ford 172 engine

[tulsa zoo]

Back again with another engine question...remember this is on a 24" train...not a tractor !!

It is up over 100 these days and one of my old girls gets her temp up on one of our steeper hills. It doesn't cross 220 deg(by gauge) but nudges up there.. then drops after the grade.

while up at that temp I am getting some smoke out of the case breather. is this normal for these old tractor engines? I believe our 2nd one will do it also.

we are running full synthetic oil that I thought would handle higher temps ..but is it still prone to smoke at that temp range?

thanx

 

[HFJ]

what i can't remember is if these engines are freshly rebuilt. if there's cylinder wear, smoke out the breather at high temp under load wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[tulsa zoo]

these old girls get used... 4-10 hr at a time. she has 1014 hrs on her. not sure if that is total time or not. this one is a Katrina restoration. so I do not know if new engine or rebuilt and this is hours since.

I just started here last November and the maintenance and records are shotty at best.

 

[Den N Ms]

Tulsa zoo,I would check the ignition timing at idle and check the mechanical advance through the RPM range.If the timing is off it can cause the engine to over heat and can also cause excessive blow by.An advance timing light would show you if that is the problem fast.

 

[tulsa zoo]

ive checked timing by vacuum...ill try and get a timing light and see if I can check it.

 

[Dean]

ve checked timing by vacuum...."

It would be interesting to learn how you did that.

Dean

 

[GB in MT.]

(quoted from post at 19:02:26 08/02/16) [i:c830da7255]ve checked timing by vacuum...."

It would be interesting to learn how you did that.

Dean

b:c830da7255]

Maybe.....sucking all the air out of the engine......then timing how long it takes to fill back up???????

Bet ya can't tell.....I had a bad day at the office!!!!!

ROFLMAO!!!!! Just jokin' around!!

Had my 6mo's checkup today....I'm too fat, I also didn't pass!!

Gary[/i:c830da7255][/b:c830da7255]

 

[markct]

Timing by vacuum? Never heard of that
how the heck does that work?

 

[markct]

Smoke out the breather had to do more
with worn engine blowby than oil. Have
you checked all the usual suspects,
clean radiator, flush system, fan and
fan shroud intact. Also verify that the
temp gauge is accurate. I had a brand
new Stewart warner gauge on an excavator
I rebuilt, read perfect around 185 yet
went way up a bit over 200, like would
read almost 240. Spent a lot of money
updating water pump etc till I got a
leak in the radiator and ran it with the
cap loose to finish a job. Well when it
had no pressure and got to 235 it was
proof that it wasn't over 212 or it
would have boiled over

 

[hd6gtom]

I have a skid loader with that engine, mine needed a new thermostat to stop the problem. Good luck.

 

[tulsa zoo]

thanx for the advice markct. Ill look into that.

for the others...go buy yourself a compound vac meter. you can tell a lot from your vacuum pressure....and manipulating that pressure with carb settings and timing... that's how they would do a proper tune of racing engines in Europe before computers.

I'm not a tractor man. These little 172s pull up to 40,000# of train and people. its meant to be on a flat track...but here we have one side that has a couple decent hills...so the engine under full load of people works hard...and in 100 degrees it heats up fast.

I might look into a larger radiator also...but once off the up hill grade it cools to 180 pretty quick.

 

[tulsa zoo]

Ill check thermostat. it has had new flush and coolant...radiator looks good. I put a huge new electric fan on because it was not cooling...that helped a lot and has not heated up until now.

but it cools quickly right after the heavy load...so I think thermostat is working and radiator is cooling...mabe not big enough radiator to handle high ambient temps and cool under heavy load.

 

[HFJ]

have they got fan shrouds?

 

[tulsa zoo]

No true shroud. The self contained fan has its own little shroud...but the radiator itself is open.

 

[RogerinIowa]

What is the condition of the fan belt and sheaves? Grab the fan and see if you can turn it by hand (engine not running of course). The
belt may be loose or again the sheaves worn. Belt should have straight sides in a vee, not round like a rope.

If it cools right down, should be no problem.

 

[tulsa zoo]

as stated above...it is a large volume electric fan. but thanx

I adjusted the timing back just a touch and it smoothed out on the vac gauge. seems to run cooler so far. Thanx for the suggest Den N Ms

 

[Dean]

One cannot properly adjust ignition timing either by "ear" or with the use of a vacuum gauge.

Note: Retarded ignition timing will cause an engine to run hot, especially at the exhaust.

Dean