I need some old school schooling

xjdrew

xjdrew

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2010
Location
Goldsboro, NC
I got a 1976 International with a 345. It had been sitting for about 4 years, I got it running decent, but two problems still persist. The brakes and I'm assuming, the points. I've done these things to it, replaced gas tank, fuel filters, rebuilt the carb, change plugs & wires. I went and got the points for it, but to be honest I've never even touched points in my life. I get the whole gapping concept, but is there something specific I need to know about or watch out for? The other problem is the brakes. I've changed out the wheel cylinders and adjusted all the brakes. Every time I push the brakes hard, I'm getting a big puff of white smoke out of my exhaust. I've had someone look at it and they're saying it's the brake booster. Is this even possible w/ the white smoke coming out of the exhaust? Any help will be great!
 
If it is brake fluid you will get white smoke moments after you put your foot on the brake peddle. This is the cause of a bad seal in your master cylinder, and your engine is sucking the brake fluid via your brake booster into the intake. I'm not saying this is your problem, but if the symptoms fit, then it is most likely.
 
If the master cylinder is bad it can fill the booster with fluid and the vacuum pulls the fluid into the intake, burns it and poof white smoke.

On the points, as you rotate the engine,there is a lobe on the distributor shaft,it will open the points, the points should open at the high spot on the lobe.
 
Im not much help on the points, but with the white puff of smoke when you get on the brakes hard you probably have a bad master cylinder/booster. When you hit the brakes an amount of brake fluid can be entering the booster which is under vacume sucking the fluid into the engine causing the white smoke. So yes its posible the booster/mater cylinder is the culprit of the white smoke
 
Well now... dont all of you speak up at once! LOL!
Like the 3 amigos said, if you are loosing brake fluid and dont see a leak on the lines or wheels... It is sucking it into the engine. If you are'nt loosing brake fluid and you are getting smoke when you hit the brakes, you are gonna' teach us something.:lol:
 
Here is a little update.. I got the points adjusted just right, I started at 0.17 and adjusted the gap from there. The brake issue took a turn on me. I got a new booster, bled it, bled all the brakes, but still smoking when the brakes are mashed hard. It definitely smells like burnt brake fluid, on top of that it just will not stop right. When I first hit the pedal it goes all the way down, with the second pump it gets really hard and it will not even go down. I adjusted all the brakes again, bled, and then bled some more to make sure there was no air.. Maybe the master cylinder????
 
As the 3 amigos posted, the master cylinder is probably leaking fluid INTO the booster and then being sucked into the engine via the vacuum hose...

So yes the fix would be to change the master...

The master is probably cheaper than the booster, I would have started there...

345 is a great truck motor.. Not a power house but just damn strong reliable motor... Little side story... Back in HS I worked at a feed store and we had an old international flat bed we used for deliveries.. The truck was plum wore out, but it just would not die. Bosses son was told they weren't getting a new truck until that one died... So one day he goes out and after we got back from a delivery... He had enough and tosses a brick on the gas pedal with it in neutral and goes inside... 30 mins later its still sitting there running just fine... 2bbl carb had it so restricted it just couldn't rev high enough to do any damage... Boss eventually got new truck but we got 2 more years on that one before the rust made the cab to unsafe to drive....
 
Wow, I just realized y'all were saying the master cylinder. I had a couple of people over here telling me it was the brake booster and apparently I just skimmed through all the responses and wasn't paying attention. LOL But yea, the 345 does seem to be a great motor. Other than the whole point situation, it runs like a top. Thanks for all the responses!
 
xjdrew said:
Wow, I just realized y'all were saying the master cylinder. I had a couple of people over here telling me it was the brake booster and apparently I just skimmed through all the responses and wasn't paying attention. LOL But yea, the 345 does seem to be a great motor. Other than the whole point situation, it runs like a top. Thanks for all the responses!
Click to expand...

Drew, Are you a member over on Binder Planet?
It's like this forum but just for IH and mainly Scouts.
Good guys at both of them.


BTW... If you get tired of those points, check out a company called Pertronix. They make a affordable electronic conversion for your distributor. I use them on all kinds of old projects and they made a huge difference in reliability and cranking. That will at least get you into the 20th century.:lol:There are also HEI conversion units out there, but they are a lot of bucks. Makes life nicer when you dont have to deal with a points distributor.
 
nctom said:
Drew, Are you a member over on Binder Planet?
It's like this forum but just for IH and mainly Scouts.
Good guys at both of them.
BTW... If you get tired of those points, check out a company called Pertronix. They make a affordable electronic conversion for your distributor. I use them on all kinds of old projects and they made a huge difference in reliability and cranking. That will at least get you into the 20th century.:lol:There are also HEI conversion units out there, but they are a lot of bucks. Makes life nicer when you dont have to deal with a points distributor.
Click to expand...
Actually I ran across that forum while doing some searching on the distributor . It seems to have some real knowledgeable people on the Scouts. I do plan on doing the electronic switch in the near future, but I have to wait for my wallet to gain a little wait to it, but going to check that company out for when I do the switch..
 
Forgot to mention I installed the master cylinder today and it solved all my problems!!! Well brake problems that is.. Thanks Guys!
 
PETRONICS

It's been long time back[ as with points ], but Petronics used to be fairly cheap. Just a conversion that replaces the points with a magnetic pick up. [hope i got that right]

Had a 1 ton IH wrecker once, with IH 304, wore slap out. Bought an auctioned school bus with "who knows what kind of"" rebuilt 345. Unbelievable torque. T-19 tranny; you could just start truck rolling/ shift to high gear, & it just keep pulling!:wheel:
 
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