Ford 2600 questions

[LeviR]

Hi guys, I'm a new member, but longtime lurker. I recently got an '80 model Ford 2600 diesel. It is in terrible shape, but you can't beat free!
The tractor is showing somewhere near 2500 hours, but I have no idea if that's original. I got the tractor out of a lady's yard, and she said it had been run out of fuel, and she just left it there, and so it sat for 5 years. Anyway, I was able to bleed the fuel system, and I got it running. HOWEVER... I've noticed the following problems:
-At idle, it sounds like a cylinder is missing. If you rev it up, it seems to run on all three...but at idle, it's pop.pop.pop.pop.pop.pop..almost like a tugboat.
-At idle, it pours black smoke. The smoke amount doesn't change relative to engine revs. i have already checked for intake/exhaust obstructions, dirty airfilter, and bad hydraulic fluid. All check fine, but the intake tract is grungy on the inside. Any way to clean it, short of taking the manifold off?

-I can only get the engine to run if I pullstart it. If I try to start it with the starter, it just pours black smoke, and almost catches.
-The injector pump has various leaks from the pump body, but most notably, the throttle shaft.
-I have not noticed any blue smoke, so I believe the rings are okay.

I know this post is all over the place, but I am trying to get this posted before I leave for the day.

 

[jtmcdon]

Hi Levi,

I owned a 2600 and I really miss it. It was a great tractor and never failed me. Reading your post a couple of things come to mind. When you say injector pump I assume it's a diesel...right. The first thing I learned the hard way was to never let it run out of fuel and it happened to me twice but I never let it happen again.

If it is a diesel, and it has ran out of fuel there are two things you must do to get the tractor started using the starter. There is a small bleeder screw (I think it's a 3/8 bolt) on the side of the injector pump. Locate it and remove it, then try to start it and after a moment or so you will see fuel streaming out about 2 feet then re-tighten the bolt. This step ensures the air had been removed from the filter to the injector pump. The next thing is to loosen the battery tray and swing it around to get to the fuel lines. Crack open each fuel line (at the engine) and if I remember correctly there are 3 lines. Once you crack-open the fuel lines try to start the tractor. If there is air in the lines and it probably is, it will take a few minutes until you see fuel coming from each line. This step ensures the air is removed from the injector pump to the injectors. Although I had a great battery in my tractor, the battery never had enough power to go through these steps. So don't be alarmed if this process takes a little longer than you think it should. I recommend you use your truck/car and set of jumper cables. Otherwise, your tractor battery probably won't hold up.

Hope this helps.

Tom in Oxford, GA

 

[Soundguy]

black smoke is unburnt fuel.

it may be low compression ( rings or valves) ( worn rings.. or stuck rings from setting ) starter could be worn and dragging.. my 3000 wouldn't start by starter when i got it... starter was ragged out.. needed rebuilding. starts fine now.

celan al the electricals. add a tripple dose of howes fuel system treatment after chanigng fuel filter and bleeding injectors.. and add a quart of old dex 3 atf to the tank.

to see if 1 injector does less than the other 2, using a wrench, crack weach hard line, in turn, one at a time and see what it does to engine rpm and sound.. then tighten and go to next.

if 1 makes more difference than another.. swap that injector with another and see if the skip jumps to the new cyl.. if so.. that injector needs worlk.. if skip stays on that cyl reguardless of injector.. it' either that circuit on the pump.. or that lung is having problems... time for a wet / dryp comp test.. and injector / pump work.

post back.

may times after one has set you can take them out and run the snot out of them after heavilly treating the fuel and lubing it .. then just torture that thing on a heavy load for a couple hours and see if the skip goes away. you might get lucky.

other causes for black smoke may have been some slobber / wet stacking burning off too.

also.. if crank oil is heavily fuel contaminated it will drink it more and also smoke more..

 

[LeviR]

Hey Tom, I really appreciate your response! The tractor is a diesel, and before I owned this thing, I was only experienced in gasoline engines. I had always heard about not running a diesel dry, but it never was applicable to me until now. Through this forum, I had learned the correct way to bleed the system of air. I believe I'm good there. Thanks again for your reply!

