Massey 35 Perkins with water in oil

[Rod in Forfar]

The old Massey Ferguson 35 gets few hours any more, restricted to loading the odd log and powering the winch on its hitch. Without indoor storage for it, I'v learned to deal with a flooded air filter from time to time. A big knot of duct tape upstream of the air filter has largely kept the water out of it for the last year.

Still, it has sat for a couple of months. When I started it after a big rain last night it quit a couple of times, then ran in a way that sounded weak. The hydraulic pump would hardly lift the loader, but that's to be expected. A seal leaks tranny fluid.

But oil pressure read low. I shut off and checked the stick. Evidence of spray out through the hole. The dip stick read full, right to the top. No smell of fuel, or anything other than diluted oil. Must be water.

I've never seen this before. Suggestions?

 

[redman135]

Is the engine oil filler cap on? If not rain will fill the sump and show as overfilled on the dip stick.

 

[Rod in Forfar]

The oil filler cap is in place and tight.

I tasted the oil from the dip stick. It tastes more like diesel than anything else. I was looking for a sugary taste (anti-freeze).

If it's diesel in the crankcase, how might it have gotten there, and is it something to fix, or should I scrap the tractor?

 

[redman135]

Hello Rod in Forfar, diesel in crankcase oil will thin the oil down , and make it more like diesel in fluidity. It will also smell of diesel.
The culprint is likely to be the injector pump drive shaft seal seal. NB I recall there being 2 seals involved 1 on the injector pump/engine join and 1 on the injector pump driveshaft.
I would see if it is a leaky injector pump seal and the cost of repair, then just change the oil as diesel is much thinner ( low oil preassure) than oil and with the correct thickness of oil will let the oil pump do it's job, and should give you normal oil preassure.
I would drain the oil any way just to see what is there for clues.Also any water will be at the bottom of the sump.
good luck.

 

[PatrickS2222]

Hello Rod in Forfar, diesel in crankcase oil will thin the oil down , and make it more like diesel in fluidity. It will also smell of diesel.
The culprint is likely to be the injector pump drive shaft seal seal. NB I recall there being 2 seals involved 1 on the injector pump/engine join and 1 on the injector pump driveshaft.
I would see if it is a leaky injector pump seal and the cost of repair, then just change the oil as diesel is much thinner ( low oil preassure) than oil and with the correct thickness of oil will let the oil pump do it's job, and should give you normal oil preassure.
I would drain the oil any way just to see what is there for clues.Also any water will be at the bottom of the sump.
good luck.

Rod, before you do anything else regarding repairs, I believe it's more sensible, also much easier and indeed more likely in this case (a seldom-used machine) the cause of diesel in the sump is a failed fuel lift pump diaphram. Remove the lift pump from its mounts, work the manual lever and watch for fuel coming from the mounting (otherwisehidden) area. Alternatively, put a disposable coffee cup or similar under it and come back some time later - I reckon you'll find fuel in it ..... that is, if there's at all any left in the tank! If there's none in the tank, Redman could easily be on the right track, but it could be a lot of needless work whereas checking the lift pump takes 5 mins work. I'd love to know what you found.
In any case, it goes without saying of course, an oil and filter change is in order after finding and fixing the culprit!

 

[rjmack]

Rod, before you do anything else regarding repairs, I believe it's more sensible, also much easier and indeed more likely in this case (a seldom-used machine) the cause of diesel in the sump is a failed fuel lift pump diaphram. Remove the lift pump from its mounts, work the manual lever and watch for fuel coming from the mounting (otherwisehidden) area. Alternatively, put a disposable coffee cup or similar under it and come back some time later - I reckon you'll find fuel in it ..... that is, if there's at all any left in the tank! If there's none in the tank, Redman could easily be on the right track, but it could be a lot of needless work whereas checking the lift pump takes 5 mins work. I'd love to know what you found.
In any case, it goes without saying of course, an oil and filter change is in order after finding and fixing the culprit!

I ran into that same problem with a perkins in a welding machine. it was the lift pump diaphragm. iirc new lift pump was $45.00, 20 years ago.

btw, run it like that for a little while and your crankcase will look like brand new.