Ford 4000 problems

milkdemcows

New User
Have a 1965 3-cyl diesel Ford 4000...

So figured out a hydraulic/PTO issue I was having (hydraulic pump to PTO valve tube had disconnected), when no sooner did a hose of other problems arise. Steering started to fail, but this turned out to be "just" the splines on the steering shaft and steering wheel are wore (currently, a couple vice grips and duct tape are "fixing" the issue). Then the battery was failing to charge - went through the various troubleshooting steps there (genny will spin when jumping, wires from genny to regulator show no resistence) so I think that's probably the voltage regulator.

Then, starting it up again, after quite a bit of white smoke on start up, the whole engine seemed to be smoking, especially from around the exhaust. Well, checked the oil level, and it was way way full - bubbling right out of the dipstick hole! But didn't look milky, but was perhaps thinner than should be. Both the fuel injection pump AND the power steering system have been visibly leaking on the the exterior, so I suppose its safe to say having both of the fixed would be one thing to start with. I'm guessing the injection pump (CAV type) is the main culprit? (There's no fuel lift pump.) The white smoke suggests oil getting into the fuel at startup, while diesel is getting into the engine oil as well?

It also the case though that at that last startup, had the tractor running only a minute or two, when some radiator coolant started spewing out of the cap! Now, it had been probably 20 hours anyway since I had added any coolant, and the tractor had barely had time to heat up. So what is this about? The fluid was still clear and greenish.

And finally, at the last startup as well, the tachometer went - won't show RPMs. All the other dash lights and gauges still seem to work. Is this related to one of the other issues, or something else? Tractor repair has been all learn-as-I-go so far...
 
So did you nickname your tractor "Lucky"? :D

Probably best to start a separate thread for each issue to keep the suggestions sorted out. But in the mean time:

Crankcase oil being high could be either the fuel injector pump or the power steering pump leaking into the engine. If the oil doesn't smell like diesel fuel, then it's probably the p/s pump.

Oil getting in the fuel generally causes smoke of a more blue color. The white smoke could just be excess fuel, or it could be coolant, and that bit about the radiator spewing out of the cap makes me think that you lost the head gasket or you got a hole through one of the cylinder walls into the coolant and the pressure from the engine is making its way directly into the coolant and that pressure is what is causing the radiator to spew. Can you detect any oil or diesel fuel in the coolant?

The tach is driven by a cable off of a gear box on the back of the generator. The cable could be bad, or the tach, or the tach drive gearbox on the generator. Is the hour meter still turning? If so, then the tach is bad. If not then it could just be the cable, or it could be the drive.
 

ouch... are you sure you dont have a blown head gasket?? or cracked head or block?

What is the history?? did you just start using the tractor? or have you been using it and all of this just started? Did it overheat recently or freeze due to no antifreeze?

Did someone not cover the exhaust and let gallons of water run into the engine?

As others said.. lot of the problems could be other things, but all of them at once is usually a very very bad sign.

If you just filled up the radiator, yes, it will expell excess fluids but only after its hot and warmed up..

If it expells fluid right on starting, its due to compression getting into the water jacket.. Pull of radiator cap.. fill to very top,, start engine, and look for lots of bubbles coming out of cap... if so.. its compression blowing out through the water jacket...

pull dipstick and look and if its blowing oil out,, it due to compression leaking into crankcase..(assuming its not over full)

If the oil is over full.. could be front seals on power steering pump are bad... front seals on injector pump are bad, injector is very bad, fuel pump is bad, or coolant is leaking into engine due to bad head gasket or cracked block or head, broken piston, pin hole in cyl, etc.
 
I've had the tractor about a year and a half now. It was running hot (needle right up next to the red) when I was mowing with it once, which I suppose is when the engine issues started.

The power steering oil reservoir is currently maybe an inch lower than the dipstick mark. But it also loses some at the end of the piston, so it doesn't seem like the P/S (or only the P/S alone) would add enough oil to increase the engine level this much.

Since the fuel injector pump is leaking in a few spots where the lines come out anyway, it's probably worth having that serviced anyway, yes?

Oh, and just noticed that the belt was off and burned up. (It was really bad state to begin with, and I'm assuming working it off the genny to test that and then not getting it tight enough is responsible.) So could the coolant spewing up have been from back pressure from the pump when the belt gave out? The belt off would also not turn the genny and not feed the tachometer. So that's probably figured out.
 
Belt could explain the tach not working, and the white smoke all around the engine could have been from the belt burning from rubbing after it popped off.

I'm not sure about the radiator spewing though, unless it ran long enough without the water pump turning to cause a localized overheating condition in one part of the engine such that the coolant in that one area boiled and caused pressure in the system.
 
Any recommendations for where to send the fuel injector pump for service? And what the cost might be? Looks like new pumps go for about $650.
 
(quoted from post at 07:59:27 07/23/14) Any recommendations for where to send the fuel injector pump for service? And what the cost might be? Looks like new pumps go for about $650.

Most places would be around $600. for a four cyl. pump. Dieseltech is substantially less and does good work.
 
Have you drained the oil and looked carefully at it yet? Let it sit a while, see if coolant separates out, (if it's been sitting, coolant may be what drains out first) smell it for diesel fuel (injector pump seal, as I understand - hasn't happened to me - yet!)

You may also want to drain the coolant and look for oil, if things are traveling the other way, or both ways, or diesel is going in the crankcase and oil is moving into the coolant, too.

Keep an eye (and a strainer) out for debris in the fluids as well. Some can be diagnostic.

Then (after refilling fluids to correct level) check the compression - that can be very diagnostic.

white smoke is unburned fuel, as I understand diesel smoke diagnostics. Though I wonder if it might be a coolant leak, given the coolant issues, and steam rather than "smoke."
 

yes.. I believe you got lucky and got it...

as to the oil increasing, if its diesel fuel, it will thin the oil and ruin the bearings,, so you need to fix that asap... an injector pump rebuild is not cheap but will save the engine... if that's the leak...

best of luck,, Bill
 

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