Ford 640 Fire and Fix

spoon

New User
I recently became the owner of a Ford 640 tractor. I've been using it for a couple weeks now with no real issues other than a hole in my air oil filter. I actually just ordered some replacement parts (from this site) for the air filter and assembly that will probably be in soon. Out of the blue, here's what happened last night.
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I went to start it and the carburetor caught fire. I immediately turned the engine and fuel line off where I had the shut off. (Picture below) The fire still spread up. It burned for a solid 15 minutes until the Fire Department came and put it out.
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The wiring, battery, gauges, and fuel line will definitely need to be replaced. I'm going to have to assess the damage and hopefully restore the carburetor and gas tank. Every thing else seems fairly ok.

My biggest questions that I hope to find some expertise on is could someone provide a high quality picture/diagram of a proper fuel line set up with sediment bowl for a 640? Lastly, Should I have any other concerns outside of what I've mentioned already. I'm going to do my best to get this beauty back up and running.

Thanks for the help.
 
No muffler, and non OEM pipe touting.

See bowl mounts to carb, original line went straight from tap to carb in a imho poor spot by the manifold.

I take mine around front of the engine by Genny, however your non OEM exhaust routing is a bit in the way.

Lesson 2, have a fire extinguisher.

Good luck.
 
Thank God the fuel tank didn't explode. To try to answer your question, the original fuel line had a rubber section and a metal section (to
cope with vibration) and passed from the tank valve down along the engine behind the manifold to the sediment bowl. The picture shows how it
comes down by the carb. What you have has been installed by a previous owner (I guess) and looks a little scary. Maybe it had a leak, or
maybe the carb was leaking (very common) but you would still need a spark to cause a fire. Did you notice any leaks? To install an original
fuel line is possible and available from CNH but are pricey. HTH -Will
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Hi Will,

Thanks for the response and I really appreciate the picture. Yes I bought the tractor with that setup. I never saw a visible leak but it had to be the carburetor itself since it was a ball of fire. The gas tank still has gas in it after all that and the inside looks fine. I might just have to bite the bullet and pay for a decent fuel line since it was so poorly done.
 
Oh I definitely learned the fire extinguisher lesson!! I just bought the land and have basically have nothing but the tractor on the land. Never again.

I agree it does seem like it would probably be safer if I route the fuel line in front. I'm not against getting a OEM setup for exhaust. I just want it to run well and SAFE.
 
Either doesn't look like correct carb or it has been modified for fuel into side versus normal front?
 
get a metal fuel line, they can be made easy out of brake line. If I have to make a line, I run it from the shut off to the front of the engine and back to the fuel bowl, I recommend the correct fuel bowl too. make sure the tank is clean and do away with the in line filter
boss
 
You are darned lucky, glad it did not get further along, sheet metal might be oil canned, hopefully not.

Stark reminder to have a fire extinguisher on board.

Even just a stock muffler with an elbow and stub out to the left may work, I've had my 850 LP like that for years, but you've already been reminded to make the repairs so there is enough separation between the fuel line and exhaust.

I've got a decent 640 in the works, one we sold new and later took in on trade for a thousand series way back when. If I recall its mostly original, still 6V with no modifications. Going to be a nice fixer upper and the one arm loader still has our dealer sticker on it.

The fire extinguisher is a must have. The 4630 I bought a year or so ago, previous owner let a lot of little things get ahead of him, one is a fuel leak on the fuel tank in the fuel gauge sending unit. Its been seeping awhile and all the dust and fuel residue that I cleaned off, would have been one hot fire, + plastic fuel tank, wiring and battery all nearby, forget it. I took it out of service, til I have time to get the sending unit, have the gasket but thats not the leak darn it LOL ! I thought it was just a gasket, fooled with it and the leak increased. It crosses your mind, won't happen to me, it's diesel, not as volatile... nonsense and not worth losing a low hour tractor I really enjoy having use of around this land.

You are fortunate for sure, that looks like a nice unmodified original, they are not so common by now given the 60 or so years these have been around.
 
Yeah it is definitely modified to have the fuel line into the side. Hopefully I can get it back to the regular setup but I don't have a picture of it. I'm not sure if that's even possible. I plan to go out to my land tomorrow and take as much apart as well can to assess the damage and start ordering parts.
 
Thanks for the advice dmvinba. I will look into using brake line for sure and honestly had the line been metal to begin with the fire probably would have never made it to the tank.
 

Here's a photo of the modified fuel line (and OEM exhaust) on my 860; as souNdguy and others have said, routing the line around the front of the engine seems like a good move.
 
The exhaust looks like it was made at a muffler shop. I would get a correct exhaust system for a 640. The rubber fuel line to
close the the exhaust is what started the fire not the filter.It looks like they didn't put all the hose clamps on. I'm guessing
some one put a carb from an NAA on it?

I would run the line like the NAA's around the back of the engine avoiding the exhaust pipe.
 
The or fuel bowl bolts to the card with a semi hollow stem bolt with fuel port joles in it.

Find your carb #
 

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