Ford 6000 issues

So against my better judgement, I bought a Ford 6000 at an auction. It runs decent, drives fairly well, shifts thru all 10 gears.

But, the downsides. It leaks hydraulic oil, a ton. Coming from somewhere under the reservoir. Seller said it was the reservoir, but after a quick look, it's looking to me like that's not the case. I haven't torn into it to be sure. From the amount of gunk and caked on "grease", I'd say its been leaking for a good while. And ideas on where to start looking for a leak, when I put the thing on the trailer, it wasn't quite running out of the bottom of the front, but it was a frequent and often drip of fluid.

Secondly, the PTO cable is broken. I'd like to fix that, but I don't want to throw a ton of money at a cable, to then turn around and have another issue that makes the cable repair not worth the time. The cable is broken just past where it would attach to the handle, so I'm at least able to grab onto the cable portion and pull. When I pull on the remaining portion of the cable, I can hear the engine RPMS drop, like the hydraulic pump is trying to run, so that gives me some hope the PTO works.

I've got a service and owners manual sitting here on the desk with me, but for the life of me can't figure out where in the manual it goes over PTO cable removal and replacement.


Yes, I know a Ford 6000 is an obsolete piece. Yes, I know I'll throw a ton of money at the thing to make it work. I like how the tractor looks, so its something I guess I'm willing to deal with for now.
 
Leaking is what Ford tractors do. As soon as you fix one leak, another one pops up, especially on a 6000. Just the nature of the beast.

As for your specific leak, it could be any number of one of the hoses, front shaft seal on the pump, or even the unloading valve. We can speculate all day long, but the best thing to do would be to clean that area up really good and then start looking.

PTO cable is a fairly easy fix if you can find a spare one, that will be the hardest part. The PTO cable adjustment procedure will be found in the transmission section, page 39 in my factory manual.

Welcome to the 6000 owners club. I'm working on mine right now trying to free up the 3-point linkage. Do you have a pic or two of yours to share?
 
(quoted from post at 16:24:21 03/21/22) Leaking is what Ford tractors do. As soon as you fix one leak, another one pops up, especially on a 6000. Just the nature of the beast.

As for your specific leak, it could be any number of one of the hoses, front shaft seal on the pump, or even the unloading valve. We can speculate all day long, but the best thing to do would be to clean that area up really good and then start looking.

PTO cable is a fairly easy fix if you can find a spare one, that will be the hardest part. The PTO cable adjustment procedure will be found in the transmission section, page 39 in my factory manual.

Welcome to the 6000 owners club. I'm working on mine right now trying to free up the 3-point linkage. Do you have a pic or two of yours to share?

That is what I figured I'd do, clean it up, get the nasty crap off, and then put some fluid in to see what's leaking. I'll have to check my manual, but I know I've got non-original factory manual. I do know that when it's got hydraulic fluid in it, the 3 point seems to work alright, and the pressure accumulator works at least some.

Is it common for these tractors to creep a little bit in park, or am I looking at some transmission issues as well? I'll get some pictures when I get a chance, I've got too many projects in the fire right now, that's for sure.
 
Mine creeps a little in park for the first 20 seconds or so, much worse when it's cold, although it'll eventually lock. I use the parking
brake if I'm in a hurry. I'm sure there's a traceable reason why it does that, but investigating that issue is very low on my priority list.

I'll assume you have an I&T manual. PTO brake cable adjustment into should still be found in the transmission section.
 
All three of the SOS Fords I have are slow to go to park when cold, and work better when the trans oil is hot. I put a pressure dump valve on one of the 6000s on the #2
band test port, I use it when oil is cold so the band will apply faster. The oil bleeds slowly when cold, keeping Park from working right away. The dump valve bleeds the oil away quickly so Park will apply faster with cold oil.
 
There's a 6000 Commander in my area on auction this weekend.
My wife says I don't need it.
It won't fit in my shop.
I've never worked on diesels.
Probably can't afford it.
I really don't need another project.
Needs a new seat.
Really rough condition.
It'll probably bring way too much.

Think I'll go try to buy it!
 

Thanks for the advice on the tractor. It's a long term project for me, other than getting the basics taken care of at this point. I did find a picture from the day I brought it home, it's not pretty, but it's a decent running machine.

nep4Jw3.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 10:30:36 03/22/22) There's a 6000 Commander in my area on auction this weekend.
My wife says I don't need it.
It won't fit in my shop.
I've never worked on diesels.
Probably can't afford it.
I really don't need another project.
Needs a new seat.
Really rough condition.
It'll probably bring way too much.

Think I'll go try to buy it!

You say that, but you might be surprised how cheap it goes. That's how I ended up with mine. I put in an online bid on the thing, at a somewhat nearby (3+ hours) auction, at what I thought was a stupid low, no way I'll win the tractor price, and yet here we are.
 
That doesn't look too bad, at least from a distance. I'm embarrassed to show what mine looked like when I bought it. Not so much because it
was so ugly, but rather the reaction I get from people who say to me: Dude, what were you thinking? I have yet to come up with a good answer.
 
That's how I got my '73 4000. It was listed in an ebay auction and happened to be 20 minutes away. The listing said that it was a Ford tractor, model D1024E and no one was bidding on it so I placed the minimum bid about 30 seconds before the listing ended and I got it, with a heavy duty rotary mower, for $1750.00 back in 2007.
 
Tore into it a bit today, found the section in the manual about the PTO cable removal and replacement. Found a used one online that I've got coming to me now.

I'm afraid the cable isn't going to totally fix the problem, as pulling out on the cable to engage the PTO isn't doing anything. I can pull out, and audibly hear the engine change RPM as something tries to engage, but then nothing happens at the back end. Additionally, I thought I'd better check the PTO ratio shift lever. It was in the 2225 RPM position, and moves to the neutral position ok, but it won't stay in the 1730 RPM position at all.

Me thinks this just got a lot more expensive of a "cheap project".

Additionally, on the hydraulic side, I put some more fluid in, just to see what was leaking. Think I found at least one of the large leaks, hopefully its just an O-ring on a fitting, and it isn't a problem internal to a pump.

This post was edited by kscessnadriver on 03/24/2022 at 02:24 pm.
 
The PTO selector popping out of gear is concerning. Most likely either a bearing is going out and/or you have a lot of end play in that shaft.
 
(quoted from post at 10:21:19 03/25/22) The PTO selector popping out of gear is concerning. Most likely either a bearing is going out and/or you have a lot of end play in that shaft.

I'm not sure I'd call it popping out of gear, it just won't even go into gear (on the economy side of the speed selector). It firmly stays in place on the normal side, so I assume it would run ok on that. I'm just worried that the PTO doesn't spin at all, that's a bigger deal to me. I just don't have the capability to split the thing where I live, that's for sure.

After playing with it some more, with a little more pressure it seems to go to both sides of the PTO speed selector, either way, it doesn't make a difference on the PTO actually turning. Guess I'll wait for the used PTO cable to show up before I start deciding where to go from here.

This post was edited by kscessnadriver on 03/25/2022 at 04:19 pm.
 
For those following along at home, got the "new" used PTO cable today.

Started playing with it to see if it would make a difference, and doesn't seem like the PTO wants to run still. I am able to kill the engine by pulling out the PTO cable, if that helps anyone diagnose an issue. I'm thinking I need to check the fluid levels next, as I haven't got to that yet.
 

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