Blow-By with Oil Question - Ford 4000 Diesel

ALFisher

Member
I have a 1964 Ford 4000 Diesel (4 cyl.) that I bought about 10 months ago. I haven't put 50 hours on it yet. I had to have the injector pump rebuilt and did some work on the hydraulic seals, which thanks to this forum, I got fixed. Tractor is running fine and I've been doing this fall's bushhogging with it.

Ever since I had it, it's had some blow-by, which is to be expected for this age tractor. Some oil will come out the vent, more when it is worked hard, such as bushhogging. Once this fall's work is done, I am considering tackling the problem. My questions are:

(1) Should I tackle the problem or am I better off leaving it alone? Oil consumption is not real high, but you will get a mess on the right side of the engine after hard use.

(2) If I do tackle it, what am I looking at cost-wise? Will I need a complete overhaul or just rings?

I'd like to keep the tractor running at least 4-5 more years. I will put about 30-40 hours on it per year.
 
I would run an hd diesel oil in it to clean up the rings and see if the blowby improves. An hd diesel oil will also have additives that help lower "volatility boil off". Make sure all breathers are clean and that all oil screens are in place as they act as separators and let air out but slow down the oil. The oil screens are basically Oil separators.

If the engine is truly worn, then a ring job will be needed but the cylinders will probably require a bore to return them to full roundness to keep from breaking rings. Ring gap on diesels is very important to blowby and compression.
 
I have a 3 cyl 1967 Ford 2000 diesel with some
blowby. I use Shell Rotella 15W40. I installed an
hose from the engine vent port to the intake manifold
as on 1960's car engines. No more bad odor..no more
mess on the engine. Had little drips under the oil
check dipstick I installed an O'ring under the
dipstick skirt...no more drips. When using the
tractor in the winter there were oil drop in the snow
each 10 foot...now no more oil drops I expect to keep
the tractor for next 10-12 years @ ~ 40-50
hours/year...do not want to invest many $$$ in it.

Bart
 
This is probably your best bet. It's certainly the cheapest.
I'm thinking it was in the late 60s that they went away from the "road tube" type breather and mandated PCV valves in autos as an anti pollution device.
Install a fitting down wind from the air cleaner, an adapter on the breather and a hose between them. Probably 3/8" dia. vacuum hose would be plenty.
If the old tractor runs good and you only run it 40 hrs a year it would last about forever - without the stink and mess.
 
(quoted from post at 16:58:57 09/09/14) Have you replaced the filter in the breather on the valve cover.

Yes. First thing I did. I may also try some sea foam and an oil change after that.
 
(quoted from post at 10:27:42 09/09/14) I have a 3 cyl 1967 Ford 2000 diesel with some
blowby. I use Shell Rotella 15W40. I installed an
hose from the engine vent port to the intake manifold
as on 1960's car engines. No more bad odor..no more
mess on the engine. Had little drips under the oil
check dipstick I installed an O'ring under the
dipstick skirt...no more drips. When using the
tractor in the winter there were oil drop in the snow
each 10 foot...now no more oil drops I expect to keep
the tractor for next 10-12 years @ ~ 40-50
hours/year...do not want to invest many $$$ in it.

Bart

What did you use to get a tight seal on the breather vent? I'd love to see your setup.
 
I do'nt know if the 4000 had the breather tube in the valve cover. Here is a photo of my mod on Ford 2000 diesel.


HTH

Bart
a168594.jpg
 
Thanks. The 4000 does have the breather tube on the valve cover, which makes it look like it would be difficult to do what you did. The oil leaks out between the metal portion that holds the filter and the cover. Short of putting something inside the hole in the cover, (and I am not even sure what that would be), I can't figure out a way to rig it like yours, but I will figure something out. Thanks for the pic and suggestions.
 
(quoted from post at 14:33:59 09/11/14) I do'nt know if the 4000 had the breather tube in the valve cover. Here is a photo of my mod on Ford 2000 diesel.


HTH

Bart
a168594.jpg

You need to clean the battery tray and check to see why the battery is losing acid. The battery tray will finally corrode away to nothing.
 

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