Engine Rebuild

[Litdave]

Hello Everybody,

I need some advice. I am new to this board am and about to buy a used tractor with a bad motor.

I posted a question about Engine Overhaul Cost in the Parts and Repair Board but I thought I would link it here as it is a Ford/New Holland 1720 and this board seems to get more traffic.

Check the link below:
Engine Overhaul

Any responses would be apprecitated.

Thanks, Dave

 

[jinman]

Dave, I would say that if you don't have diesel experience or know someone experienced who will help you, you should seriously think of getting your engine rebuilt by a professional. My suggestion would be to start with your nearest New Holland dealer. I'd think you could easily end up with engine damage and frustration that would cost you much more than having the job done in a dealer's shop. I would not want to make a mistake on a high compression, long stroke engine like a diesel. I'd work all day on a gasoline engine, but not a diesel. ...just my two cents.

 

[Litdave]

Thanks for the reply,

Why do you feel it would be so much different/diffucult than a gas engine?

Dave

 

[BigWill]

Litdave

I say go for it if you feel you are capable of doing the task.
My questions would be how many hours are the tractor?
Is it from a private party you can ask questions to determine if it needs a complete overhaul or just the rod and main bearings and the crank machined?
What caused the bearing to spin lack of oil, over heating?
Does it smoke/burn oil?
Does it run at all now?
Do you feel you can trust the owner to be frank as to the lift, transmission condition?

Sure you have probably though of all these plus a whole lot more.

I would check with a New Holland dealer and get a price for both ways you doing it or them doing it. The differance may not be that significant.

Let us know how it turns out.

BigWill

 

[jinman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Why do you feel it would be so much different/diffucult )</font>

Do you have a shop manual and overhaul specs for the engine? Also, you say it has a spun bearing, but how are you going to check that the crankshaft is okay? Why did that bearing go out? I'd also be concerned with getting the head and head-to-block seal done properly. Are you going to rebuild the head or just fix the damage? Essentially, with a diesel it's what I don't know that would keep me from trying to do the repair. I'd want to know there were no "gotcha's" lurking out there before I started. You might be able to do this job with ease, but my advice would be to get the opinion of a professional diesel mechanic. If it looks like you can do the job, go for it! If it doesn't work out, you can probably sell the parts on ebay. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Litdave]

Jinman,

Thanks for the replies. It is "what are the gotchas" that I am trying to find out about.

As far as the head to block seal, I would assume as long as nothing is warped and the head bolts are torqued to spec with the proper gasket, the seal shouldn't be a problem.

Here is what i know about the tractor.

The tractor has been partially disasembled. The bearing that was spun was on the rod. One rod may be bad but the block is OK. The crank is bad.

The pan had a lot metal in the bottom when it was pulled.

I don't know why the bearing spun, but I would suspect it was due to negligence/low oil.

The tractor is a 1997 and it has 1600 hours on it and it was used for golf course maintainace. I suspect the hardest thing this tractor done was mow grass. It has turf tires on it.

I have no reason to suspect that there are anyother problems with the tractor - but no guarantees.

Overall it is a pretty clean looking tractor with a live PTO, 4WD, and good rubber.

Thanks, Dave