Saving A Ford 3910

[PM Wells]

Well the Ford 3910 is running and running fairly good I thought. It seemed to have some blowby in the beginning. I changed the oil and filter, that seemed to help, oil that was in it was thin as water. I took it for a little ride up the road, clutch takes hold out on the end, probably can be adjusted, power steering does not work, may need fluid, brakes work pretty good, left grabs some, transmission seems to be good in hi and low, and lift works with draft control. So over all I think it will be ok, I will know more about it as I tinker with it, don't know if I will paint it or just use it as is. I kept thinking about what RickB has in his signature, Spring is the season of optimism. I was thinking that can be true anytime of the year, so as I headed out to work on the tractor, I ask the Lord's will be done, either way and I would accept it.

 

[RickB]

Best of luck to you and the 3910!

 

[ovrszd]

I look forward to hearing of your progress.

 

[Texasmark]

Give things time to limber up. I bought a 3910 this spring, a '88 with 900 hrs. Do the math and it sat most of the time. I changed all the fluids immediately. The oil pan had about ¼" of sludge in it and I flushed it out with a can of Sea Foam in the oil for about 30 minutes before I drained the oil the second time. Pretty much got rid of it and the oil stays pretty clear now...realizing a detergent oil is supposed to get dirty. Brakes were grabbing at first but with new premium trans/hyd fluid and some working, they limbered up and work fine. Glad you got it running. Yes a great (gutsy) machine.

 

[PM Wells]

This morning I went out and started up the 3910, there was a lot of light blue white smoke that took about 5 minutes or longer to clear out, and then still traces of it as I drove the tractor around. Finally after about 10 minutes the smoke all but stopped with a little diesel smoke as I accelerated. Here is my question, could I have an injector leaking fuel into one cylinders, or could the rebuilt injection pump be dumping too much fuel into the injectors at startup? once it runs for about 10 minutes it seems to be fine. This evening I started it again and it was about the same, like it takes a few minutes to burn off the fuel.

 

[RickB]

A cold engine with possibly marginal compression will show a little smoke from incomplete combustion. Heat from compression of the air charge is what ignites the fuel. At startup there is less heat than a few minutes later. If you cleaned the lines properly and were careful about not contaminating the connections the injectors should be fine. I would say you are describing a normal 3 cylinder Ford engine that has some hours on it.

 

[PM Wells]

If I understand you correctly, the engine compression could be down some but still able to start, just not able to burn the fuel as fast as an engine with better compression. Is it possible that the rebuilt pump and clean lines may add to the problem somewhat?

 

[RickB]

No. Don’t over think this. Use your tractor, get used to its characteristics. All diesels are inefficient when cold. Some more than others. If you had done the compression test you would know the results. That is not meant as a criticism, just an observation. I think you have very little to be concerned about.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Try adjusting the pump timing a smidge.. it should be "at" or real close to "0"*.. but as with everything this old there WILL BE gear train wear..
There is a name plate on the inj. pump w/an arrow..
WITH THE ENGINE OFF..
Loosen the mounting nuts/bolts on the pump & rotate the inj. pump OPPOSITE the direction of the arrow on the np.. about 1/2-1*.. NO MORE..
TIGHTEN the fasteners, start the engine & see what that does for ya..
IF NOTHING.. move it back to "0*"..
Good luck..

 

[PM Wells]

This sounds really interesting to me, while I am no expert on Ford diesel tractors, I have owned several over the years. This is the first one that I have done anything with the fuel system. I do know kinda how they are supposed to run when they are running good. This one is the first that smoked this much, and then cleared out to run about normal after about 10 minutes. I will try to back the timing off a very little and see what happens. I know it is just guessing on my part, but I wondered if the new pump and injectors could be a little much for the old engine. Thanks again.