 

[LeviR]

Soundguy, I really appreciate your reply. I haven't posted back since I worked on the tractor some more, so here's an update, and I apologize in advance for being scatterbrained and long winded...

I replaced the starter/2 gauge cables/4dlt battery with fresh ones, and it's spinning like a champ. (Its hitting the 200 RPM required for start)
I then added a bottle of Standyne diesel cleaner/conditioner, and re-bled the entire fuel system, with an almost full tank. I started at the filter, bled it, then bled the pump ,while spinning,at the 5/16 bleeder screw. Got good air free pulse out of that, so I moved on to the injectors. Also got good air free pulse from them, so I tightened 'em up. It still wouldn't catch. It would just smoke gray....like this.. Gray puff puff....Gray puff puff...That made me think it was possibly one injector just hanging open, and making it hard to start. So I yanked that one out, and had it tested. They said it was spraying fine, and popped at the correct pressure. In all my tired mindset from all of this, I didn't try loosening each line one at a time to check for a difference, so I did that. The only cylinder that caused a drop in cranking speed when cracked was the center one, which is the one I pulled. So, I pulled the one next to the tank, thinking maybe it wasn't spraying. The tip on that one was very rough and almost melted looking. The spray holes were distorted, and enlarged... so I bought a new one at my injector guy´s descretion. It didn't make any difference at all....even when you crack the line to it....it doesn't slow cranking speed or smoke output.
I then decided to pull the rocker cover to check for stuck valves. Nothing They all are opening and closing fine.... However, every time the INTAKE valve closest to the radiator closes, it makes a hissing sound, almost like a vacuum trying to suck up something....(small thooomp) through the EXHAUST. That baffles me....It could be another exhaust valve closing or opening simultaneously, but I thought I'd throw it out there... it sounds like this: thoomp putt putt thoomp putt putt thoomp putt putt...... very uneven sounding, almost like one has compression, but the other two do not??
-I pulled the oil pan, because it was badly dented, and plus, the oil was very thick and old. The pan was crushed up around the oil pickup screen. I thought maybe this was making the pump work hard or even causing the lifters to bleed down due to low oil pressure... I have not yet put the pan back on.
-I do not have a working thermostart on the tractor, but I do have the wiring ready for one. The previous one got burned out because the previous owner wired it to be on when the key was on. (doh!) I did fix that. Just gotta buy a new thermostart.

-At one time, I tried shutting off the kill cable, and cranking it over, thinking it would clear out any excess diesel or something. It quit smoking gray for the most part, except for one puff every 3rd cylinder... Where is it getting this unburnt fuel?

-I also am afraid I may have dropped a tiny bit of dirt into an injector hole while I was changing them. I know I should have cleaned up around it before I took it out, but didn't think to. Did I run the risk of scarring my cylinder wall?

-Lastly, the injector pump, after trying to start the motor for a long time, started leaking from pretty much everywhere...I know this isn't good. Why does it just start leaking?? Where is the internal pressure build up coming from??


The other night, randomly and out of the blue while I was turning the engine over to try to diagnose the no-start situation, it suddenly started sounding like it was gonna catch, so i kept it spinning. got faster and faster, and then finally started running! it was smoking black at idle, and didn't seem to be running on all three still, BUT... this was before I put in the other injector.
Like you said Soundguy, I do need to do a wet/dry compression test. I do not have access to a diesel compression tester/adaptors, so I will have to figure something out there.

 

[LeviR]

And also, like you said Soundguy, once I get the oil pan back on, oil changed and the rocker cover back on, I'm going to pullstart it, and work the tar out of it, (assuming it starts)
I just hope I didn't cook my new starter with all of the starting attempts! I really leaned on it.

 

[Soundguy]

it could be a tight valve or other valve issue causing loss of compression.

as for the leaking.. make sure the return line from t he pump is not clogged.. same with leak off lines.


might be the injector cleaner loosening up some gunk that was preventing the leaks..

oil pressure? lifters...?

just make sure the top end is oiling..

pull start her and see wht happens.

the spec of dirt inthe cyl? at this point.. can't loose sleep over it. it's probably long gone out the exhaust by now.