Hood Removal, Fuel Tank Cleanout on Ford 881

[sleuth]

So I'm finally getting a chance to do some work on my tractor. Putting the front loader on hold for now - Well, more like I have to because right now I'm not getting anything done when it only runs a few minutes at a time before dying. Essentially, it fires up like a champ, warms up, I can drive it around 3-5 minutes and then kaput. Just dies and (usually) won't restart. Have run the battery down a couple times trying to restart it. After I walk away I can come back a couple hours later and it fires back up again only to repeat the same thing.

My guess is that due to the amount of rust in the sediment bowl each time it dies is that I have a rusty fuel tank, valve, and/or an air leak in my hose. There is no fuel filter between the tank and the carburetor.

So to start with I'm going to clean out the fuel tank & valve, line it, replace the hose, and install a fuel filter.

Step 1 - Drain the tank. Check.
Step 2 - Remove the hood. How in the world do I do that?

The shop manual and owners manual which I have have no clear instructions for doing so. Please speak in layman's terms because I am neither a mechanic nor all that familiar with tractors anyway. I removed the four large Philips screws on each side of the SOS control. From there, it appears I have to remove the PTO control knob, and at that point, I'm not sure where to go from there.

 

[boggen]

not a clue about your tractor

i am going to guess head lights will need to be removed. ((assuming nut on back side, is holding side panel and top hood panel together))

looking at the parts manual on line....
Document Moved -> agriculture -> select language -> parts -> online parts -> search by model number -> enter model number -> search -> click + beside stuff that comes back, to narrow things down to the hood (sheet metal & gaurds / grill)

from looking you may need to remove the 2 front side panels (each side of radiator) ( some screws around bottom side of panels, can't tell if side panels connect to radiator grill or not.

and hard to tell but possibly a couple bolts / screws at the top of the grill guard that might hold the top hood panel on as well.

looks to be some sort of "CATCH" up near or shortly behind the head lights as well.

 

[8N Ren]

Remove the 4 around the dash and the ones that are on the bottom of the dog legs (the little front fenders), disconnect your lights, fuel line, air cleaner and anything else that might be attached.
If your tank is rusty it's probably the culprit but have you checked your coil? If it's shot it will kill the tractor when it gets hot and no starting till it cools off.

 

[sleuth]

Remove the 4 around the dash and the ones that are on the bottom of the dog legs (the little front fenders), disconnect your lights, fuel line, air cleaner and anything else that might be attached.
If your tank is rusty it's probably the culprit but have you checked your coil? If it's shot it will kill the tractor when it gets hot and no starting till it cools off.

I wouldn't think it would get hot within 5 minutes of start-up. Are you referring to the radiator coil? What would I check for?

 

[Soundguy]

Remove the 4 around the dash and the ones that are on the bottom of the dog legs (the little front fenders), disconnect your lights, fuel line, air cleaner and anything else that might be attached.
If your tank is rusty it's probably the culprit but have you checked your coil? If it's shot it will kill the tractor when it gets hot and no starting till it cools off.

those directions might help on an 8n.. but not so much on a 53+

yes at the front uoi need to take the dog legs loose, and from there you have some choices. you do not have to take the rear cowl off or the dash. but you will need to seperate the hood torpedo halves from the dash and cowling. all the bolts are eas to see and find. and expect that they will all fitght you and be rusty.

use penetrant oil. and chase all the holes when going back in.

leaving the dash means no instruments have to come off / out.

leaving tghe cowling means steering wheel stays/

no reason to remove the lamps.. just the wires. hood doglegs and side panels will likely be joined anyway.

you may want to take one side of the front nose apart.. or at least loose to get some play around the radiator..

no reason to take the fuel line off.. as the tank stays in place on the front and back bracket and is not attached to the hood.

to the OP. there is a filter atop the fuel tap, in the tank.

then there is a filtering sediment bowl with screen on the carb

 

[8N Ren]

My bad, I apologize for crappy instructions lol. Anyway, take Soundguy's info, he's a Ford tractor guru.

