4610 Ford Engine Problems

[davida]

Started cutting hay last week and went about 100 ft pulling a 8' disk mower before the engine locked up.

After getting it into my shop and pulling the head off I found the front piston had come apart around the circumference of the piston all the way down to the first ring, maybe the second. Also the cylinder has 2 long cracks all the way though to the water jacket.

Not sure which failed first or why. I have owned the tractor for 13 years, never used starting fluid on it and it has never lost any water. It has always had a slight high idle miss that I thought the new injector pump I put on last month would fix. Tractor only has 2300 hours on it.

The engine locked up due to aluminum parts between the top of the piston and the head.

My questions

1. Any chance in the world of fixing the block? If it can be fixed should it be?

2. Should the crank shaft be OK since a rod did not turn loose. Looks like most of the aluminum particles got pressed into the top of the piston.

3. The head has some divots from the pressing the aluminum particles into the top of the piston. Should this be OK?

I will have the head in the machine shop to be checked out and reworked if possible. Just trying to get an idea what other than a block, rod and complete rebuilt kit will I need to replace and if anyone has had one come apart like this and know why it did.

thank you for any input.

 

[Ultradog MN]

I'm kind of hanging out on a limb here but my primary concern would be the cracks in the cylinder wall.
Without knowing more about that it's a tough call.
There's other issues too - possible bent rod, possible cracked head, possible crank problems too.
I guess the one thing that would decide it for me was could the block be sleeved? If the block could be sleeved the crank would have to come out and could be inspected/magnafluxed then. Also the rod and head could be addressed at that time.
I'm thinking it's a full rebuild if the block can be saved. A new engine if it can't.
It's a sad story to hear about it go down like that. The 201ci was usually pretty reliable at least to around 8K hours. With 2300 hrs yours was just getting started.
Where are you located? I might have some parts that could help you put it back together here in Minneapolis.

 

[Jerry/MT]

It sounds like the piston crown failed. I wonder if you had an injector that was leaking and overheated the top of the piston? 2300 hours on a Ford 201 is just barely breaking it in. Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

 

[JAC FARMING]

,y 4610 has 5200 hrs and is still running stong. got about another 1000hrs to go. i dont really understand what would have caused yours to fail.

 

[RodinNS]

I think if you want to look at this purly from an economics standpoint... call Fawcett Tractor or whatever wrecker you have handy who deales in a lot of Fords... and obtain yourself a used engine.

Personally I would toss that block. Then after a lockup you've got to look at the rods and crank to make sure they're OK. You need a block. You need pistons. You've got to have a hard look at the head for cracks (magna-flux) and flatness. You need to get the injectors serviced as that was probably the root of the problem anyway. You're looking at a lot of dollars to rebuild what is likely a fairly common salvage engine.

Rod

 

[davida]

The first 2 cylinders do not even have a ring groove wore in them.

I am in Alabama but thank you for the offer to help with parts.

 

[davida]

I will have the head and crank checked before I buy anything. If either are bad I will buy a complete engine to rebuild or buy a rebuilt long block.

3 new injectors are on my list of new parts.

 

[Bern]

I suspect you have a failed "headland" piston. Ford had a rash of failures in these engines when they first came out in the 10 series. The failures were so bad that they went back to using conventional pistons for a time.

Be sure to replace all 3, unless you want to do it again.

 

[davida]

I will be replacing all 3 pistons. As soon as I can find a block.

I can find the older 4000 and or 4600 blocks without the ribs on the outside.

Is one 201 block better than another one? I have a front end loader on the tractor and don't want to use a weaker block if I have to buy a long block or a used complete engine to rebuild.