Ford 1000 series cams.

larrh7

Member
Anyone ever have a worn cam lobe or tappet worn down. My 3000 was not running well. Though and confirmed it was only running on 2 cylinders. Took the valve cover off and #1 pushrod was not going up far enough to open the valve. My mechanic buddy thought it was a stuck valve so we took the head off to get repaired. After getting it off I could see the pushrod and the tapped not coming up far enough. Took it to a tractor repair shop last week and am waiting on repair . The guy there seemed to think the cam lobe was worn also. I bought the tractor 2 years ago and supposedly the motor had been rebuilt. Seemed to run good. Why would a cam lobe or tappet wear like that? I've only drove it 20 hours in 2 years. The tappets according to the manual come out from the top with a magnet. I was able to get 2 of the 6 out, not the on that might be a problem, and they are very heavy round piece of metal. I can imagine them wearing out. The 2 I did get out were like brand new.

This post was edited by larrh7 on 08/18/2021 at 09:26 am.
 
I've seen lifters get worn, but none (on
tractors) that I would actually say were
worn out. Maybe two got swapped, and the
different lobes wore differently?
The cam in my son's 4000 had pitting in
several lobes, so we replaced it.
 
I'd like to know how you got the tappets out of a 3000 from the top. That's pretty much impossible, they only come out the bottom.

Yes, cam lobes and lifters can and do wear, although it's not a common problem on these engines. This happens for a number of reasons, but the most likely is because the valves weren't adjusted properly during it's life.
 
I have seen many a cam lobe wiped on rebuilt older engines with higher pressure valve springs. Almost always due to not following the break in procedure for the flat tappet cams. Could be the same thing happened to yours. Cranking and cranking one that won't start without priming the oiling system will cause that in a hurry. Worst one I saw in person was a 427w that wiped a lobe in about 3 minutes of running.
 
Wasn't there two types of lifters used in these engines? Early and late style?
I know one of them used a top hat style lifter that could only come out the bottom but the other style was just straight and could come out of the top?
Am I thinking about a different engine?
 

You are correct there were 2 lifters used
We tore down a early 3000 years ago that had the non top hat lifters
My old parts manual show they used that lifter with shorter 10.675 inch push rods beginning with 65 production until 8/65
After 8/65 they switched to the present top hat lifters with 12.17 inch long push rods

Improper cam break in is one reason for lobe wear, since the engine had been recently overhauled if they mixed the old lifters and didnt get them back on the same lobe they had been running on theres a much higher chance of lobe failure than from improper break in on a new cam
The reason the lifter wont come out is the failing lobe probably ground a burr on the bottom of the lifter

mvphoto80454.jpg
 
Yes, I think the new ones used used the
longer push rods. A guy I sold a complete
3000 PS system to kept my number and a year
or two later was needing an engine
overhaul.
I knew of an NOS FORD 175 D short block in
Iowa so I put the two guys together and
they made a deal. He put everything from
the old engine on the new one except his
push rods were too short. I had a long set
and shipped them to him in northern MN. No
charge.
A few months later he called and asked if I
wanted the old short block. I said no. He
said how bout if he dropped it off at my
place - no charge.
8? years later it is still in a garage up
at my property.
Someone needs to come and buy it from me
before it goes to scrap.
 
I have the IT manual and it states that they can be lifted out with a magnet. They are very heavy and I was able to get 2 out. Bought a magnet that wasn't strong enough so I made one with a dowel rod and a strong small round magnet glued to the end of it.
 
I stand corrected. After taking a peek at the manual, some early engines used tappets that Ford called dumbell style. I've worked on my share of Basildon engines, and have never seen one.
 
This is what I call one of the 6 tappets. It sits on the cam and then on the top is where the 12 inch pushrod goes.
 
You are correct. As you can see in my photo I posted mine will come out from the top with a very strong magnet.
 
You are correct in everything you said. Mine have the longer 12 inch pushrods. I called them tappets but they are lifters like you said. One thing I was wondering about. When I got
this from the guy he said the motor was rebuilt and it had the break in oil in it and I should change it . I did right away with the 10-40 Rotella. I have read a lot about break in
oil but have read many different opinions on using it and for how long. I though maybe I changed it to soon. But then like I stated I only ran it for around 20 hours. How much wear is
possible in 20 hours?
 

Some call them lifters, others call them tappets, Ford actually called them tappets.
Remeasure your push rods, they should be 10.675 inch long for those tappets

After more searching my above information isn't correct for this tractor, I was looking at diesel engines which is what I normally see
After farther search it shows Ford used the dumbbell style tappets in the gas engines thru it's entire production run 1965/April 1982, but other than the early 2000 models both gas and diesels used the same low lift cam 65/4-68 and high lift cam 4-68/4-82

The tappet # is C7NN-6500-A, I have found a few but they are reconditioned and over $30 each, I would go back with the diesel tappets that can be found for less than $10 each but this would require purchasing the longer push rods and removing the engine.
But with the amount of apparent wear on that one tappet and cam lobe I'd want to pull all of the bearings to see if metal particles when thru the engine.
I had a fresh rebuilt performance V8 engine eat a cam lobe in less than 10 miles after the 20 minute cam break in period, the metal particles went thru the oil system destroying the oil pump, all bearings and the crank shaft, one particle stuck to a piston skirt and cut a grove in one cylinder of a vintage Boss 302 block requiring a sleeve in that cylinder.
 
I did find some on this website. Hopefully it opens. You're right they are rare. This says $10. I was hoping that this was the problem and not the cam. But if it is worn then the cam must have a problem. The only people who work on tractors around Northeastern Indiana are the Amish. The
fellow I found is in Lagrange county about 25 miles north of my house. He has had it a month and I have not heard From him yet. When I went there it appeared by all the tractors he had setting around his shop he was very busy.
Untitled URL Link
 

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