Branson 4520 rescue project!

[K5lwq]

BigTex in Caddo Mills for Branson parts. I ordered the thermostat and some gaskets from Diesel Parts Direct out of Baton Rouge, LA. They have good prices for Yanmar parts.

 

[Citydude]

Video of the tractor running.

Not sure if this will work.
I was looking for the oil leak.

You have to name it Lazarus!

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never been to BigTex in Caddo Mills. I bought my tractor from Cokers and it's hit and miss with them. If they have it in stock, you can't beat their prices. But if they have to order it, you never know when it will arrive. They will say it will be there on Thursday, and when you go in there on Friday, they say next Thursday. I played that game with them for 2 months before it showed up!!!

 

[K5lwq]

If you get a chance you should go check them out. They are a awesome dealership with great people working there.

 

[Branson Bob]

Holy Crap K5... she lives!!! Awesome work!

 

[K5lwq]

Thanks Bob! Yes it is alive but still very much on life support. Citydude named it appropriately, Lazarus.

I decided to order the entire fuel filter assembly from DPD. It was $80 shipped but I keep questioning the bleeder valve. This will probably save a little headache later as I continue working on it.

 

[K5lwq]

Update on the patient.

It is off of life support but still very much in Critical condition.

I stopped enough of the coolant leaks to get the engine up to temperature a couple of times. Finally the smoke is starting to clear out and the engine is limbering up and starting to get happy.

On the last run the Radiator opened up and is done! Priced a new one from Branson and it will eat up a $700 bill! This week I will see if a local radiator shop can build me one. They are known for custom radiators. Fingers crossed!

One of the freeze plugs will not seal so I will have to devise a technique for repairing the casting. Whoever removed the original plug damaged the bottom of the hole.

The water pump bearings are shot so I will order one later today.

I also need to replace all of the fuel lines. It is drawing air from somewhere.

If I can stop all the bleeding I believe it will recover to live a useful life.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Thanks for the update. Nice to see you rehabilitating this poor thing. It was certainly neglected and abused.

You may just have to use a rubber expansion plug in that one buggered plug location.

In my old racing and custom street car days, I had several custom built aluminum radiators made for me. I could specify whatever I wanted, tank size and volume, core diameter and number of cores. Made a huge difference in keeping a high performance big block with high compression pistons alive in the summer streets of Phoenix. I'm sure any skilled custom shop could make you exactly what you need.

 

[EddieWalker]

What is the name of the radiator shop? I've used Tyler Radiator Shop on S Palace, and they did a good job, but they where very limited on what they would do. I don't have any complaints, but I would love to learn of a better place to go to.

 

[K5lwq]

Well that is who was recommended by 1-800-Radiator behind Sweet Sue's. There also is a place in Longview I am told that does good work so we will see. Lol

 

[K5lwq]

After much research it has been determined that no other option is available for the radiator but OEM. So after $940 it is on the way. I am still waiting on the water pump to arrive as well.

Today I removed the steering cylinder and all the hoses for replacement. The pressure hose from the pump to the steering valve came completely apart when I removed it.

The pressure hose from valve to left side of cylinder was so damaged on the valve I could not remove with a wrench. I had to cut it off of the fitting and use a big chisel and hammer to drive it out. That was a pain! I thought we were going to have another thread on how to remove a damaged plug(fitting).

I will have the hoses made this week and see if we get the pump and radiator to get that going next weekend. I was too worn out to tackle the freeze plug behind the starter so that will wait as well.

It looks bare up front now!

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I admire your patience with this thing.

Well done not giving up.

Sorry to hear you had to go OEM for the radiator, that certainly drives up your restoration costs.

 

[old and tired]

Anyone knows how to set up a GoFund Me page?!?!? I'm guessing he's going to need one...

 

[K5lwq]

Lol, I sure hope that will be the last big expense!

Thanks Slim for the kind words.

 

[LouNY]

Making good progress, the radiator was pretty steep how bad was the water pump.
I know they bent me over for mine this winter $435 plus shipping.

 

[K5lwq]

Making good progress, the radiator was pretty steep how bad was the water pump.
I know they bent me over for mine this winter $435 plus shipping.

Lou, I was able to find a Yanmar water pump for $115. The saving grace for the engine is they use it in a lot of different equipment. Boats seem to be a popular use. Parts for the engine is not terrible.

Branson wanted about $250 for the pump. Still better than what they did to you!

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

This may not apply, but are you sure all the water pumps use the same casting and pulley shaft length (pulley offset)? That would be really handy if they did.

From my old Mopar days, they (Mother Mopar) used about a dozen different water pump housings for their B and R/B big block engines over the decades. They would all "bolt up", but the spacings would be off. It was always a pain assembling the right combination of parts to get the pulleys to line up correctly, IF you were starting with a bare block build up and didn't have all the original "stuff" off the front of the donor engine.

 

[K5lwq]

Boy I hope everything will match Slim. The thing that I am relying on is it is the same part number. Branson at least used Yanmar part numbers so it should work. We will see.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm always nervous about needing parts on mine. Dealers are hit or miss, and then it takes months for it to arrive. Coker on 271 sold me my tractor, and they try to get parts, but the last couple times that I've been in there, they had alternative parts instead of factory ones. Mr Gasket aftermarket fuel pump instead of the factory one. Now I just search Amazon, Ebay, and the internet to see if I can find what I need, or what will work whenever I need something.

I'm hoping your water pump fits. That would be a huge savings.

 

[K5lwq]

The adventure continues.

Good news is new water pump is the correct pump so no issues there. I removed the old one to find it has been replaced before by someone that did not understand how to do it. They made gaskets for places that did not need gaskets. They used several tubes of red silicone on everything including bolt holes. Took quite a while to clean all that up and get ready to install new pump but it is ready.

I removed the starter to fix the freeze plug and the bolts were loose. Naturally the starter housing came off in two pieces. New starter is the solution. OEM from DPD is $462.92 plus freight. Amazon has a aftermarket for $80 with free shipping. I believe I will take my chances with aftermarket. My experience with aftermarket starters is the gear mesh is normally not correct. They tend to engage to deep so some shims may be necessary. We will see.

I dressed the freeze plug hole up with the Dremel and went to a 1 1/4” expansion plug. I believe that will seal and hold.

I managed to get it out of 4WD and freed that lever. Worked on PTO lever but it has not freed yet. I have it covered with penetrating oil to soak a while before attempting again.

Still waiting on the fan and if the steering cylinder was part of the recall or not. Either way the tie rods need to be replaced. Branson has a updated assembly that fixes premature tie rod failure. But it was not a recall and is about $500 for the kit. Debating on what to do there.

That is about it for this week.