1954 Fordson major petrol

bduncan

New User
I have a 1954 fordson Major (Petrol) can anyone tell me what spark plugs are needed for this tractor as I feel I might have the wrongs ones. Can anyone also tell me what the gap is suppose to be with the spark plugs.
 
I use NGK B6ES in mine with excellent results. Tried a number of plugs with poor results until my plug supplier cross referenced
the original Champion plugs to NGK. Gap should be 0.025".
 
Pretty new to this game, it had NGK B4ES seems to overheat very quickly did not have gap set on these plugs. Replaced the exhaust manifold made sure there was no gaps replaced radiator set timing and tried to retard it but was over heating very quickly made sure belt was nice an tight. Firing on 1243 starts okay but just gets hot real quick. i will get these plugs and set the gap and give them a go.

Cheers
 
What do you call hot? When running in work my Major makes the exhaust and manifold glow red and about 4"of blue flame comes from the top of the exhaust. You can get a very nasty burn if you grab the exhaust pipe and many times I have lost nylon fabric coats by leaning against the pipe by accident.

Retarding the ignition will make it run even hotter, you need to advance it.

Have you got the four bladed fan? Have you got the shutters closed up on the radiator? The radiator on these early tractors had a very small gap in the fins, they will block easily. Try blowing it out and also flush the radiator with a good quality flushing medium or lots of Vinegar.
 
I have a new radiator and a thermostat in this tractor I have actually removed the air blades from this unit to get better airflow, sorry I have actually advanced the timing so it explodes further in the down stroke.Yes it does have a four blade if the new spark plugs don't work the only thing I can think of is the valves may not be seating but then again if this was the case I may have trouble starting it.
 
I do not think spark plugs would have much affect on running temperature of these engines. I would remove the thermostat and try it then. The thermostat used in these engines was a special one and had differences to the modern versions, I have not found one that works.

The temperature should run in the centre of the gauge when in use which is much hotter than a diesel version runs.What radiator cap are you using? The original is a pressure cap set at 4psi.

I was a mechanic working with these tractors back in the day and have owned and used mine for around 40 years.

Does she blow water out of the radiator overflow or does she loose water.
 
I did remove the thermostat but still overheated, she looses water out of the overflow.I bought a new radiator cap for a diesel but blew a hole in the old radiator. When I start this tractor without even moving it after 5 minutes radaitor boils over & exhaust muffler gets red hot. I had a spare carby even tried that still no change.
 
A diesel radiator cap is not a pressure cap and may cause your overheating, another cause could be a faulty head gasket if she blows water out of the radiator soon as she has started. I would not worry about the exhaust, they get very hot quickly.
 
I have put the plugs in that you specified with the correct gap.

I will refit the original pressure cap onto radiator and will see how it runs.

Is it very hard to get the head off to change the head gasket.
 
No, they are one of the easiest tractors to work on, most things can be done with the engine in situ apart from working on the crank. Yours is the odd one of the range as the petrol bore is smaller than the petrol/kerosene and diesel Major. The petrol engine was used in trucks up to the 1960's in Australia.

I thought I had a picture of the rad cap but cannot find it at the moment, looks a bit like a "pepper pot" inside.
 
Im pretty vague on this is it a matter of removing everything from the side of the head then removing the rocker cover and then removing the bolts that hold the head.Sorry for being a pain but really appreciate your help.
 
Im pretty vague on this is it a matter of removing everything from the side of the head then removing the rocker cover and then removing the bolts that hold the head.Sorry for being a pain but really appreciate your help..
 
No, that is retarding the spark. It should be set for a few degrees before the upstroke is finished, at idle, and gets even more advanced at higher speeds. Try 3 deg BTC. It shouldn't kick back, and new gas won't ping like the 1950's gas might have.

Make sure your lower radiator hose isn't squeezing shut. Sometimes a coil spring is needed inside to keep it from collapsing from the vacuum.
 
Sorry about the delay, computer update!!!!

Yes, remove the manifolds, remove the valve cover, remove the rocker gear and push rods, some people have a piece of cardboard and punch holes in it to keep the push rods in the same order as they took them out, Remove thermostat housing or top hose, undo all the head bolts and lift off the head.

I have added a link to our web site, fordsontractorpages.nl and to an article I wrote with pictures that may be a help. It is on the Wiki on that site and if it asks for the passwords they are:fordsontractorpages and dotty. We support YT with information on these models and they allow me to post this website address.
Untitled URL Link
 
Had the tractor running today with a 4 foot slasher ran good, temperature gauge did not get over half way stopped tractor at night piston 2 & 3 was glowing red from exhaust manifold apart from that tractor went well.
 

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