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I have found the problem that made the tractor tick over at a too higher speed. Whilst trying to adjust the tick over stop position I noticed which ever way I turned the screw it had no effect on the throttle lever on the dash. And the reason for this, the screw was never reached by the link rod from the dash as it was to short.

You can clearly see in circle 1 that the lever does not touch the stop.

 first tried to adjust linkage 3 but there is new screw to adjust top or bottom. So then I gave item 2 four turns and now when moving the throttle it reaches the stop.

I thought this one was going to run and run. I still haven’t fired the tractor up to test it as it was late again by the time I’d finish and I don’t think the neighbours would approve of the noise so late.

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Last friday I spent the evening setting the spill timing on the tractor. I thought I’d have to dismantle most of it to do this. But thanks to a question asked on the FoFH Forum I had a fantastic reply from Ian Moignard and Raoul le M which after checking with them I have been allowed to reproduce here for you all to enjoy. It has taken some time to put this answer together and I thank Ian and Raoul.

http://www.ploughmyfield.com/spill-timing-te-f20/

It was late last friday night when I’d finished setting the spill timing so I didn’t get chance to test it until Saturday morning. It’s running 200% better with no black smoke.

The tick over speed is still high the spill timing has not sorted this out. One thing that was mentioned was a faulty Diaphragm. So that was the next thing I checked in the week.

After checking (well I think I checked it correctly as the Ferguson Repair Manual isn’t clear) The Diaphragm is OK with no holes, even a pin hole in the Diaphragm can affect the tick over speed. So the next thing is setting the tick over speed manually at the air intake point.

I’ll keep you posted but this one could run and run. I might have got to the bottom of it by christmas!

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Hi John,
I’m glad you like the site.
Please send a report and photo’s of the Heritage museum. I’m sure lots of others would be interested in your view.

Yes I will be making a timing disc. I have access to a (CAD)Computer Aided design package. I’ll be adding the disc as a download for you all to make your own. it’s a bit like blue peter here!

I will be do documenting everything I can john it’s an essential part of the website.

To Do

• Make template for timing (30BTDC (hole in flywheel) 32BTDC spill timing point, 0TDC (just as a check for the valve timing)
• Ask Holland brand workshops if they have a number one port swan neck I can borrow for the pump.
• find a hexagon spanner to undo the nuts on the front of the pump.
• Read the Manual agin and again.
• Find some time when I can do it.

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I took the tractor out for a first proper run.
I was disappointed. It isn’t running correctly, by that I mean after you have started the tractor it is reving very highly and I am unable to get it to tick over. There is a lack of power as I move the throttle lever down whilst driving along. The first thought was to change the length of the control rod that come from the throttle on the dashboard to the pump. This didn’t work and even screwing in the rod to its shortest position did not make the tractor tick over any slower.
At this point I reached for help in the form of a question to the FoFH Forum. (If you do any tinkering with your ferguson tractor and you’re not a member , you should be!)
The feedback I got all points to the spill timing as the point to start. Another problem the tractor is having is the black soot or smoke from the exhaust. Again black smoke represents a timing issue.
This seemed the most comprehensive list from a user called Jón

I’m overwhelmed by the method to set the timing. I didn’t pay that much attention to this when rebuilding so I don’t think I’ve done it correctly as well as the fact I have to remove the front axle, remove the timing cover and the rocker cover.
I find the Ferguson User Manual confusing to follow to set the spill timing. Again I asked on the forum and had this very detailed response from René.

Now I’m sure if someone showed me how to do this it would be really easy, but to follow the instructions I just can’t imagine it and I think that’s half the battle. It just seems really complicated. Can someone use the pipe from injector 1 as the “swan neck” pipe?

Full FoFH Tick Over Forum transcript here

Read Geoff’s Spill Timing article here lots of images but could do with more. It seems easier to follow with pictures.
http://workshop.tractorbit.co.uk/blog/_archives/2008/9/10/3876652.html

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With the engine working the next step was to take the tractor out. I managed onto the front lawn and back. See the movie here of me putting the tractor away.

Whilst out on the front lawn I took some photos of the assembled tractor. I think it looks great. I can now notice even more all the items that have not been painted they look so scruffy! So the next job is to have a go at the rest of the tractor starting with the back wheels.

