The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hi There
Having pulled the head on the NP motor(1968) in my super for replacement of leakey headgasket,I wondered if the pistons could be the originals.There seems to be no markings on their crowns apart from an "arrow-head" pointing toward the front/timing end of the motor.
The liners dont seem to be worn much, no nail catch edge on them. Perhaps it has been reconditionded?

And one more thing! are new-performance engines harsher/more metalic sounding than them in the older tractors?
My other FSM with its earlier engine just seems to be easier on the ears??

Hi Svend

Can't help on the originality of pistons / liners but no step above the top ring is good news for your pocket book . Does the engine number match the chassis number in case it has had a replacement engine ?? Also,does it have an hours meter, if so and still working you could get an indication of how much work it has done (if not working but showing high hours you might expect more wear and tear.

As far as the noise, the older Simms injector pump and its notorious coupling is famed for being noisy (in some respects it characterises the Major, nothing else sounds quite like them) so my impression has been the NP Majors tend to be a bit quieter, depends how worn everything else is I guess.

The pushed the engine for extra power in the NP so maybe all the moving bits are just that bit more stressed and loaded.

Hopefully Adrian will be along with an opinion, he works his pretty hard.

the engine is IS a replacement,the meter had failed at 8+K hours so the old unit probley gave up!!

In which case they may well be original pistons to a later engine, in which case the rest of it probably doesn't need serious work Of course the rest of the 8K + tractor components may well be a shade worn and need work..............

the old thing had a case of "lets burb som coolant out"(when it was time to work ) so it was time to pull the top and see hows things,also since it was very Smokey and a bit uneven sounding on cold stating I expected to see sloppy jugs and worn sleeves.So far all i have is the headgasket with a burned fire ring on cyl 4 and a leakey valve on cyl 1.
With a bit of luck we get away with a little valve grind,a head skim and new gaskets.
I hope to make it sound as smooth as my old (non "NP" powered) supermajor.

Sven,

I took a picture of the pistons I have taken out of a 64 NP engine


The metal sounding could be caused by worn bearings at the injectorpump shaft.

Mathias,
Thanks for the pic,are they Ford pistons or replacements? I will check mine when I have cleaned the crowns.
I dont think it is just the pump bearings I can hear,have you ever listened to the engine of a Ford 5000 (the big 1000 series tractor)
Thats the kind of noise i mean,Like someone hitting the block with a hammer when i acclerate.

Had you considered that with the knocking noise and comparatively 'early' loss of a fire ring that your injection timing might be a little early and you are getting some pre ignition ?

Mathias,my pistons have only the "arrow" marking.

Oerick.The timing seemed to be correct (about 20-23 deg) so i tryed moving it a couple of degrees back and forth which did not seem to have much effect.Odd I think because if i do that to my "old super" there is much noise if advance/much black smoke redarded
The pump on the "new noisey super" has been replaced and looks a bit "odd"with the lift pump mounted piggy-back perhaps the pump is causing the noise.I think someone on the board mentioned the pumpbearings could be worn,would that cause rough running? How to check

Having done my head gasket and entirely filling the cooling system I was horrified to see coolant spilling so refitted my coolant saver, a longer hose on the filler overflow and a translucent 5 litre container to catch what comes out of the hose which I hung on the headlamp with baling twine, each time I start up from full I get some coolant blown out, each time its the same amount so I have stopped worrying now, if there is a problem is catches the antifreeze to reuse.

Glad the pump timing is not a problem for you.

it should not be blowing coolant-das problem,and realy Oehrick plastic -on a MAJOR this is taking ecology too far!

Guilty as charged but as an instant visual indicator of any pressure in the cooling system and catching any leakage it fulfils all my criteria, it works and it cost nothing