TED20 - no oil pressure

Hi all.

Newbie here bought a TE20 for light work around the smallholding and just to play with. (believe it is a TED20 with 85mm 4 cyl gas/evaporation oil engine.)

It runs OK - timing is all over the place which I put down to wear in the gear driving the distributor and the governor system - I hear no knocking noises etc and it seems to have decent power. Little bit of blue smoke when starting but that goes away soon enough. Starts first time every time.

Thing is it shows NO oil pressure. ZIP.

I bought it from someone who is a car enthusiast and he claims to have done some refurbishment (basically cleaned it all and went through it). It does look good and all seems to work except for NO OIL PRESSURE!

I had 15W/40W multigrade and then tried 40W grade. no change.

1. I checked the gauge and that works - I removed the pipe from the oil rail and pressurise the pipe with air and gauge shows pressure more or less correctly.
2. I checked the pressure relieve valve at the filter to see if it leaks through perhaps - but no, all is well.

So now I believe either I have worn bearings etc or the pump does not work, or there is a crack somewhere...

I plan to drop the sump and then check clearances on the mains and big ends -but I am sure bearings worn to the point of NO pressure would make loud knocks etc when running.

Any suggestions on how I can check if it is the pump, or perhaps can one pump oil in from where the filter normally feeds the rail and see what is going on?

Is there anything else that can cause this (oil circuit to the cam shaft and to the timing gear?) that those with experience can suggest?

Any helpful suggestions much appreciated.

Try starting it up with the oil pressure gauge fitting removed. Be ready for a mess just in case, but if there is no flow at all something is wrong with the oil pump. If there is flow but no pressure there is a major internal leak or bad bearings. That it is not knocking is a good sign.

Not sure where the oil pump is located on the TE, but if it is above the oil level it may have lost it's prime. You can try pumping some oil in the gauge port, let it drain down, see if it will wet the pump enough to get it started.

For what its worth, had a 9N years ago, bought it cheap because of no oil pressure, but didnt knock.
Found that port at block was plugged with sludge, stuck a wire in hole while it was running and got a good oil bath.

See if it has an oil pressure nut(shud be up front on block behind fan) under which is the oil pressure spring, carefully remove nut and spring and squirt oil down the opening. On all those old tractors I only use a straight weight #30 non-detergent oil.

If your Engine is as per these pictures, remove ITEM # 5,inspect inlet tube of OIL pump and clean screen:

Note, OIL PUMP drive quill is driven from the bottom of same gear that drives Distributor:

Is OIL PUMP drive quill turning?


Bob...

The TED20 Standard Motor's engined UK built Ferguson can suffer from low oil pressure . The cam runs in holes bored into the block that have no bushes . The Kerosene/petrol mixture fuel it was built to run on contributed to high wear in this area .
That doesn't mean this is the case with yours, there is an oil pressure adjuster but it is not at the front of the engine , it is directly over the oil filter built into the oil filter element holder .

Turning this down will increase oil pressure , from new there were six or eight threads left showing above the casing . The adjuster was sealed with a lead washer , a modern O ring acts as a reasonable substitute .



Otherwise , don't trust the gauge it may be faulty . You can also clean out the capillary tube from the engine block to the gauge , being small they block up easily . Remove from engine , push a bicycle brake cable down into it , follow up with solvent and compressed air .

After you have EXHAUSTED all other checks you may wish to remove the oil filter housing, crank engine, and verify if oil is in deed present.