Ford 4600 coolant leak....

[PoorMansCat]

ok... my BIL has a Ford 4600 with the diesel engine.... he is telling me that its got a major coolant leak at a freeze plug at the rear of the cylinder block. He took it to a local guy that told him the tractor would have to be split to fix it.... ?????
I haven't seen it yet, but he's telling me that he can SEE the freezeplug!!!!.. I'm thinking that if I can see it, it can be repaired/replaced without splitting it?
Am I completely off base here?
Has anybody had to make this repair before? Tips or tricks???


Thanks...

 

[RickB]

Let him split the tractor and replace all 3 plugs in the back of the head & block. If the plug in the head is leaking, the two in the block are equally or more corroded than the upper one that he can see. There are no tricks or shortcuts here.

 

[PoorMansCat]

hhmmm... well, in that case, he should probably just get rid of the tractor, its pretty much used up anyway... thanks for the info....

 

[Soundguy]

3 freeze plugs and you are ready for the guy to get rid of it? wow... that's a standard maint item. albiet hard ones to get to.. but core plugs are meant to be replaced.. not to be permanent..

besides.. you'd be surprised at how much work you can get out of a used up tractor.

here's my 4600. bought it cheap-cheap and go the clapped out mower for free... had no muffler .. flap cap was right on the hood... 3pt position control was not working, no grill or gauges or working electrics.. .. shutoff cable was broke.. had to kill it at the pump

put in a few weeks of elbow grease and sweat.. got her beat into shape. casted some front weights.. made up a bumper and grill guard, finally added a canvas topper.. but then found a rops.. added the rops, then built a topper for the rops.

so mows like nobodies business.

soundguy

 

[PoorMansCat]

3 freeze plugs and you are ready for the guy to get rid of it? wow... that's a standard maint item. albiet hard ones to get to.. but core plugs are meant to be replaced.. not to be permanent..

soundguy

oh trust me... its not ALL thats wrong with this tractor... I cannot even begin to tell you how many times Ive welded on the front end. He's sheared the spindle assemblies off several times, blew the bearings out of the front end. I put a brand new spindle assy. in the left front one time, and he bent it the very next week, had to cut an incision, heat it, bend it back into position, and weld the gap back up... I gave up on t=replacing the spindle bearings all the time and actually sleeved it with pipe to re-enforce the spindle housing.... I had to weld the rod ends to the tie rod cause he kept pulling them out.. It needs another clutch, the loader has actually pulled the upper eyes out of the loader arms... (still need to weld them up for him!) He has been using this tractor/loader for his tree business, using the loader to pick up and haul LARGE tree sections and using it to push around a 100 hp. stump grinder... so its been USED!! Of course, the thing has been leaking coolant so long, it hasnt had any antifreeze for probably 3 years, just gets water poured in, been overheated countless times.. so bad that all the oil seals have failed on the engine. Its getting to where the engine has to be hosed down with ether when its hot to get it restarted....

Maybe this will be the thing that will put the final nail in its coffin!!!

 

[Soundguy]

sounds more like abuse than use. he needs an industrial machine not a farm tractor..

soundguy

 

[PoorMansCat]

sounds more like abuse than use. he needs an industrial machine not a farm tractor..

soundguy

yes sir.... to say the least.....

 

[sawtooth]

3 freeze plugs and you are ready for the guy to get rid of it? wow... that's a standard maint item. albiet hard ones to get to.. but core plugs are meant to be replaced.. not to be permanent..

besides.. you'd be surprised at how much work you can get out of a used up tractor.

here's my 4600. bought it cheap-cheap and go the clapped out mower for free... had no muffler .. flap cap was right on the hood... 3pt position control was not working, no grill or gauges or working electrics.. .. shutoff cable was broke.. had to kill it at the pump

put in a few weeks of elbow grease and sweat.. got her beat into shape. casted some front weights.. made up a bumper and grill guard, finally added a canvas topper.. but then found a rops.. added the rops, then built a topper for the rops.

so mows like nobodies business.

soundguy

Hello Soundguy,

I'm looking at a Ford 4600 right now thats with its second owner. He has had it 20 plus years and mentioned the tractor had to be split apart to repair the freeze plug at one point in time. Is this a bad sign that should make me walk away? i'm just worried that maybe they never ran antifreeze and or inhibitors and the inside of the coolant passages are severally corroded with possible wear through etc. Thoughts?

 

[Soundguy]

be glad that it has already been done.. the hard to get to core plugs are almost always ONLY serviced when they leak. many forget to do them when split for a clutch.

On a diesel ford I'd like to have known it was run with coolant addatives that prevent cavitation.. however.. there's no way to tell on that one.

like most used items. you are throwing the dice.

may be a peach and never have a cavitated pinhole. may blow water into a jug the 2nd day you own it... no way to tell on that one...

 

[sawtooth]

Ok so Im going to look at it this weekend. When I look it over and run the tractor is there anything I should look for? I'm pretty good at the general stuff like sound and feel of engine, feel of shifter when changing gears, power steering, checking pto, checking lift, power steering, how quickly it cranks, color of smoke etc.

Thanks