Bolens G154 / Iseki tx1300f

[fxrs55]

Hello, I did some work on a co-workers boat and in return
he gave me a Bolens Iseki G154 tractor. He bought
it last year to fix it up but boats are now taking his time.
The tractor will not start. It turns over but he was told the
plungers for the injectors are stuck. Also the clutch
disk is stuck to the flywheel. The was price is right. ( free )
It has turf tires all around and a snow blade. Any info on this
tractor or insight or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[fxrs55]

Here are a few pictures when I brought it home.
I used my panzer to tow Iseki back to the house.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

You'll appreciate the Isekis extra weight and 4-wheel drive campared to your panzer. I think you're going to like it a lot. Good luck and nice find!

 

[rich_ncal]

"It turns over but he was told the plungers for the injectors are stuck. Also the clutch disk is stuck to the flywheel"

How to you deal with these two issues? Can those injectors be saved by for example cleaning in the injectors with solvent?

How do you unstick the clutch disk? Do you break open the tractor and try solvent? Or will this it free up when you pull the clutch pressure plate.

 

[fxrs55]

I did some work on the tractor the other day and my findings are not good.
I believe the injector pump is shot. Now what else I have found, there is no compression in the front cylinder and the back on is low.
The engine oil is way over full and black as coal. I have
both injectors removed and I have turned the engine
over with the starter several times and am not
getting any oil pressure nor any oil to the rockers.
The air filter looks like it was never changed and
the rubber gasket that goes between the filter
and the filter housing is hard as a rock and half of it is missing.
This thing suffers serious neglect. God only knows
what problems there are with the hydraulics and the transmission.

 

[rich_ncal]

Thanks for the new pictures.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

Sorry to hear the news. Generally the engines hold up pretty well on these things. Of course nothing holds up well to years of neglect. I wouldn't throw in the towel yet. Some of the problem may just be a broken head gasket (how much fluid is in the radiator?) I've never seen an injector pump so shot that it wouldn't even pump, but my experience is limited. I had one rebuilt that the injector repair shop said was "shot" and it made no difference in the ability of the tractor to run that I could notice. The oil pressure problem is interesting. I'm assuming you had a gauge hooked up to an oil port (?) Parts are still available (rings, bearings, etc.) to do a rebuild. Injector pumps and oil pumps you'll probably need to find used (not only due to scarcity but new ones would be quite expensive). Even the rebuild of the injector pump, like I did, costed me more than I care to admit. As a last resort, you can probably part out the tractor and make a few bucks on some of the things (front axle, rims, etc.) Personally, I'd attempt a rebuild but realize that is not an attractive option to everyone. I just know they are fun tractors and you wouldn't be disappointed with it.

 

[fxrs55]

I'm not sure at this time just how easy its going to be to get parts.
I did find a new injector pump in Queensland Australia for $330
but that's not going to happen. I did find out
the tractor has been sitting for over 12 years.
I was cranking over the engine the other night
and with the exhaust system removed I put my thumb over
the injector hole for cylinder #1 which has no compression
and I could hear air blowing out the exhaust valve.
I removed the head and here a few pictures of that.
You can see rust in the lifters for cylinder #2. In the pictures
I have the head sitting on its side and I have poured
fuel in the exhaust ports of both cylinders.
The exhaust valve on the right is the front
cylinder which had no compression and it is leaking pretty good.
The exhaust valve on the left cylinder is leaking some
which would cause that cylinder compression to be low.
also the front cylinder lifters look clean.
Also a few of the head bolts were not all that tight.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

How do the cylinder walls look? The rust in the lifter ports for cyl #2 is concerning. I'm not sure how well that will clean up and work, if at all. That's a tough project. I have a KE70 that I could never get to run right - no power at low rpm. I finally concluded the cylinder liners that someone put in it are cracked (they don't have cylinder liners from the factory but someone over-bored it and installed some), or the pistons are cracked. Either way, I opted to find a donor machine with a KE75 in it that runs great. I plan on doing the swap this summer. That may be the cheapest, easiest option for you if you plan on pushing forward with repairs. Having gotten that tractor for what you did, I'd find it hard to give up on her. I can understand if you might though.

 

[NHmitch]

Hi, That is a great tractor, and hopefully you can get it up and running. I have a G154 and I have the same engine as yours, the KE70. Mine runs very well, however I have been able to find quite a few parts online. I think that I would try emailing this guy on eBay, and see if he has the injector pump for you. Bolens Iseki G174 TX1500 Tractor Mitsubishi 17hp Diesel Engine Oil Pump | eBay

I wish that I could offer some more advice, but I do not have a lot of experience overhauling engines.. But Ilikeyourtractor has a lot of knowledge about these engines. Once you get it up and running, I can give you some links for parts, like a new alternator, and a few other items if you need them.

I hope that you can get it running soon, and start enjoying what a great machine these tractors are! Thanks for the photos!

 

[tgordon]

i have a g154 starts runs and moves looks ugly the last owner did some ungodly art work to it. im looking to sell it but not have any luck in this area of upstate ny. not to maybe people know what it is or has heard of it in this area. my question is how much might it be worth and is there anywhere online i should try and sell it?