Mike’s email( Assorted Gubbins) made me chuckle especially the part about fixing all the little faulty. I have a leak from the out port of the fuel lift pump (fixed with PTFE tape). The bleed screw is also leaking diesel from the seal( I think I have stripped the thread on the alloy body).

The idle speed of the engine is also faster than I think it should be. The remerdy for this is to shorten the control linkage between pump and throttle. I have a lot of black smoke or soot coming out of the exhaust. This could be a timing issue or burning off of the oil used to lubricate everything whilst the tractor was being assembled. I am going to leave it to see if it reduces and maybe look at setting the spill timing again. A diferent method must now be used to do this as the engine is now a lot more assembled than the last time I set the timing.

I haven’t kept a complete record of all the costs involved in the rebuild. But I have been asked to put together some accounts for the work so I will do my best. I have no idea of the number of hours it’s taken nor would I be able to guess. I also want to put together a help document for anyone thinking of restoring there tractor.

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I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who was helped with this engine restoration, to Fred an Roy for there time, to you lot for the support emails. The biggest thank you goes to my wife for putting up with me disappearing into the garage at every opportunity. 

Oh and the reason the tractor stops after 4:30 is I forgot to turn the fuel tap on!

Now it’s working it’s all a bit of an anti climax! What will I do now? All those jobs around the house that I haven’t done for the past 6 months. Now it’s time to get out and use it. (On light duties for 20 hours, the I need to reset the tappets.)

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Tonight I  speak to Colin Taylor, he phoned from Ireland to have a chat the first time we have ever spoke in about 2 years of sending emails to one another.  After speaking to him I was spurred on to want to get the tractor running. So after fitting the bonnet I had a go at strting! Before attempting anything I got the fuel through the system and the removal of all the air in the system. I followed the instructions in the TE-F20 instruction book of which I have an original copy. With the fuel through to the CAV injection pump it was time to have a go at starting!

(5mins long abridged from 25mins long)

As you can see it didn’t start before I had flattened the battery. I could not understand why, fuel was getting all the way to the injectors, and then I realised I’d left the stop in. So the engine was never going to start. Now it was to late, The battery was flat and did not have enough power to turn the engine over.
Oh well I’ll put the battery on charge and have anther go tomorrow. It should just start first time tomorrow now I know what to do. There is one good thing to all this, the oil pump has been working and should have pumped oil all around the engine to  allthe major bearing surfaces. Watch this space for some developments soon.

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Only the fuel tank to add on and bleed through. Connect the exhaust, and check all the bolts, check it all looks right, check i haven’t missed anything. The radiator is full of water and holding with the new hoses.

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Thank you.
I recommend getting the DVD from www.vintagetractorengineer.com it shows you step by step how to dismantle and reassemble the 23C engine.

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The radiator and front axle have now been added. it’s going together quite quickly now, but not quickly enough I want to be driving it. Nothing done to the radiator. I’m going to paint it later. Likewise with the front axles (to be added yet)

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It’s time to put some oil into the tractor’s engine.

It’s nearly time to put some oil into the tractor’s engine. 12 pints for a diesel engine sump, 3/4 pint for the Air Cleaner Bowl, and some oil for the reservour in the C.A.V. pump

So what oil do I put in the tractor? I know this is always a great topic for debate on any forum or discussion on tractors,  so here goes.

In the TEF-20 Instruction Manual that was originally supplied with the tractor there is a table showing types of engine oil to use and manufacturers and their products.

The key to the chart is temperature.  The temperature of the ambient air where you live in my case the UK or The British Isles. For the UK the recommendation is to have S.A.E 20 oil in the winter (0°C-10°C) and a S.A.E. 30 grade oil in the summer (10°C-30°C).  When the tractor was new oil was only available with these single grades or temperature ranges. This means to get the best result you should change the oil between winter and summer as the outside air temperature changes.

 Then someone had the bright idea of combining the two grades of oil into one called a multi grade oil. This gives you the opposite to what you’d expect. It gives you an oil which is thinner in the winter at startup when the oil should be colder and more viscous or sticky and a thicker oil in the summer at startup when the oil should be thinner as it is hotter outside. How does the oil achieve this? Additives in the oil mean it can be used over a range of temperatures. The hotter it gets the thicker it gets. This goes against normal principles that oil gets thinner the hotter it gets.

