I have three n's and they all have different oil breather caps. The 40 has a old chevy style with a wingnut in the center that enables you to diassemble and clean. The 44 has what I think is a genuine late 60's chevy oil fill breather cap. And the 46 has a similar one to the chevy cap but has a small shield around half the cap. It looks like it may try to prevent garbage from the fan from clogging the breather. I have seen the pineapple type on many n-series but do not know the history and subsequent years. Anybody know for sure ? Thanks

My 1946 has this style oil breather cap, as does my friends 1940 9n. My 1950 8n with sidemount has the style with the wingnut. Id speculate that the wingnut style came out with the sidemount and the shorter oil filler tube, but again, im just guessing

Hi Jonas;
Could you tell me if your oil fill tube comes out right under the filter housing or forward of it? & if so what year?

On my 1946 2n it comes out forward of the filter and on my 1950 8n with sidemount it comes out underneath it. Anything after the change from the front mount distributor should have the shorter filler tube thats underneath the filter. This is to give clearance for the generator.HTH

Jonas

Hi Jonas;
Would you know what year they switched positions for the breather/filler tube? THis would help me identify what year my engine might be.

Have you tried looking at your serial number?

• indentifying ford tractors

Hi Jonas;
Well, thanks for clearing that up ( i think) my tractor is without a doubt a 45 to 47 2N. It is also a front mount distributor, however the oil fill tube comes out right under the oil filter canister housing so I am certain that this is not the original engine so with your info in hand, I must assume that the engine is from a 48 to 50 8N.

My 49 9N has one just like the one in the post from Ed. I think it's original.

My 1940 *9N3598I* has the same cap as Tyler shows in the picture. Wing nut on top, arrow points to front and one louver in the back. But mine is black.

My 1949 has a breather cap with a wingnut and a single louver on one side. On the top is an arrow, and the word "Forward". The breather pipe on my engine is much shorter than any of the diagrams that Ed posted.

My early 9N parts catalogs don't have diagrams for this part, just the part number listing. The first diagram that I could find was in the 1946 dealer parts book:

The 1949 dealer parts book has a diagram, but like most parts books, shows the most current version applicable to all prior models:

The 1952 parts book shows a different view for the '50-52 models because of the generator being moved to the left side of the engine, but the cap looks similar in the diagram.

fwiw..........Ed
'52 8N475798

My 1940 (9N 15015) has the breather cap with the wing nut. Not sure if it's original but it's been there most of my life.

Tyler