Ford tractor mis-firing.

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
They used those engines on a zillion things, air compressors etc. I am pretty sure he will be able to get them through NAPA especially if it is one that has a machine shop. Surely they have been through it before. What worries me is they were stuck bad enough to bend.

Hopefully they can get his needed parts. I'm thinking backwards in the fact that push rods are bent, and hoping the valves not opening created that instead of them open and the pistons hitting the valve heads. Still could be issues in that area but I would eliminate the obvious first.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Found the push rods in Fayetteville at Vause Equipment....will deliver to my house in 2-3 days. Ordered 4 rods in case any are damaged that I cannot see as of now. Upon a closer inspection this afternoon it appears the 2nd cylinder rod has slipped off the rocker arm and can not tell if it is bent or not, but the top of it appears to be canted a little when it slipped of the bolt it was riding on ( not very knowledgeable of this so bear with me). Was able to turn this bolt to take pressure off the rod and it is now free...can move it up but will have to take hood/gas tank off to remove rod. Hopefully a more serious problem has not taken place and the valve was stuck from sitting up so long....either not opening or them open will have to see when I get that far.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
If you are having to take the tank off to get to it I assume yours is the “early” model 4000. Same body style as the 800 series?
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
The guy I ordered the rods from told me it was a 62-64 model and he could tell me exactly if he knew serial #.... must have been made only couple years.
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
Bobby Vause is an old friend, as in we were both at ECU in the '70s...His and my dad both passed, mine was a Deere Dealer, his Allis Chalmers, New Holland, Ford...

I would suggest you replace all the push rods while working on...It may be a good idea to pull the head if you have the skills to do this, order a new head gasket as well when doing so...
 

LIZZRD

Eight Pointer
I would pull the head also. Better look at everything on the top end, Inspect all your pushrods and obviously all rocker arms will be set after... plus you can clean it up some. Good luck
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I don’t see the need to pull the head with a recent rebuild. Just been setting, that is if he gets the valves going easily.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
I don’t see the need to pull the head with a recent rebuild. Just been setting, that is if he gets the valves going easily.
Thanks nccatfisher, that the way I see it. Seems like just pulling the push rods and getting stuck valves working first , then if not up to snuff will see what next. Been sitting up a long time....gas was bad, carb had to be taken off and cleaned, get old gas out of tank, replaced oil and filter, oil bath in breather.....replaced spark plugs, coil, condenser....just have to see what happens when can get to top of motor.
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Thanks nccatfisher, that the way I see it. Seems like just pulling the push rods and getting stuck valves working first , then if not up to snuff will see what next. Been sitting up a long time....gas was bad, carb had to be taken off and cleaned, get old gas out of tank, replaced oil and filter, oil bath in breather.....replaced spark plugs, coil, condenser....just have to see what happens when can get to top of motor.
That would be my plan of attack. For something that has set up a while that isn't all that unusual. Now if you had a piston/rings stuck I would thing pretty hard about pulling it down but a valves not so much as long as I got them freed up. Especially on a tractor.
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
How old are those push rods?? They could have bent from fatigue, why chance it?

But, what do I know??? I could rebuild a Deere at 16, was teaching Service Schools for them in Atlanta at 22, was trained at every factory they have in North America and was an Area Service Manager over 65 dealers in Virginia back in the late '70s and early '80s...This meant I was fielding these type questions every day.... :)
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Got a older Ford 4000 gasoline 4 cyl. and it firing on 3 cylinders...have put in new plugs, taken carb off and cleaned out, drained gas out of tank, new coil & condensor, new wires....nothing works. Am lost as to the problem. We completely rebuilt motor couple years back and ran great, but got it out other day and this started...thought it may have been old gas but not it...need some help.

It’s the wrong color, if ain’t green it ain’t going to run right.:p
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Agree with the above statements.
Let me add, run engine and spray around the center of the intake with a penetrating fluid. Any vacuum leak will suck it in and smooth out the idle, IF that is an issue. No's 2 and three are beside each other in the firing order on that and it doesn't take much of a crack or carbon tracking in the cap to cause this issue. Next would be a compression test that is a simple operation. If those cylinders are low, I would dig into it for a possible blown head gasket or more severe problems, such as burnt valves (could actually have one or two stuck from sitting, which is not a real hard fix if no damage has occured).
Bigten, when I remove a pushrod, there is a inch to inch and half bolt that the pushrod head sits on....when you remove this bolt and replace with new pushrod...do I just tighten this bolt back down with new rod pushing up on it....do I have to take a fealer gauge and set this to a certain gap or just tighten this bolt all way down?
 

georgeeebuck

Ten Pointer
You need to go online and watch soon videos on how to adjust the values on the motor you are working on. You need to know where the piston is in the compression stoke to get it right. Just saying.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Winnie, the valves do have to be adjusted. This is done with the valve fully closed and the camshaft in the correct position for each valve during the procedure. It is not a difficult process, but I would struggle to explain it in print, as i do it a bit different than manuals describe. Probably the most simple process would be to get piston at top dead center of compression stroke and both valves can be adjusted for that cylinder.
Nccatfisher is probably in the right lash specs range, although some if the older engines had different specs for exhaust and intake as well as cold and hot.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Will valves have to be adjusted once the valves that are stuck are freed up...and any push rods that need replacing? Why would they have to be adjusted once working (unstuck)?
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Will valves have to be adjusted once the valves that are stuck are freed up...and any push rods that need replacing? Why would they have to be adjusted once working (unstuck)?
You changing the push rods, they aren't all the same length. Plus you had to change the adjustment to get the push rods out. No, the other valves will not have to be adjusted that you didn't remove the rods or change the settings but I would highly recommend you do so.
 

georgeeebuck

Ten Pointer
Heck, you got the hard part done, gas tank and valve cover off ,I would adjust (check) them all but that is just the way i would do it.
 
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Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Heck, you got the hard part done, gas tank and valve cover off ,I would adjust (check) them all but that is just the way i would do it.
Haven't got tank/hood off yet, but have taken valve cover off and saw a push rod off the rocker. Will have to wait for my son to help me when he gets time. All I know how to do is turn the nut to the right to tighten it and opposite to loosen, or is it vice versa.
 

georgeeebuck

Ten Pointer
Sorry if I came off as one of these smart asses that you run across on the internet . I thought reading through this tread that you were further along with this than you are. Yes it does seem that you may need some hands on help with this . I went through about the same problem with my old Massy Furgerson 35 last year. I hope that your son can help you get it going.
 

nchawkeye

Old Mossy Horns
Almost every little farming community has an Old Fart that works on older Deeres, Masseys, Fords or Harversters...Seek him out...With a small job like that he can probably come fix it under your barn...If you get things wrong, you'll just do it again...It would be nice if he could find out why they bent in the first case...That's what many mechanics forget...
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
Almost every little farming community has an Old Fart that works on older Deeres, Masseys, Fords or Harversters...Seek him out...With a small job like that he can probably come fix it under your barn...If you get things wrong, you'll just do it again...It would be nice if he could find out why they bent in the first case...That's what many mechanics forget...
nchawkeye, dont know that they are bent till I get into it. I just know one is off the rocker arm and the others do not know yet. Got the manual that came with it and the valve clearance is .015. Thanks for all the help.
 
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