 

[Soundguy]

My bad, I apologize for crappy instructions lol. .

not bad instructions. .. good ones for an 8n or 9n or 2n.

 

[sleuth]

I thought these Fords were supposed to be easy to work on. :confused2:

Spent the last 4 hours removing the hood and the fuel tank. Maybe my hands are just too big, but a lot of those bolts holding the sheet metal together are very difficult to access. I hope I can remember how to put it back together.
Wasn't aware that I would have to remove the bumper, the grill, and the battery just to be able to reach all those screws and bolts.

Some findings:
1. Despite having drained the tank, a lot of liquid was sloshing around when I pulled it off. It was the last step of the night so I didn't bother checking to see what it was.
2. Several bolts, screws, and nuts did not match their counterparts on the other side. Looks like they were replaced over the years by whatever the owner had on hand.
3. The gas tank has a broken flange on the carb side.
4. The access hole in the hood on the carb side up by the dash - when I pulled the hood off I found nothing inside that little housing thingy. (highly technical term)
5. Some of the wiring has been replaced at one point, but probably needs replaced again. I know for a fact the lights don't work and I would like to make them work again. I would also like to install a headlamp.
6. Under the battery was a rubber mat. The mat and the metal underneath were sopping wet. I didn't take the time to figure out what it was - I assume it's just rainwater. I don't like it collecting there.
7. I broke one bolt off at the headlamp cowling.
8. The gas tank bolts were loose and the front of the gas tank was not bolted down at all. I'm guessing if there is a lot of rust in there that all that extra vibration wasn't helping matters.
9. I noticed there was gold paint under the lid on top of the tank.

Some questions:
1. What is supposed to go inside that little housing thingy?
2. What else should I do while I have the hood disassembled? Keep in mind I bought the tractor this spring and have done NOTHING to it to this point.
3. I'd like to put a coat of paint on some of these parts before putting them back on. What kind do I use and what surface prep is required besides cleaning?
4. Is there a parts diagram showing and listing all the bolts and screws? I'd like to replace a bunch of them, including the missing ones.
5. Why in the world did Ford make the hood so difficult to remove?
6. That "port" on top the fuel tank with the wire running to it - is that the fuel gage? My fuel gage doesn't work. Is it easy to fix? I tried to open that port and removed what looked to be a retaining ring from the top of it, but didn't see how to pull it out. What am I missing?
7. Any reason why I shouldn't run this thing without the hood assembly installed for a couple months for doing some light duty work? Would give me the chance to work on some of these things at my leisure without not being able to use the tractor.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Soundguy]

1, yes.. you can run without a hood.

2, round hole thingy? post a pic.. not sure what you are talking about.

3, prep for paint? hard to beat going to clean metal and then prime then paint. otherwise for a worker.. pressure wash.. sand, prime and paint with cheap farm alkyd. get years of service.

4, not uncommon to find repalced bolt hardware. in some cases the originals were square nuts in cages.. ie.. captured nuts.

put in whatever fits. I went in with small hex head 1/4" short hardware, bright zinc last one i did.

and yeah. ford thought it needed 627 nuts and bolts to hlod that sheet metal together.

i think about 16 at the right spots woulda done it.. includingthe dash, cowling, doglegs and all.

 

[sleuth]

Decided to attempt electrolysis to clean the fuel tank. Drained the tank. Flushed it out. Then filled it with a solution of water and washing soda. Build a sacrificial anode out of a bent piece of rebar and suspended it in the tank. Hooked it up to a 12V battery charger.

Now we'll wait and see. Probably run it for about 3-4 days, cleaning the anode periodically. Then I'll flush it out again, first when some Coca-cola to remove the black oxide and then maybe fill it with apple cider vinegar for 24 hours. I would agitate with nuts and bolts as described earlier but I don't have anything to agitate it with.

Soundguy, I'll take a pic of item 2 above next time I get out there.