Ford 4000 Trouble

[SadFarmall]

Hello All! I am usually in the International Harvester area of the forum, but I have been asked to look at a Ford 4000, 3 cylinder Diesel for a neighbour. He lent the tractor to a friend, who added oil to the air filter by filling it directly down the inlet pipe. In all at least a gallon of engine oil. He then ran the tractor under heavy load at full throttle. Unsurprisingly the motor stopped very suddenly. I have managed to extract the excess oil from the cylinders, but the engine now puffs a great deal of vapour from the rocker cover breather pipe and has a bad knock, which sounds rather like a big end bearing has gone South. It also has a loud squealing noise from somewhere near the front. Sounded a bit like the fan striking its shroud, but I can find no evidence of anything like that. Not sure what damage has occurred to rings, pistons, con rods etc etc. Is it worth bothering to check and repair or should he be looking for a new tractor?
SadFarmall

 

[Deutz Lover]

It sounds like he blew the head gasket.

 

[Deutz Lover]

He may have also spun a bearing. Not good.

 

[RBnSC]

Probably at the very least it bent some rods and broke a piston and or rings.

 

[Larry NCKS]

I would guess a lot depends on what kind of shape the rest of the tractor is in. If it's got good rubber, good paint and is otherwise mechanically sound it may be worth the repair bill.

I'm guessing it's not going to be cheap. Sounds like major problems in that engine.

If the borrower is a decent neighbor, he'll pay the costs.

 

[Jim L WA]

If the borrower is a decent neighbor.........? This is the idiot that poured oil down the intake tube.

 

[Larry NCKS]

(quoted from post at 14:59:39 12/22/18) If the borrower is a decent neighbor.........? This is the idiot that poured oil down the intake tube.

Idiocy has nothing to do with decency!!!

 

[sunbeam]

To me It sounds like a damaged piston. Blow by an noise.

 

[cdmn]

Was this the same neighbor's kid who filled the fuel tank with the garden hose? Just trying to help with the farm chores, you know.

Wouldn't the air filter be so soaked with oil, that no air could get through? How would it start or run choked up like that? Maybe there
was no cartridge?

If it runs at all, even though smokey, that would rule out some pieces getting caught in timing gears, etc. Did any water end up in the crankcase? Starter's sometimes break off and jam the flywheel, but not
yours, apparently.

best guess is one broken piston top. I've had leaking headgaskets letting water accumulate on a piston. Never had enough cranking power
to bust one up.

 

[Deutz Lover]

Just to make sure I understand this.
This 4000 has an oil bath air cleaner right? Or does it have a dry air filter. If he put a gallon of oil down an oil bath air filter a lot should run out of the cup unless he immediately started it and it sucked the oil up the steel mesh in the upper filter housing. This would cause a tremedous increase in compression ratio and also finally lockup the engine. In the mean time the pressure on the rod and main bearings would be high enough to ruin the journal and rod bearings and mains. Just speculating.

Early 4000s had the oil bath air filter while later ones had the dry filters if I remember correctly.

 

[Deutz Lover]

You did say he poured oil down the inlet pipe so that should be an oil bath type since the dry type filters are horizontal and were actually used on some of the 4000 series like the 4100???

 

[Deutz Lover]

Squeaking could be from oil on the fan belt hubs--alternator pulley. Power steering hub etc.

 

[Ultradog MN]

DL,
Yes, 3 cylinder gassers had a paper filter
in the left side hood.
Untill 75 (with a couple of exceptions) 3
cyl diesels had an oil bath filter behind
the grill.
An AP 4000 would have had an oil bath
type.

 

[TinCan]

I'm confused, whether it was running, or not while pouring the oil in.

How was it still running, or start to "He then ran the tractor under heavy load at full throttle" Is not under "heavy load" driving it?

Being a diesel, they don't have a butterfly to adjust the air like a gas, they add fuel, and move the timing, to run faster. So would it not throttle up per say, while pouring it in? Or choke it because the timing didn't change.

Pat

 

[SadFarmall]

Thank you for the replies. Yes, it has an oil bath air filter in front of the radiator. The neighbour borrowed it and decided the tractor needed more oil. I have no idea why he poured oil down the intake pipe or how he decided when it was enough. It appears he added the oil, then started the tractor and immediately began work. The tractor ran for several yards working and then stopped. The tractor was a good working machine, though the paint is average. The oil in the crankcase has no water in it. It does look too clean, but it is hard to say how much new oil has entered the sump now. I know he did not remove the air filter oil reservoir, because there were spider webs on the clamp, the reservoir was difficult to remove and I drained nearly a gallon of new engine oil out of it. The possibilities of a spun bearing or bent con rod having damaged the block are the potential killers for this machine. If he does not have to split the tractor, maybe OK? If he does… I have checked prices (these are in Australia) for Ford 4000 tractors. They are on ebay and gumtree for between $2500 and $6000 depending on condition…
Thanks again,
SadFarmall

 

[SadFarmall]

Sorry, I meant to add that heavy load was a 6' slasher (I think flail mower in the US?) cutting long grass.
SadFarmall

 

[Deutz Lover]

Sadfarmall,

We are sorry to hear that you are having these problems so far Down Under. I did not notice your location until now.

I am going to make a conservative guess and say new pistons, rings, maybe new rods and bearings. If the crankshaft is not marred it still needs to be checked to make sure it is true. I will cross my fingers on the block.

I would go along with what Sunbeam and CDMN said. Most probably broken piston ring lands. It would be like squirting in way too much ether. Extreme blow by afterwards. I am betting on the number one piston second land, and maybe the same on piston two. Bent rods and shot bearings would be an unwanted bonus.

You might need the head skimmed .

Here is hoping for the best diagnosis on this holiday period.

DL

 

[SadFarmall]

Thank you for the advice and wishes for the Season. The owner and I will start work on it in the New Year and see what we find. We will remove the sump and the cylinder head to see if it is worth proceeding… Best Wishes to you all from here, Down Under.
SadFarmall

 

[SadFarmall]

We finally started work on the Ford 4000 after a long time out of action due to a shoulder injury; dropped a motor cycle at low speed. Nothing broken, but still a long recovery and ligament repair. Good lesson to maintain safety on the farm!

We removed the radiator, with some difficulty as one of the mounting bolts would not loosen without considerable effort. We have a frame bolted to the front, the radiator off, the water pump removed and the cylinder head. The top end of the motor looks almost like new and almost no cylinder wear. Injection pump willbe removed next and then we will remove the front end. Then we shall see how much damage has been done to the bottom end.
SadFarmall

 

[Robert (ID)]

Please keep us updated on the progress of this project!