothing but trouble and just condemns his equipment without knowing how to maintain a piece of equipment. Maybe it applies to this fellow and maybe it doesn't but he hasn't answered whether or not his brother has a good maintenance program. ..................Maybe I'm just ornery.

Thanks for all the replies....

And for goodness sakes I have an Allis Christmas stocking!

We must have got lucky with our 1586. Its a good reliable tractor. Pulled a 9 shank disc chisel, 22 foot finish tool now mainly plants and grain cart. We did have to replace the ta,injector pump, and 2 push rods. It has 6000 hours and was worked hard before us. The owner was trying to out run a neighbor with a 2+2. I would send the injectors, pump, and turbo out to be checked out. Sound like the 220 bottom end is good but did any one do a valve job? Dont waste your time swapping fuel system. I was always told if you wearing a coat a Allis needs preheater held in.

Edited by BKarpel - 15 Jan 2019 at 10:36am