MF 165 - issues after rebuild

dmark1975 · Jan 2, 2015

Hi all, Happy new year to everyone.

I have finally got to the stage of starting the tractor after some months of not being able to do anything due to time constraints.

I need some help or direction with the following.

Put in all new clutch, clutch shaft and thrust bearing etc. When tractor started and I went to clutch, it was squealing , after inspection I found clutch has worn dome nits bare which seems to have happened because thrust bearing was not rotating as it should - any ideas so that I won't make same mistake when putting new one in? One possibility is that new thrust was a bit of a tight fit as we had to hone it out to fit.

I got tractor started eventually ....... but then proceeded to smoke very badly and cut out. I accidentally broke the fitting on the diesel tank tonight and discovered in the middle of trying to drill out the fitting that the cap was not venting and stopping fuel flow which explains alot of the issues when trying to start. Question is have I done any damage to the new pistons and rings from all the cranking etc - its very Smokey and have seen some smoke come out of the dipstick also, but has hardly ran for fifteen minutes in total following rebuild. I am currently checking the timing just to be sure and also have compression test kit en route to check engine out. This was not completed following build.

Any ideas ? I'm expecting at least one issue with rings or piston but hoping not. Injection pimp was professionally rebuilt so I'm pretty confident that this is not an issue. I will have to revert with compression test results. What should psi result be for a mf 165 ?

Thanks in advance

I keep telling myself that all of this will make the second rebuild easier or I should retire early from tractors and deny all knowledge or rebuild project 2014-2015

cruz54982 · Jan 2, 2015

years ago we rebuilt an IH tractor and my brother-in-law put in the rod bearings and didn't know there was a top and bottom = no oil on the ones he did wrong = another more expensive rebuild ! hope this doesn't apply to yours but just saying .

dmark1975 · Jan 3, 2015

Hopefully not! I had to check them for some reason so made sure they were on right and pistons were on right direction....... now I wonder!!! �� If I have to I will drop sump off and check one just to be sire, but not until compression test is done!

dmark1975 · Jan 4, 2015

Interesting discovery on checking some items today. As I had the tank off to repair the tap, I decided to have a look at the injectors while awaiting delivery of the compression test kit. Injector one and two were we t and black and looks like no seal on injector one as it was dirty and explains what I thought was a hiss of air! Injectors 3 +4 were dry

Does anyone have any tips for removing the copper seals and why excess wet in injectors 1+2 ?

irvingj · Jan 5, 2015

Your situation may well be different, but in my experience, if smoke is coming out the dipstick hole that would indicate excess pressure in the crankcase, usually (but not always) caused by bad rings: the dreaded "blow-by." While blow-by is often present in diesel engines, too much is not a good thing and generally an indication of problems.

IIRC, wet, black injectors points to incomplete (or very little to no) combustion; my guess would again be lack of compression, given the smoke out the dipstick, again pointing to rings.

I sure hope that's not the case, but your compression test will answer some questions for sure. Keep us posted as to what you discover, and good luck! ijk

dmark1975 · Jan 12, 2015

While waiting for delivery of my new eBay purchased boroscope I was doing some searching and discovered the thrust release bearing was not for a dual clutch!!!!!! Ouch, what a mistake to have to split the tractor again for and nearly ground the brand new clutch dome nuts to bits!! Another job added to the list &#55357;&#56844;

irvingj · Jan 17, 2015

"If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all" Ouch!

dmark1975 · Apr 6, 2015

So finally got some time to work on project again. Following things happened

Wrong fuel cap was causing vacuum in tank causing tractor to starve of fuel. Hopefully no damage was caused ........
Split tractor again to find thrust bearing had been completely damaged due to being put on the wrong way around!!!!!!!!! Dome nuts were completely mush but threads not damaged. (new clutch)
Removed clutch and flywheel to find nuts were loose on crankshaft seal behind flywheel. Easily sorted!
Refitted new bearing (the right way around) and awaiting delivery of new dome nuts to fit and calibrate. Also checked clutch settings and have set the three spaces at 0.65"

Had done compression test before hand and all cylinders were just above 320psi (bit low but possible low compression or cranking speed) and is turning over and starting pretty much straight away, but cutting out after about 10mins. I have fitted new fuel filters as these were the only part I am not certain about with the whole fuel system so will only know if these were the issue by trilling when it is put back together.

Will drop sump when clutch is finished just to have a look and also see if there is any water in sump and have a general look around with my horoscope for any internal damage.
Will also have to investigate a small oil leak on the front crankshaft pulley(pain but best to do it now) Have also ordered some new fuel lines etc and minor parts.

A tractor splitting rail would have well paid for itself by now ��