kmacht
New member
I have been having some issues with my 63 Ford 4000 3 point lift. I bought the tractor a year ago and the lift had plenty of power but I only used it to lift a logging winch. It was either always full up or full down. I tried hooking a post hold auger up the other day and when I tried to raise or lower it the lift was very jerky. I bought a top cover gasket/o-ring kit thinking that maybe it was time for a rebuild. When I went to drain the fluid last night what came out obviously had a lot of water in it. It was a very light chocolate milk color. Thinking maybe this was the issue I drained and re-filled with new fluid. Having the gasket kit I decided to pull the small block off plate right in front of the seat and re-place the O-rings since it as easily accessible. Once I got that cover off I noticed there was a spring loaded valve of some sort. I unscrewed the cap holding the valve in place and two springs that fit inside each other came out. Nothing else came out and I didn't try to actually pull the valve. I put that back together and bolted the block off plate back on with the new O-rings.
I then started the tractor and the 3 point didn't work at all. I figured that the pump lost prime so I loosened the allen screw on the pump until only fluid was coming out. That got the lift moving but it has absolutely no lifting power. If I try to raise it up I can hold it down by just pushing on it by hand. Once it does raise up I can push it back down even without moving the control lever. When I shut the tractor off the lift immediately drops back down to the ground. It is almost like the fluid is bypassing a check valve or something. I plan ot order a service manual tonight but could really use to get this working again for the holiday weekend. Any idea what to check? I should note that I don't see anything squirting out of the cylinder by looking through the fill cap and the draft control lever is up for position mode.
Keith
I then started the tractor and the 3 point didn't work at all. I figured that the pump lost prime so I loosened the allen screw on the pump until only fluid was coming out. That got the lift moving but it has absolutely no lifting power. If I try to raise it up I can hold it down by just pushing on it by hand. Once it does raise up I can push it back down even without moving the control lever. When I shut the tractor off the lift immediately drops back down to the ground. It is almost like the fluid is bypassing a check valve or something. I plan ot order a service manual tonight but could really use to get this working again for the holiday weekend. Any idea what to check? I should note that I don't see anything squirting out of the cylinder by looking through the fill cap and the draft control lever is up for position mode.
Keith
