engine block questions

s19438

Well-known Member
were TE fergusons built with continental blocks in addition to the standard block?

were all continental blocks built in the USA?
 
All TE20 tractors were built with US made Continental engines. No TE20 tractor had a Standard engine as the Standard engine was not avalable.

All TE[b:57bc92ee19]A[/b:57bc92ee19]20 series tractors were built with UK made Standard gasoline or diesel engines.

This may help to explain:

TE-20 Continental Z-120 petrol engine 1946-1948
TEA-20 Standard Motor Company petrol engine 1947-1956
TEB-20 Continental Z-120 petrol engine - Narrow wheelbase 1946-1948
TEC-20 Standard petrol - Narrow 1948-1956
TED-20 TVO 1949-1956
TEE-20 TVO - Narrow 1949-1956
TEF-20 diesel 1951-1956
TEH-20 lamp oil engine 1950-1956
TEJ-20 lamp oil engine - Narrow 1950-1956
TEK-20 petrol - Vineyard 1952-1956
TEL-20 TVO - Vineyard 1952-1956
TEM-20 lamp oil - Vineyard 1952-1956
TEP-20 petrol - Industrial 1952-1956
TER-20 TVO - Industrial 1952-1956
TES-20 lamp oil - Industrial 1952-1956
TET-20 Diesel - Industrial 1952-1956

The Standard engine, developed for the Standard Vanguard car, did not become available until the Vanguard car was developed and built in late 1947. There was a brief period in 1947/48 when both Continental and Standard engine tractors were built concurrently.
 
The first two years of TEA production had imported Continental engines as Standard motors weren"t ready. As far as I know the Continentals were all built in the U.S.A.
We seem to have mostly TE tractor in Canada.
 
was there a problem with continental blocks cracking in europe or was this plague only a USA problem???
 
The threads about this subject the last couple weeks are new to me, because until lately, the cracked block questions always involved the Cont z129 in TO30's, that were admitted to have been machined too thin between the cylinders to take the larger diameter sleeve. The smaller older 120's weren't something I've seen people have the same problem with till recently. Or????
 
Latent problem maybe. In well oover 40 years of Indian, Cushman, Packard, and a few others there are problems that take decades to come to bare. All it takes is one person to ask. If there seems to be a flurry of otherswith the same (or similar) problem then it becomes an issue that noone ever wanted to talk about before. KInd of like Olds Diesels, Packard V8 oil pumps, BTV's, Cushman coils etc.

I have a 51 TO 20 for 18 years. The PERFECT tractor. But my recent TE-20 (Z120 engine) has the crack between #3 and #4 cylinders too at the bottom.

I'm bound and determined to fix it. But thus far expensive over brazing and complete disassembly is not my plan. I want to try the gas tank sealer approach first. What do i have to lose???? IF it doesn't work then welding maybe. First i try the Q&D fixes. -PV8
 
Quote from a previous post above:
"TEK-20 petrol - Vineyard 1952-1956
TEL-20 TVO - Vineyard 1952-1956
TEM-20 lamp oil - Vineyard 1952-1956 "

Is that an engine made by a compnay called Vinyard or does that refer to somekind of an HF tractor used in vinyards (such as wine making grape growers).

ok. Petrol = gasoline, lamp oil = coal oil (modern day Kerosene) but what is "TVO"????
 
my first HF was a 1949 TO-20 (Z-120) and the block was cracked between the cylinders.

my one and only TO-30 (Z-129) was not cracked.

my first MHF TO-35 block (Z-134)was cracked between the cylinders my second one was/is not.

what i am trying to do is to establish if the block cracking was solely a USA problem or is it shared by that era Continental blocks across the world.
 
My hunch is no. It would be a coolant or oil fault if that was the case... and compare to the 3rd world where many fergies are flogged to death even today, doubtful.
As for Continental Motor Co trying to save a buck by boring out for more cubic inches in the same casting... my money is on that.
Nearly all Z129's were sold in US, except the few in Canada? I bet most of these weren't from new dealerships, but cross border auctions and bargain hunting.
 
Vineyard is as it says on the tin...for working the vines and thus a
narrow wheel base.
TVO is Tractor Vaporising Oil no longer available but it was a
higher octane version of kerosene. today we mix 4 parts kero with
1 part petrol and maybe a dash of 2 stroke oil for luck!!!!
Sam
 
my TO-20 was cracked top and bottom too. sealant worked until i added anti freeze for the winter. the AF went right through the sealant.
 
The TE20 was built from 1946 to 1948 with the Continental Engine and these came from the USA, this was because the Standard Engine was not ready for production at that time. The Standard Engine started to be fitted in 1948 The Continental was fitted to some tractors to special order until 1951, but only very few. John(UK)
 
i think it was bardahl stop leak. but that was over 20 years ago and the memory is a bit fuzzy. i seem to remember trying a glass type sealer too. i do remember one thing though and that was the block was not cracked at the bottom as i previously stated. that was a Z-134 block.
 
I would expect any sealer made and sold speciically as an engine coolant type sealer to fail. Most all "Stop Leak" type engine coolant sealers WILL fail upon the next future draining and refilling of the cooling system. That is typical of such sealers.

My plan is to use a GAS TANK sealer. Never tried it before. But here is a link to someone that has. See Redtractors claim about 2/3 down the page:

http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=934657&postdays=0&postorder=asc&
start=0
 
Not that I remember, if we did get any it was usually put down to no anti-freeze. We did not have as many Continentals as the USA although they were made here in big quantities, but most went for export. Thinking more about it I would say that most problems came from the USA and that makes me think that the extremes of heat and cold may be involved in the problem apart from the usual things. We do know that a lot got overheated due to rarely cleaning out the Radiator Matrix...John(UK)[email protected]
 
I've never torn down a Z120. Pan already removed. If i remove head and #3 sleeve will that give me enuf room/clearence to get into the water jacket around #3 and #4 to clean the bottom area of the water jacket so i can pour some gas tank sealer in there??? The crack is at the bottom of block water jacket exactly 1/2 way between #3 and #4 sleeves.

Yes i know welding or oven brazing and tank dipping etc is a better idea but i want to try this cheap, quick and dirty fix first. But the area has to be clean brite shiny metal.
 

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