Fordson Major coolant in crankcase.

Grabatire · Feb 19, 2020

Getting coolant in the crankcase so I pulled the head and found the head gasket to be OK. Haven't magnafluxed the head for cracks yet, but it looks good. I removed the pan and put some coolant (antifreeze) in the block and found it dripping into the crankcase. It doesn't seem to be coming from a leaking liner seal. Could there be a crack in the water jacket that would allow coolant to drip into the crankcase?

SkipperII · Feb 20, 2020

Could be a crack, or a pin hole in a sleeve, most common is a leaking O ring on the lower end of the sleeve. Clean the surfaces with brake kleen, With a good flashlight, you should be able to find the source.

Chris in SK · Feb 20, 2020

Its unfortunate that you have the head off, or you'd be able to pressurize the cooling system and see it easier. I guess all you can do is clean it up really good and lay under there and look. Maybe try a different color antifreeze.

jtwat · Feb 20, 2020

The tube thru the block that the throttle shaft passes through could be rusted thru.

Grabatire · Feb 21, 2020

JTWAT, the tube is rusted through, and has been for quite a while, but that brings coolant to the outside of the block. I had to block it off and manufacture an alternative throttle linkage.

However guys, I did find the problem. The lower o-ring seals on numbers three and four where the culprits. I pulled all the sleeves and found all the o-rings hard and cracked, but only three and four were leaking. It could use a set of new sleeves and pistons too, but it will have to settle for new rings only.

derwen1959 · Feb 23, 2020

You say that you are fitting new rings
In my opinion that is false economy
But it's your tractor and might be done by now

jtwat · Feb 25, 2020

Try BareCO for parts. Cheapest I found for Major engine parts.
http://www.bare-co.com/files-topindex

Grabatire · Mar 9, 2020

Well things turned out for the worse. When I pulled the sleeves to replace the seals I found the block cracked between all the cylinders, right through the o-ring grooves all the way down to the main brg webs. The throttle shaft tube wasn't rusted, it too was cracked. Not sure my imagination can come up with how the heck an engine could suffer that kind of stress unless there was a manufacture flaw. There's no external damage indicating a frost situation.

I found another engine and it will get the full rebuild treatment. I hope I can find someone around here that wants a Fordson Major Diesel with a new engine.

Fordson Major coolant in crankcase.

Grabatire

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SkipperII

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Chris in SK

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jtwat

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Grabatire

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derwen1959

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jtwat

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Grabatire

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