So I bought  20W-50 Multi grade oil. It has a 20 SAE value in the Winter and up to 50 SAE value in the summer.

I have also added this oil to the CAV diesel pump as recommended.

So now I’ve got the oil into the engine how am I going to get it to circulate around the engine before I start it up is another issue.

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I haven’t posted anything for a while, not because I haven’t been busy, on the contrary I’ve been too busy to post.  After masking the back of the engine, dashboard, gearbox I got on with the task of priming and final coats of paint on the engine block.
I’m so pleased with the results I’ve included a lot of pictures.

Easter is just around the corner and I’m really pushing to get it running. The Ferguson paint I’ve used can be sprayed over within 4 hours of applying the first coat otherwise it has to be left 4 days before it can be painted again. Just one more top coat on the engine then I can start reassembling the front axle assembly, all parts of which have been painted

I’m going to paint the tank, bonnet and radiator at a later stage.

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The restoration is coming on well. I still don’t get as much time working on the tractor as I’d like, but that’s life. I’m just glad I have a tractor and I can work on it in a garage.

I have fitted the fuel pump after a total strip down clean out and check over. It was very dirty inside. Not all TE-F20’s had  a lift pump. The early models did not, there two fuel filters where also fitted in parallel (fuel passed through one or the other). Then in production the engine block casting was changed to include a couple of mounting screws for the pump and a hole into the engine  to attach a lever from the back of the  pump to the cam shaft on the inside.  I have seen a transitional stage where the hole  and mounting studs for the pump are in place in the block  but there is a  blanking plate over it. The filters are still in parallel. Once the pump was added the filters where changed to series (running through one then the other). I assume the additional pressure from the pump meant there was enough force to pass through one filter then the other. 

Disappointingly I have a rubber tube taking fuel from the main tank to the  pump. There was a secondary fuel tank or Auxiliary tank fitted on TE-F’s I have one but have never used it. I know they get full of a green sludge. With mine it’s down to a lack of correct pipe’s. If anyone out there has a spare solid pipe that goes from the Auxiliary tank to pump I’d be interested. I am also missing the second half of the pipe that goes into the back of the Auxiliary tank from the main one. 

I think I also need to take the rest of the paint off the fuel injector pump and spray it properly. It was my intension to mask it off whilst spraying the rest of the tractor.  I can see it being tricky to do a good job of masking it. It will also look rough when all the rest of the tractor is painted.

The tractor in this picture looks much better then the one in the post “Reference”below. That picture was taken before the strip down. The decompression lever at the front of the engine has now been added and the water pump housing as well as the dynamo the. The inlet and exhaust manifold holes in the block have been masked to stop paint getting in whilst painting.

I’ve started work on the starter motor. I have removed layers of mud and soil before I can clean the surface of the metal. In the picture I’ve removed the switch and solenoid from the top of the starter. I don’t intend to do anything with the internals of the motor just check the brushes are  clean and lots of material on them. The starter has always worked very well so no need to fix it.

 And below the condition of the starter when it was removed from the tractor. I intend to paint it grey the same as all the other parts. I have seen the started and dynamo painted black on some restored tractors as black was the colour Lucas originally supplied them. If you had a replacement then maybe there wasn’t chance to  paint the replacement  when fitted. Hence why some people prefer them in black not grey.

And finally I’ve got the front axle support frame back from a friend who was welding it for me. It looks great. Now it has to be stripped and painted like everything else.

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Front Dynamo Decompression Assembly

I can’t stress enough how important it is to take loads of photo’s at every stage of the process of restoration. With digital cameras now costing less than £50  (www.ebuyer.com)there is no excuse to not be snapping away. I try to take pictures of everything, you never know when they are going to come in useful. Take the picture above, I’ve dismantled the front decompression assembly and I can’t remember how it goes back together. Now with the aid of the photo I can. I can also see the position of the cover over the dynamo brushes and which side the bracket goes that attaches to the top of the dynamo to adjust tension. Photo’s Priceless!

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Whilst down in Derby at my office there I saw a sign for shot blasting. The next time I went down I took the Exhaust manifold with me. It is very rusted and I thought it would take ages with the brush on the angle grinder to get down to bare metal. 

