2000 Challenger MT265 death sentence?

[Half-a-Day Farm]

I've got one of these with coolant showing up in the crankcase. No noticeable smoke. Seems to run fine. Last year I noticed the temp creeping up which was unusual. I added coolant and the temp came right down but it made me suspicious because I could see no coolant leaks. I just did an oil/filter change and caught the oil. Yup. Coolant.

I'm looking through the $200 service /manual/ and have yet to determine if this Iseki E3CD engine (no oil cooler) has a wet sleeve. I am not a mechanic but I see a head gasket, a head, sleeve repair, or back to schlepping around with a wheel barrow and a shovel in my future.

TractorData.com Challenger MT265 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

 

[alexpops]

Sure it's not a parent bore? Southern Global's rebuild kit doesn't show any sleeves, only gaskets/pistons/rings/& bearings.

 

[TractorTech]

I just did some engine work on an MT265 and it is parent bore. I am guessing that you may have a warped or cracked head. The head seems to be pretty stout so probably just a warp.

 

[Half-a-Day Farm]

I just did some engine work on an MT265 and it is parent bore. I am guessing that you may have a warped or cracked head. The head seems to be pretty stout so probably just a warp.

 

[Half-a-Day Farm]

@alexpops and TractorTech, thank you for that. I've got some studying to do, I don't know what a parent bore is. I'd like to fix this thing because it's pretty perfect for what we use it for. I paid 8K for it 3 years ago. It's 4wd and it's got the ML30 FEL on it and it came with a rotary cutter and box blade. It had 450 hours on it when I bought it and only 550 now. What I have to do now is find out exactly what's wrong and how much to fix it. It's pretty stout so a couple grand??? might be worth it. Thanks again.​

 

[alexpops]

Parent bore just means no sleeve. Block is bored & if it gets damaged, you bore the block oversize & compensate with bigger rings (in gas engines) (a different type of sleeve in some cases) or replace the block. Best bet is to pull the head & check with a straight edge for warp then have a machine shop check for cracks. Machine shop can resurface if it's not too bad & an oversized gasket can make up the difference to keep the tolerances the same, otherwise, a new head. If you don't feel up to the task, any diesel mechanic should be able to do the work. You have a shop manual, it should outline R&Ring the head to see if you want to attempt yourself. Keep your parts organized, clean, marked & make sure you have a good torque wrench for reassembly. If you've never torn down & rebuilt an engine before, you may want to farm out the work to someone like tractortech so you don't make the problem worse. With that little time on the clock, you should fix it & with proper maintenance get a lot more years out of it. You'll pay a lot more for a comparable replacement today & won't have the knowledge of past maintenance that you have on this one. The other option is to trade it in or sell it & use the money on a new one with warranty, but then you'll still be paying up the difference & the repair will be cheaper than a new tractor..

 

[Half-a-Day Farm]

I appreciate the advice. There is a CAT dealer not far from me (E. TN) and an MF dealer (I think Massey sold this tractor with red paint). I wouldn't be comfortable doing this myself. An engine rebuild sounds pricey....so I've got some diplomacy to do. My wife was adamant I did NOT need a tractor up until the moment our son got out of the Coast Guard and bought 6 acres adjacent to us. Then she said "why don't you have a tractor".

His cabin is built and we did use the tractor for that project.

edit to add - I thought about selling this one but I don't have it in me to do that WITHOUT disclosing what I know about it. That might be what happened to me.

 

[alexpops]

I appreciate the advice. There is a CAT dealer not far from me (E. TN) and an MF dealer (I think Massey sold this tractor with red paint). I wouldn't be comfortable doing this myself. An engine rebuild sounds pricey....so I've got some diplomacy to do. My wife was adamant I did NOT need a tractor up until the moment our son got out of the Coast Guard and bought 6 acres adjacent to us. Then she said "why don't you have a tractor".

His cabin is built and we did use the tractor for that project.

edit to add - I thought about selling this one but I don't have it in me to do that WITHOUT disclosing what I know about it. That might be what happened to me.

Yeah, the massey dealer may look at it, but you'll be backburnered to their stuff. I would doubt the CAT dealer would let you in the lot except to trade it unless they are dead slow. If you can chat with the actual mechanics, one of them may be willing to do the work as a side job. Your call on how to best deal with the wife/cost issue. Just remember ... virtually everyone on this site (after we're gone) does not want the wives to sell the equipment for what we SAY we have in it.

 

[Half-a-Day Farm]

I just did some engine work on an MT265 and it is parent bore. I am guessing that you may have a warped or cracked head. The head seems to be pretty stout so probably just a warp.

Could I impose on you for another question? Would this be the kit I need for this job?

https://southern-global.com/shop/engine-parts/engine-kit/re-ring-kit-rrk-e3cd/

 

[TractorTech]

That kit would work, but that is for rebuilding the engine. You need at least the head gasket and valve cover gasket, but here is the kit for the head

Upper Gasket Set, UGS-E3CD

Upper Gasket Set, UGS-E3CD, Massey Ferguson 1235, 1250, 1260, 1433, 1440, 1529, 1531, 1532, 1533, 1540, ZT33, Agco ST35, ST35H, ST35X, ST40, ST40H...

southern-global.com