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Harry Ferguson Tractors Discussion Forum
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first time tractor owner TO 30

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Barry Dinger

05-07-2008 16:00:36




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Hello, I am a first time tractor owner and have been reading these boards for several weeks now. I could use some input from fellow tractor owners. The tractor I purchased is a TO30. It is in excellent shape except for one problem. The farmer who had it suffered from Alzheimers and inadvertenly dumped gasoline in the oil filler tube.He then ran it briefly until it flooded itself out. His son in law changed oil and started it up. It seems to run fine but only carries 10 ponds of oil pressure. He thinks I should rebuild the engine. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated. A coworker with some mechanic experience is going to take a look at it. Where should he start and what all should we do. Thanks for any input that you can give me. Dinger

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Barry in PA

05-13-2008 05:57:07




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
Thanks for the replys about my oil pressure problems. At this time I have the oil pan off and am going to rebuild the oil pump. We are also going to check the rod bearings and the main bearings.I have already purchased the manuals for this tractor. I will post the results when we are finished and running again. Thanks again for all the good advice Barry



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gshadel

05-08-2008 10:06:21




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
Barry, If that is your only issue with your TO-30, you likely do need a rebuild.
When you say carries 10 psi, is that hot pressure, and at idle or full speed? Big differences there.
When we get into talking about oil grades, pressures, etc. you will see a wide range of opinions here. Follow the advise that you feel best fits your situation. Having said that, I totally agree with Jim, low pressure is not necessarily a severe problem. Flow is important, but we have no way to measure flow, pressure is our only indicator, but that's not really the same thing. I doubt the old timer did any damage by adding gas to the crankcase, probably just cleaned it out REAL good. As the other guys reported, I have done the same in my old Pontiac, add kerosene to the crankcase, run it to heat it up and drain it to clean out the crud. I ran a can of that "crankcase flush" stuff thru my TO when I first got it. From what I could see, it looked and smelled like it was just kerosene.
My TO ran for years with ~10-15 PSI oil pressure at working speed with 30 WT oil. It had always burned oil real bad, but when I saw oil in the radiator, that was the last straw. I saw no measurable damage due to low oil pressure. In fact my crank and cam were right on tolerence. But, my oil pump was shot and the pump relief valve was seriously eroded out, causing my low pressure. If you tear into your TO, rebuild the oil pump first (~$45 or and fairly easy). The oil pump will over-pump your normal engine requirements, so a good pump will compensate for some wear in your crank journals, etc. If you rebuild your pump and run 30wt oil, and your still worried about pressure, then you can tear into your crankshaft bearings if you want. I don't recommend switching to 50 wt oil or whatever to try to get your pressure up, flow is more important, use the right oil and take the pressure it gives you. 30 weight non-detergent oil was the oil spec'ed for your TO back in 1952-3. The problem with straight 30 weight oil is it is thick and start-up, then thins as it gets hot. A modern multi-weight oil will provide more consistent viscosity, thus pressure, across the whole temperature range. Since the old timer pretty much flushed out your oil system for you, I see no reason not to go ahead and switch to a good multi-weight detergent oil, like a 15W40 commercial grade diesel oil, or similar. I run 10W40 in my TO, but gave it a total rebuild several years ago, it holds 25-30 PSI from idle to full speed. I also want to make sure my original 6V TO will start for me on those cooold Winter days, so I stick with the 10W40. The 10W grade oils tend to be more like 10W oil with modifiers in it to make it act more like a 40W viscosity at operating temps. The 15W or 20W oils tend to be a higher viscosity base oil.

George

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gshadel

05-11-2008 05:11:28




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to gshadel, 05-08-2008 10:06:21  
Sorry, I meant probably do NOT need a rebuild.... how dumb to leave out that one rather important word. My spell checker didn't catch that, I think I must need a new computer!
Thanks to Jim for pointing that out to me!