Before

The hight temperature paint needs to stick to the bare metal.

So I found a person who loves his job. Unfortunately I forgot to ask the gentleman’s name. He says its great doing the sandblasting as he can escape into his own little world with his ventilated helmet  and a high powered light to see the work by.  I’m sure I’ll be back to get some more stuff done, like the back wheels as they where very reasonable. The room looked big enough to put a hole tractor in.

Unknown

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Company Name

The results speak for themselves and the part looks fantastic.

After

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I’ve stripped the fuel filters, removed old paint, rubbed them own then sprayed with undercoat and assembled back on the tractor.

They look fab. helped by the dramatic ligthing in this photo I think.

The water pump has also been stripped and primed ready for assembly back on the tractor.

I had to use the nitro mors paint stripper on this one as it wouldn’t come off. I don’t mind using paint stripper. in most cases it’s not needed and I don’t like to use it as its expensive. 

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Back in May last year I bought a starting handle for a TEF-20 engine. I thought it would come in handy for the engine rebuild. I could use it to turn the engine over for realigning the clutch, moving the pistons in the sleeves etc.

When I put the starting handle in the bonnet hole it didn’t go all the way in. On closer inspection the starter wasn’t in line with the dog on the front of the engine.

So the strip down of the engine has been an ideal time to investigate. On investigation I found the pin at fault. I think this is due to the missing bolt. Item 25 from above. I think on the diesel model it is different though and the bolt comes through from the back. with the washer and nut on the front.

With this much wear there is no way it was going to line up. All down to a missing bolt.

Once apart I inspected the other parts. The worst item was the frame itself. The pin is supported at the front and back. The front is quite thick, about 1″, but at the back it is 1/4″ or about 6mm. The hole had become oval. It seems like a bit of a design flaw by Mr Ferguson’s design team (the only one I’ve found) .

So replacing the pin was easy as they are available from most suppliers. I also replaced the bush item 20 which goes in item 21. How to fix the oval frame though.  The bush for the MF35 is different and made of steel. So I bought one of those thinking I could use it, somehow!

After thinking about it I came up with the idea of enlarging the hole in the back and using the bush (cut down) in the hole to take the weight of the axle and remain aligned to the front bush.

A big thank you at this point to Roy for enlarging the hole and cutting the pi down. It’s taken him over 4 hours. I asked him to take a look at this as I don’t want to loose focus from the engine. Thanks Roy.

His results are fantastic. He has also replaced the bush in the axle. It looks great.

The frame is now with another friend who is going to weld it for me as I don’t have a welding kit. Once back it’s going to take some cleaning up before it can go back on the tractor.

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I’ve not got much to write as it’s late. I have another video of the work I’ve been doing and some pictures.
Steve thanks for your comments on yesterdays post. I can answer your question fully tomorrow as it’s to late now.

Right Side of Engine

Thermostat Housing

Air Intake Assembled

Inlet In place

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My wife and son have gone visiting for the weekend so I’ve got the whole weekend in the garage. I’ve taken this movie of the engine at the start of the saturday. I’ll take another one on sunday night when I’ve finished.

I started work on the right hand side of the engine. With Roys help I finished most of this side of the engine.

Roy Come to help

Roy Cleaned up the injectors and the pump whilst I cleaned the tubes connecting them all.

Cleaning the Injector Pump

4 Injectors Fitted

Pipes

Before fitting the injectors and pump I added the oil feed pipe to the oil pressure guage.

Oil pipe

After cleaning the pump it was fitted to the tractor.

Pump Fitted

At the end of the day the right hand side of the engine is nearly complete.

End of day 1

More to come tomorrow.

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I’ve used an acid etch primer on the block a first coat that will stick. Its not cheap but I’ve been impressed with the results from the aluminium parts. I masked up all the remaining holes. I ran out of paint so had to get another can. I also bought a high temperature paint for the exhaust manifold. It’s been in the tank of degreasing solution for about a week. I looked at it today and most of the carbon on the inside has broken down. Normally this is removed with a rotary wire brush with lots of noise and dust. The guys at the engine remanufacturing shop in Leeds where I took the crank and block to be ground recommended this method as the best way of removing carbon build up.

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