Aston Martin DB 1490

[L19MUD]

Ok so not quite an Aston but close enough! This story starts with me searching for an 80-90hp tractor that was suitable to be fitted to a hedge cutter/flail and importantly cheap as I have spent all the machinery budget for the house on other tractors/diggers already. As with many things the solution presented itself during a conversation in the pub. A friend of mine had a David Brown 1490 that had not been used since the farm was contracted out 23 years ago at which point the tractor was parked up in a barn. 3 years ago the space it was taking up was needed for something else and it was towed outside.

We agreed a price conditional on me being able to get it running. This is how I found her

 

Nothing over the exhaust (bonnet was on when I arrived), one front tyre with a big hole in. My mate had put some diesel in and filled up with coolant but not been able to get to turn over.

At this point I fitted a good battery, cleaned up the earth points, added an earth directly from battery to starter and cleaner up the terminal clamps before refitting. We then had a nice solid clonk from the solenoid but would not turn over

 

 

[L19MUD]

At this point we assumed the worst - it was seized. I pulled the rocker cover off to see the condition at the top of the engine and found surface rust on cyl 1 and 2

 

 

The hydraulic pump is driven off the front of the front of the crank so I had to remove the collar and shaft to get access to the crank pulley bolt. With this off and a big breaker bar on it we then confirmed it was very much stuck. Using the power of Google the favoured freeing liquid seemed to be a 50:50 mix of acetone (nicked the wife's nail varnish remover) and ATF. I mixed up 200ml, removed the injectors (they literally came out with a little wiggle!!) and poured 50ml down each bore. At this point I went to Croatia and enjoyed the sun for a week whilst it hammered down with rain in the UK.

 

Two of us then went to see if it could be freed.....3ft breaker bar, towing a short distance in gear and then abruptly releasing the clutch, clicking the starter on the key but to no avail. I was just about ready to give up when I asked my mate to try the starter again, it did not turn but there was just the slightest movement detectable at the crank pully. Breaker bar back on and it moved an 8th of a turn. Then the starter again followed by the bar got a quarter turn. The next time we tried the key it shot the fluid I had put down the bores twice the height of the tractor! We also lost 2 injector washers in the excitement as they were blown out

 

At this point I changed the fuel filters flushed fresh white diesel (so we could see we had cleared the old red out) through from a clean can connected to the lift pump and bleed up to the injectors, cracking them off one by one. It was so very close to starting but would not quite get there so we decided to give a little sniff of ether. The result was an instant start and then ran very nicely. It will now start easily with a bit of heat. 

 

The turbo was stuck solid so we tried the feed and found good oil pressure and plenty of oil (very black oil) at the turbo. Ran for 20 mins to heat the exhaust up and then able to move the turbo about gently until it would rotate freely. Next time I warmed up the turbo span freely and sounded great

[fmmv]

Well done! Sounds like "back from the brink"

[L19MUD]

At this point I then completed a high level run through of what it needed to be usable and what it needed to be able to be moved plus had an initial attempt at some smaller jobs to see if they were easy wins

Clutch/gears - Gear levers freed off and clutch working. It would drive back and forwards!

Brakes - To the floor, unable to get fluid through to slaves. Ordered master cylinder repair kits

PTO - Lever stuck

Hyd arms - Lever stuck

4x4 Control - Lever stuck

Spool values - Levers stuck

Electric - Nothing working except a single indicator on the back

Steering - Working but a little stiff

Front axle - UJ required for front prop and front right wheel bearing to be adjusted/replaced

Tyres - Front right had a 6 inch tear and the front left not much better

 

The only critical item to get onto the low loader was the front tyres. I tried to find some usable 11.2 R24 second hand but they are quite an odd size, most 4wd tractors this size use R28 on the front and anything that does use R24 tend to be much wider. I had to stick with the right size for the gear ratio to the back tyres.

 

Cue some brand new BKT . Pictures speak a thousand words as they say…

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Very cool - does it come with an ejector seat and machine guns?

[L19MUD]

With the tyres refitted we loaded her up to take to my workshop

 

Where she was treated to a first wash in 23 years

[L19MUD]

6 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Very cool - does it come with an ejector seat and machine guns?

Does an air seat count?

[fmmv]

As regards freeing stuff off, I have been battling with swapping the handbrake cables on a Toyota. There was a clip bolted to the body right next to the fuel tank on both sides, and I was scared to use heat so close to the tank and grinding would have been really awkward to get at it even with a finger file or a die grinder.  On one side the bolt was well stuck. I tried Plusgas over a couple of days, no joy so like you tried the 505:50 acetone/ATF which seems popular. Still no joy. It was a 12mm head on an M8 self-tapping bolt and by this time was getting seriously rounded, as I could only get a ring key or fine nose mole grips on it. Finally I managed just to get an oriental Irwin extractor copy (with a ratchet ring on the hex of the extractor) on to it , and tried to turn, again stuck. I'm nearly out of ideas and Plusgas and have bought that in gallon cans which seem unavailable now, so looked for an alternative and found a lot of praise for Bulldog BDX. So, I took the plunge and bought 5 litres (not cheap). I sprayed it on and next day (to my amazement) the bolt came out as if it had just been put in.  The BDX seems a bit oilier, and I have to say did the job (though I admit it might have been the cumulative effect of the other stuff).

[Anderzander]

Great story telling .. great result in freeing it off 😊

I wasn’t expecting a low loader to take it home !  You have some big toys ! 🧸 

[L19MUD]

9 hours ago, Anderzander said:

Great story telling .. great result in freeing it off 😊

I wasn’t expecting a low loader to take it home !  You have some big toys ! 🧸 

Low loader sadly not mine!

[L19MUD]

Next up I drained all the fluids with the exception of the fresh coolant and diesel. There were certainly some mixed results. I don't think servicing was high up on the list prior to stopping being used!

Front axle oil - just a touch of water mixed with the oil but at least there was plenty in there. I have not drained the hubs yet as the wheels need to come off to do it

Engine oil - plenty in there, fairly thick and black but does not have a metallic film on it

Power steering oil - The ATF in here looked and had the consistency of coca cola. I think fresh fluid and a filter change will dramatically improve the steering

Rear final drives - Certainly should have been more than an egg cup ful in each of those...not making nasty noises though

Back end oil - Only 7l came out which was what I was expecting as it was put in the shed when a pipe burst (I can't currently identify the leak) It was very clean and the filter completely intact which is unusual. No bits of swarf in the filter housing either. Not so good was the rear of the two drain bungs below the diff - something has certainly hit it. I have a suspicion that the front and rear bungs are the wrong way round as the rear one is much taller and means it is getting close to the diff. This will need the threads cleaned up in any case before it gets refitted

 

 

This was back on Tuesday evening, I have left everything draining and plan to change filters and refill everything tomorrow

[fmmv]

Well it must be feeling better already. It's landed itself a loving home.

[Happyoldgit]

Following with interest. Nice to see progress on the old girl!

I have a 1490 hydro with a front loader that has stood unused outside [exhaust covered] for the last 3-4 years. When I was taken seriously ill I repeatedly asked the family to occasionally start and use the 1490 - but for reasons unknown I guess they were somewhat more interested in my terminal diagnosis and when they would needed to order a wooden box with brass handles for moi. In the end the tractor lay idle, clutch slave leaked, all the fluid was lost  and despite having a new master, reservoir  and slave here and the dash out to replace the thing has not had the attention it deserves and rests in a bed of nettles.