George



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King David

05-07-2008 20:14:31




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
Change the oil to the type and weight that you are planning to use on a regular basis. Change the oil filter at the same time. Operate the tractor as you normally would and forget about oil pressure as long as it is registering some pressure and forget about using some brand or weight of oil that some parts place recommends. They are in the business of selling oil. For years people poured kerosene and later diesel fuel in their tractors and ran them for a while to clean out the crankcases. It never hurt their tractors and probably neither has yours been hurt with running it for a while with gas in the crankcase.

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Jim in OH

05-07-2008 20:35:58




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to King David, 05-07-2008 20:14:31  
I agree with all, but I like what King David said.. While Jerry and others are quoting the correct specs, the fact still remains that these tractors will run for long periods of time with little to no pressure as long as there is oil delivery. If you don't have knocking or overheating, I'd use it until I did.. you can correct what is wrong at that time.. If you are inclined to pull the pan, then replacing bearings and rebuilding the pump should be done just because you are already there. (and it would probably help). Also, I personally doubt that adding gas to oil is going to do much damage in the short term... That was an old warbird trick to start engines.. dump some avgas in the sump, it thins the oil to start and within a short time it is heated and evaporated out anyway... (does depend on how much)... I'd saw plow-on... Jim

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maxwell99

05-07-2008 19:15:34




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
Might try this before you rebuild.

Try putting 50 weight Valvoline racing oil in tractor. See if the old girl will hold a higher oil pressure with the 50 weight. Note: this oil is not synthetic oil!!!

I had an old Jeep 4 cylinder that ran fine, but was worn and had only about 10 psi oil pressure when warm with 10w40 weight oil.

Napa tech told me to try Valvoline 50 weight racing oil. Said it would not hurt engine and might raise oil pressure.

It did, old jeep would run about 30-35 psi oil pressure and ran for years before I installed a new long block in the old Jeep.

Question: Do you want to spent a few bucks on a a oil change (Valvoline 50 weight racing oil) or who knows how much for a motor rebuild. You could not run this weight oil in the winter months. This is more of a test, if your oil pressure does not go up with this oil you have other problems, example a worn out oil pump, etc:

Good luck with old tractor!!

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Jerry/MT

05-07-2008 19:04:59




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
The spec calls for a minimum pressuree of 15 psi for an engine at operating temperature and low idle(400 rpm)with the appropriate oil installed(30W, 10W30, 10W40, or 15W40). Some people with worn engines use 20W50 oil. Normal oil pressure is 25-30 psi at low idle.

There are several causes of low oil pressure on the Z series Continental engines used on the TO-20 & TO-30 tractors (assuming the appropriate lube oil is used). The oil pressure relief valve may be stuck open or the spring may be damaged. The oil pump may be worn. Finally, the main and rod bearings may be worn excessively.
Several people on this forum have reported solving low oil pressure problems with an oil pump rebuild.

You"ll have to remove the oil pan to get at the oil pump and while you are at it, you can use Plastigauge to check the main bearings and the rod bearings clearances. Or you can rebuild the oil pump, check the relief valve and put it back together to see if that improves the situation. If it doesn"t, you"ll have to consider new bearings.

Since you are new at this I will give you my stock piece of advise for newbies. Invest in the Ferguson Shop Manual(~$20), the Ferguson TO-30 parts Manual(~$20) annd the TO-30 Owners Manual(~$10). The Ferguson Shop Manual has the system descriptions that explain how things are supoosed to work and also the repair procedures. I would advise against getting the IT Manuals as they are not detailed enough for new commers. Ebay has a CD of the manuals for sale at times.

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ferg0ne

05-07-2008 17:35:02




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 Re: first time tractor owner TO 30 in reply to Barry Dinger, 05-07-2008 16:00:36  
Hi my first was a To30 and the one I have had low oil pressure ,if it were mine I would drop the oil pan off and check the rod and mains and also take the oil pump apart to check the gears as this tractor should run about 30 to 35lbs good luck



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