haggis enginer Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Hello to everyone newbie here with first post . Got a McCormick international harvester 523 trying to bring back to life . Been engineering for 25+ years but first time with tractors . The tractor had blown head gasket when I got it but I am slowly going to work my way through all the issues ! Anyone got an operators pdf manual for this type of tractor ? It's got a German neuss D179 diesel 3 cylinder engine. Thanks in advance.! Quote
haggis enginer Posted February 2 Author Posted February 2 Got the head off , coolant was in the sump! New valve stem seals and a gd clean and de coke . Relapped valves and reassembled. Flushed rad , checked thermostat Got head back on rebuilt and it fired up. Tractor lift arms won't move. Clutch seems off so going to check out the hydraulics next. Just ordered 20 litres of UTTO oil and new hydraulic filter. 2 Quote
IHRedRyan Posted February 3 Posted February 3 Welcome to the forum! Looks like you’re well on your way! Are you in Canada? There’s some German tractors around but I’m not sure as many went to the US. Quote
Drysleeves Posted February 3 Posted February 3 2 hours ago, IHRedRyan said: Welcome to the forum! Looks like you’re well on your way! Are you in Canada? There’s some German tractors around but I’m not sure as many went to the US. Judging by the newspaper in the workspace he's in the UK. D-179 is indeed an IH Neuss engine and the 523 has that Doncaster look. Number plate is straight out of 06 Series central casting. Quote
haggis enginer Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 10 hours ago, IHRedRyan said: Welcome to the forum! Looks like you’re well on your way! Are you in Canada? There’s some German tractors around but I’m not sure as many went to the US. I am in the UK , specifically north Scotland next to a place called Elgin . Although I think there's an Elgin in Canada too? . Quote
haggis enginer Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 8 hours ago, Drysleeves said: Judging by the newspaper in the workspace he's in the UK. D-179 is indeed an IH Neuss engine and the 523 has that Doncaster look. Number plate is straight out of 06 Series central casting. Correct , Scotland! Still learning about these tractors like I said first time with one . Working on the hydraulics today . 1 Quote
haggis enginer Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 Looking for a bit of info , working blind here , hydraulic oils (what remained ) not in good condition, am I right in saying that the hyds are two separate systems ? Fill plug and drain plug at the rear look like they do lift arms and aux hyds? Fill plugs and drain in the middle seem to be more like PTO ,clutch,wet brakes ? Are the drains at the hubs all meant to be full of UTTO oil?or is the hub oil shared with transmission? Rear oils made me laugh looks like something out of starbucks (see photo) 3 Quote
dewets Posted February 3 Posted February 3 3 hours ago, haggis enginer said: I am in the UK , specifically north Scotland next to a place called Elgin . Although I think there's an Elgin in Canada too? . And one in South Africa too! The apple district! 1 Quote
IHRedRyan Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Definitely looks like a milkshake! Hopefully somebody with some experience with the European tractors can chime in , here’s my 2 cents. If your picture is looking at the rear of the tractor up above the drawbar and that is a drain plug, I would venture to say your are correct and it has two separate reservoirs. That drain plug would be too high up to be connected to the transmission/rear end reservoir. It could be a similar system to the North American 300 Utility for example which has a reservoir under the seat connected to an engine driven gear pump. The system provides hydraulics to the fast hitch (in your case 3 point), remotes , and power steering if equipped. Not sure about wet brakes. I see there is a few operators manuals on EBay that ship from the UK. That would point you in the right direction on the fluids and much more! The North American models by this vintage pretty much just specified IH Hy-Tran, but they also mostly had one large common reservoir. As a sidebar: I saw a 523 at a show here in Ontario, Canada a few years ago. There is a guy in the area that has a pretty sizeable collection of European IHs. Definitely standout here! 1 Quote
Ron Varney Posted February 8 Posted February 8 Where can I get transmission clutch plates , forward/reverse foe a 523 agrimatic. Quote
