ajaques
New member
Hi all, My name is Andrew and I'm a first time poster from Ourimbah NSW Australia.
My parents own a Massey Ferguson MF35 3cyl Diesel which is of huge sentimental value to our family as it belonged to my late Grandfather who used it on the property that my parents now own and operate. The tractor has it's fair share of war stories over the years, it was once (accidentally) driven into a dam and completely submerged, one night it spontaneously caught alight and all but burnt to the ground almost taking the shed with it if the fire brigade hadn't got there in time. On another occasion my younger brother drove it through the side of the shed. On all occasions the tractor was lovingly restored to a good working order.
The tractor still runs years later but it is starting to see some operating issues. The plan is to park it and complete some work on it so that it can get back up and running for light duties on the farm (slashing, carrying etc.) until my parents can afford to buy a new workhorse and this tractor can be garaged for a serious overhaul and restoration. It is losing a lot of water from the radiator through some pretty obvious leaks that lands on the fan and gets sprayed everywhere. When i last started it, it had been sitting idle for about a month and there was a lot of water in the bend on the exhaust stack that was leaking out of a flange that was not properly sealed. Not sure if this was attributed to it being sitting outside or not as it was covered with a tarpaulin. The tractor was moved to the shed where i can work on it better and the plan is to immediately replace the radiator to rectify the obvious water loss issue.
Upon inspection of the oil sump dipstick, I found that the oil was a milky grey color. From my research i understand that this is attributed to water in the sump. I'm away for a week but when i get home i intend to drain oil from the sump plug, let it sit and observe if there is water/oil separation over a couple of days which would confirm this. The radiator also has a lot of sludgy oil deposits around the filler cap which indicates to me that the head gasket might be blown.
So the plan is as follows:
Does anyone have any advice as to further tests/inspection/investigation i should complete before moving forward?
I also have a few photos that i'll upload when i can get some better internet access.
Thanks,
Andrew
My parents own a Massey Ferguson MF35 3cyl Diesel which is of huge sentimental value to our family as it belonged to my late Grandfather who used it on the property that my parents now own and operate. The tractor has it's fair share of war stories over the years, it was once (accidentally) driven into a dam and completely submerged, one night it spontaneously caught alight and all but burnt to the ground almost taking the shed with it if the fire brigade hadn't got there in time. On another occasion my younger brother drove it through the side of the shed. On all occasions the tractor was lovingly restored to a good working order.
The tractor still runs years later but it is starting to see some operating issues. The plan is to park it and complete some work on it so that it can get back up and running for light duties on the farm (slashing, carrying etc.) until my parents can afford to buy a new workhorse and this tractor can be garaged for a serious overhaul and restoration. It is losing a lot of water from the radiator through some pretty obvious leaks that lands on the fan and gets sprayed everywhere. When i last started it, it had been sitting idle for about a month and there was a lot of water in the bend on the exhaust stack that was leaking out of a flange that was not properly sealed. Not sure if this was attributed to it being sitting outside or not as it was covered with a tarpaulin. The tractor was moved to the shed where i can work on it better and the plan is to immediately replace the radiator to rectify the obvious water loss issue.
Upon inspection of the oil sump dipstick, I found that the oil was a milky grey color. From my research i understand that this is attributed to water in the sump. I'm away for a week but when i get home i intend to drain oil from the sump plug, let it sit and observe if there is water/oil separation over a couple of days which would confirm this. The radiator also has a lot of sludgy oil deposits around the filler cap which indicates to me that the head gasket might be blown.
So the plan is as follows:
- Drain sump oil and check for oil/water separation.
- Remove old radiator.
- Check for blockages in water hoses.
- Remove manifolds and head.
- Re-install head and manifolds with new gaskets.
Does anyone have any advice as to further tests/inspection/investigation i should complete before moving forward?
I also have a few photos that i'll upload when i can get some better internet access.
Thanks,
Andrew