 

[fxrs55]

I cleaned up the head and then I removed the exhaust valve that was
leaking. The valve was in nice shape but the seat was pitted.
There is no steel seat insert and the head has a seat machined in
to it so seat is cast iron and it pitted sitting unused all those years.
I lapped the seat and for about 7 mins of work it clean up
pretty good. I cleaned up all of the lapping compound and
reassembled the valve and spring. I gave all of the valves
a good slap with a rubber mallet to make sure the keeps
were seated. I put head on it side and filled the exhaust
port will fuel and it no longer leaks! Here are some pictures.
The last picture is of valve about 3 hours later and it just
a little damp.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

Looks like you're committed now The nice thing about going through everything is it gives you a chance to clean and paint it all up. You'll have a nice, reliable machine when you're done.

Some pitting is normal, I found that out the hard way. I thought there shouldn't be any but the seats will still hold as long as it doesn't go through the whole seat area.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/iseki/215350-ke70-engine-low-power-3.html

 

[fxrs55]

Looks like you're committed now The nice thing about going through everything is it gives you a chance to clean and paint it all up. You'll have a nice, reliable machine when you're done.

Some pitting is normal, I found that out the hard way. I thought there shouldn't be any but the seats will still hold as long as it doesn't go through the whole seat area.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/iseki/215350-ke70-engine-low-power-3.html

Hey thanks for the link it was good and informative reading.

 

[fxrs55]

Well I have been studying the injector pump for days.
Two weeks ago I removed the delivery valve holders
and the delivery valve seats from the top of the injector
pump. There was no gunk or crud clogging anything
and I flushed everything with kerosene. I have had
the pump submerged in kerosene for a week or so.
I finally felt that the way I was trying to test the pump was
not the way to do it. Today I lubed the rollers and the
plungers in the pump and installed it on the engine.
I then cleaned up the injector lines that go from
the pump to the nozzle holders. I tightened the lines
to the pump and then I attached the lines to the
nozzle holders. ( injectors ) I rigged up a small
fuel tank and installed a battery. I lubed up
the cylinders just to protect them and the rings
while I cranked over the engine. I then cranked
over the engine using the starter and while engine
was turning I held the throttle lever to full throttle
and after several attempts, Hot dog she pumps and
the discharge at the injectors was even and strong.
Next stop is to remove oil pan and then pistons to
check rings. Here are a few pictures.

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

You'll have 'er up and running in no time Just make sure you've kept all the original shims under the injector pump in place. This will affect the engine's injection timing. Make sure the shims are the metal kind too. Someone pulled the shims on my engine and stuck a 1/16" paper-type gasket in place of them when I first examined it. The timing was about 16° later than spec because of this - spec. according to my manual is 26° BTDC which is pretty advanced for a diesel from my experiences. Removing shims advances the timing.

 

[rich_ncal]

Thanks for the updates and photos. Although I can see from the photos the TX1300 is different from my TS1610, what I am learning from your posts could help me with any model tractor.

 

[fxrs55]

I was able to work on the tractor today after the 2 min sleet storm
we had here in New Jersey.
I wanted to drop the oil pan so I could remove the pistons.
So I started to remove the drain plug first so I screwed the drain plug
out slowly so I didn't drop it the drain pan. When the plug
was right on the last thread thin liquid started coming out.
Well it was about 1 1/2 pints of water. I was nervous now
wandering what might be rusted from the water.
Anyway once I got the pan off there was no rust inside
crankcase/engine block and there was enough sludge
in the bottom of the pan that it kept the pan from rusting.
After I removed the front piston I could see that the
rings were stuck in the ring grooves and that cylinder
is the one that had NO compression. I only removed
the front piston and after I got it out I put it a container
of kerosene to soak. After about a 1/2 hour or so
the top ring became loose and it popped loose
from the ring groove. The other two compression rings
took a little assistance but the 2nd ring now rotates in the groove.
One ring to go. Also the oil control ring was not stuck.
The rod bearings look almost new and the crank journal
was spotless. Tomorrow I'll take out the other piston
and I need to sort out the oil pump also. Here are
a few pictures

 

[Ilikeurtractor]

I'd recommend going back in with new rings since you got it apart this far. Rings tend to be one of the biggest problems on these engines from what I've gathered over the years - one of the areas needing service most frequently out of the rest of it. You can get them from NCW Tractor Parts & Tractor Supply Store - Compact Tractor Parts along with a new head gasket and other things you may need. You'll want to ensure your engine serial # is 51000 or greater (I think this is the number) since older serial #s used a thinner top ring and those are no longer available as best I can tell. The engine serial number is located on the top deck of the engine block on the front left hand corner (as looking from the tractor seat position) if I remember correctly.

 

[fxrs55]

The other day I was able to get the last ring loose on the first
piston and next I'll need to clean the piston and grooves.
I was able to work on the Bolens today. First thing I did was to
removed the rear piston. The rings look to be in good shape and
the rod bearings also look good. Next I removed
two 1/8" ahhh I mean 6mm pipe plugs next to the oil pump.
These are the oil passages from the oil pickup in the oil pan
to the oil pump. They were some what clogged so with a squeeze bottle
I pumped kerosene through them several times until the kerosene flowed through easily. I also removed the check valve from the oil pump
and flushed kerosene through there also. Now that I know the
other piston and rod bearings are ok I can now make a list
of parts I am going to need and get them ordered.