jfkleinrt Posted March 8 Posted March 8 Hi Ron, The hydraulic oil reservoir and gearbox are separate; the hydraulic oil is located in the space above the gearbox. You can refill the hydraulic oil through the filler cap behind the seat. Whether you have the Agriomatic gearbox or the standard gearbox, the Agriomatic can be recognized by the filter on the left side of the gearbox near the clutch pedal and the control lever on the right side of the dashboard where the hand throttle lever is also located. Only IH Hytran may be used in this gearbox. The regular gearbox can be filled with SAE 90. The level plug is located on the left side under the clutch pedal, just like on an M or H. The filler plug is located just behind both gear levers. The gearbox oil must be drained at two locations under the tractor: under the gearbox and under the differential. Both axles have their own oil reservoir filled with SAE 90 oil. The drain plug is located on the gearbox side near the brakes. The new oil must be filled through the plug located on the wheel side. Between this oil reservoir and the gearbox are the brakes, which are double disc brakes similar to those on a Super M. In the past, someone posted the manuals for this engine on this forum, but I can't find them. Quote
frank.nl Posted March 9 Posted March 9 Maybe this will help https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByJoJWGETLkVeXdmWURIcEkzZGM/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-MVFUQytG2vgvhplotE5MWg Quote
haggis enginer Posted March 17 Author Posted March 17 On 3/8/2026 at 2:55 PM, jfkleinrt said: Hi Ron, The hydraulic oil reservoir and gearbox are separate; the hydraulic oil is located in the space above the gearbox. You can refill the hydraulic oil through the filler cap behind the seat. Whether you have the Agriomatic gearbox or the standard gearbox, the Agriomatic can be recognized by the filter on the left side of the gearbox near the clutch pedal and the control lever on the right side of the dashboard where the hand throttle lever is also located. Only IH Hytran may be used in this gearbox. The regular gearbox can be filled with SAE 90. The level plug is located on the left side under the clutch pedal, just like on an M or H. The filler plug is located just behind both gear levers. The gearbox oil must be drained at two locations under the tractor: under the gearbox and under the differential. Both axles have their own oil reservoir filled with SAE 90 oil. The drain plug is located on the gearbox side near the brakes. The new oil must be filled through the plug located on the wheel side. Between this oil reservoir and the gearbox are the brakes, which are double disc brakes similar to those on a Super M. In the past, someone posted the manuals for this engine on this forum, but I can't find them. Thanks for this information very informative ! Quote
haggis enginer Posted March 17 Author Posted March 17 https://maps.app.goo.gl/GzYBzteXB5zhNLKYA Thanks for this link too very helpful. I have the agrimatic . Quote
haggis enginer Posted March 17 Author Posted March 17 Just a wee update , got a decent amount of new oil reestablished. Once I got the air out I can make lift arms on rear linkages lift hydraulicly and lower under gravity I assume this is normal for this tractor . Can also get hyd pressure up to the front loader arms again to raise hydraicly and lower via gravity ( I assume it opens return line to tank and relies on the weight of the arms to do the rest. Now I am fighting a few leaks which is why the oil was low.got a new pto shaft seal coming as that's the biggest leak ,(now that I have it cleaned up a bit more I can see where the leaks are coming from. Another leak is coming from the control leaver area which controls the aux hyds. I will post a couple pics in case anyone is following along with my ramblings . 3 Quote
jfkleinrt Posted June 10 Posted June 10 Hi haggis enginer, The part marked with the yellow arrow can be removed, there you find O-rings witch can be changed out Quote
jeeper61 Posted June 12 Posted June 12 On 2/3/2026 at 10:33 AM, dewets said: On 2/3/2026 at 7:29 AM, haggis enginer said: I am in the UK , specifically north Scotland next to a place called Elgin . Although I think there's an Elgin in Canada too? . And one in South Africa too! The apple district! One in the Chicago area too Elgin Sweepers made there Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.