L19MUD Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Sorry this is a little off topic - the engine in question is the early indirect injection version fitted to a Fordson Dexta tractor (I did pick it up with the Landy) The previous owner allowed it to run dry of coolant due to a radiator leak and continued to use it until in his words 'it went boom' I was expecting the tractor to have some fairly obvious signs of head gasket failure or worse from being overheated. I filled it up with water and It starts up and runs well, sounds normal. I did a compression test and got figures of 300psi on two cylinders and 340psi on the third. This seems fairly normal I would think? The issue is that it is breathing very badly from the rocker cover breather pipe, once it starts to warm up it appears that there is steam coming out of the breather. There is no evidence of water in the oil but I guess this issue has just happened as he stopped using it as soon as he had a problem. Had the rocker cover off and all looks good in there. I guess I am going to have to have the head off to investigate further, what are peoples thoughts to what is causing this? Head gasket? cracked head? or worst case slipped dry liner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 The rings may have picked up on the liner. Lift the head and look for vertical scoring down the bore. I had this happen to a Perkins 4203. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 14 minutes ago, rtbarton said: The rings may have picked up on the liner. Lift the head and look for vertical scoring down the bore. I had this happen to a Perkins 4203. I think head off has to be the next thing to do - why would I be getting steam from the breather though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I guess that would be due to damaged head gasket. Is there a smell to the fumes/steam? If you can smell aluminium then IME that would be piston/bore damage, in any event, the head's got to come off.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Smoke from the rocker (from blowby) can quite often look like steam, as above, try the sniff test and see. Nice little power unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 52 minutes ago, rtbarton said: I guess that would be due to damaged head gasket. Is there a smell to the fumes/steam? If you can smell aluminium then IME that would be piston/bore damage, in any event, the head's got to come off.. No it does not seem to smell, I have been laying next to the tractor smelling it like a weirdo all weekend!! 40 minutes ago, Bowie69 said: Smoke from the rocker (from blowby) can quite often look like steam, as above, try the sniff test and see. Nice little power unit What I am confused about is why are my compression test numbers decent with this much blowby? They are excellent little engines though - We also have 2 Massey 135's with the later direct injection version of this engine and they never cause any problems and start in any temperature with no heat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 The pressures you are measuring are due to the pistons compressing air at low revs, once you get the engine running I reckon the pressure will be 10 times your measured pressure, so a lot of gas will blow through a relatively small hole. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 Well i must say 1960's Fordsons are easier to work on than TDV8 Range Rovers! Head off easily in less than an hour and a half. Its a copper gasket so its not so easy to spot if it has blown. On the plus side all three bores look good with no scoring. Pictures.... What do people think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Nothing obvious there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Top cylinder in first pic, and right cylinder in middle pic look like could have been blowing into triangular water port? These old engine are lovely to work on, headgasket changed in 2.5 hours on an A series, as a recent example. Plus, not being a land rover, everything weighs half of what you expect! Not sure about the last bit on your engine though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Bowie69 said: Top cylinder in first pic, and right cylinder in middle pic look like could have been blowing into triangular water port? Agreed - that is the only thing that looks possible. I didn't want to put words in peoples mouths though! I think it would be sensible to get the head pressure tested as well as skimmed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Get them to check for flatness first (or do it yourself), much cheaper than a skim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 How daft to run it without water. Was water too expensive? The 'boom' is slightly worrying though.If possible I'd inspect the bores really carefully, it could have picked up or cracked between the bores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwakers Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 looks blown to me... se circled areas in the pics.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 16 hours ago, cackshifter said: How daft to run it without water. Was water too expensive? The 'boom' is slightly worrying though.If possible I'd inspect the bores really carefully, it could have picked up or cracked between the bores I think he knew there was a bit of a leak but had not realised how bad/that all the water had run out. That's a fair point and I can easily check closely now the head is off - they are liners so cracking is possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 16 hours ago, qwakers said: looks blown to me... se circled areas in the pics.... that's what I am hoping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 I sent the head off to be pressure checked for piece of mind (£40) and had it skimmed (£30). All came back good and a through inspection of the liners/bores show no problems other than a bit of a lip at the top which is acceptable. Few pictures of it being cleaned up and going back together 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Looks lovely,.... its the start of a slippery slope though, when the engine runs like a swiss watch you'll want the hydraulics to work better and then the bodywork will want tidying....... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 49 minutes ago, Blanco said: Looks lovely,.... its the start of a slippery slope though, when the engine runs like a swiss watch you'll want the hydraulics to work better and then the bodywork will want tidying....... I have already bought some paint to tidy it up 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Looks great, I've got similar work to do on my Nuffield universal 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 I realised I never came back to this thread. After getting it all together it was still difficult to start and breathing badly. I took the plunge and stripped it all back down again and popped the pistons out. A little bit of a pain to do as the front axle has to come off to remove the sump. What I found was broken piston rings! All the rings were replaced and it now starts easily and does not breath. I also gave her a little tidy up 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 ....and she is looking lovely Hopefully that is it for the next 50,000 hours 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 Well just over a year on and I find myself here again. I was offered an amount I could not refuse on the last one from a mate and because I did not really need it (have another couple of MF135's) I let her go. This latest purchase was made on the basis of being too local and too cheap to resist. This one currently has looks only a mother could love.... There are some mechanical issues and some cosmetic issues to sort 1) Only running off a tow start, turning over slowly. Amazingly this turned out to ust be a bad earth lead and is now starting on the lever with the solenoid button pressed manually 2) Lift arms stuck up. They will go down if you stand on them and will then move back up. The quardrant lever only moves about an inch 3) Some clown has fitted a Fordson Major left hand mud guard 4) Rear rims are so rusted the tyres may fall off - purchased some decent second hand ones to replace The plan will be to sort out the lift arm problem first which will need some research on my part. Give it a service/fluids check and then get it on the topper for a few hours to make sure all OK before starting on the more cosmetic issues The good news is that it starts easily and runs/drives really well 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonimouse Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Lovely little tractors. I was watching a local chap topping a small pasture the other day. He was using a single flail rotary topper and a Massey 8160. So 200Hp. I used to top that pasture, amongst others, back in the 80's, with the same topper and a Dexta. Or sometimes with a 135. Same engine Dexta is 32hp and the 135 42hp. I don't reckon it took any longer than this chap took - but he told me he'd used 25litrs of fuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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