Grey Fergie Restoration

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
If you have turned the engine without the liners being clamped down, there is a good chance that the gaskets at the bottom of the liners are damaged, the oil being milky points to this. On these engines it is essential that liner retainers are fitted as soon as the head is removed. Sometimes thats too late, I have seen the car version with the liners stuck to the head, and they came out with the head! Water in the oil, is almost certainly bottom gasket failure.
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
Were I involved, I would be pulling the liners.For the cost of some gaskets its not worth leaving them, more so as this is the second time the problem has arisen. They may have been disturbed during the previous repair.I think the running on petrol can be discounted, these engines were petrol units converted to TVO, and the conversion was far from good, left ticking over while you loaded the trailer, it would oil the plugs, stop and restart, it would be halfway to the field before it was hot enough to change from petrol! To damage the gasket, it would have to have been boiling all the time,if it was then there is another fault, blocked rad etc. The OP makes no reference to finding the compression plate and extra head gasket that should be fitted to a TVO engine, so is this a home converted petrol tractor?
The head gasket sealing is suspect between cylinders 2 and 3 and poss at one end. I would expect the head to require refacing. As the gasket is still in one piece, the leakage would point to lack of clamping load from the head. However, leakage here will not result in much water in the sump! Its more likely to result in a sudden, localised rain shower on starting the tractor!
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
On the engine I have just dismantled, it was clear that the water ways in the head were plugged with rust flakes where they met the head gasket. Must have caused a serious lack of water flow. It's taken some poking about but finally got most of it out of the head water ways. Pressure tested head and no leaks apparent.

My block is cracked through the web at the block face between the middle cylinders. I have seen this on Nuffield BMC diesels but it never seemed to cause a problem. Not cracked at the bottom end of the cylinders as far as I can see, which would be just about fatal, letting water into sump. I have a crack in the block just above the water line low on the RHS of block. Been alright for 30 years apparently. Will give it a fresh coat of JB heat putty and have given it a lathering of hammerite inside and hope for the best.

If I have learned something from this its firstly to steer clear of cracked blocks (but my mate insisted I carry on) and secondly to deal with the cracks and fit new cylinders and the head with a new gasket and pressure test the water side before spending any more time and money.
 

John 1594

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
If you was that way inclined, the rest of the tractor doesnt look in that bad order

Buy it cheap enough and wait till a P3 engine comes up for sale on ebay. Bin the knackered petrol engine and fit the diesel, making it into a usuable tractor
 

John 1594

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
On the engine I have just dismantled, it was clear that the water ways in the head were plugged with rust flakes where they met the head gasket. Must have caused a serious lack of water flow. It's taken some poking about but finally got most of it out of the head water ways. Pressure tested head and no leaks apparent.

My block is cracked through the web at the block face between the middle cylinders. I have seen this on Nuffield BMC diesels but it never seemed to cause a problem. Not cracked at the bottom end of the cylinders as far as I can see, which would be just about fatal, letting water into sump. I have a crack in the block just above the water line low on the RHS of block. Been alright for 30 years apparently. Will give it a fresh coat of JB heat putty and have given it a lathering of hammerite inside and hope for the best.

If I have learned something from this its firstly to steer clear of cracked blocks (but my mate insisted I carry on) and secondly to deal with the cracks and fit new cylinders and the head with a new gasket and pressure test the water side before spending any more time and money.

Had an IH BD144 that cracked through the middle, that let water out the sump plug as fast as you poured it in the radiator. Same again with a major, split between 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4. Scrap basically
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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