power major breathers?

rich2a · Post by **rich2a** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 3:51 pm

Hi, first post here- so here goes! recently bought a power major ':lol:' It has a breather from rocker box into air filter, but NO breather on timing gear case (in front of tacho drive). should it have one ?? as the old major is puffing a bit past fuel lift pump!! any comments tips etc please! thanks, rich.

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 6:26 pm

Welcome Rich, I have a '59 Power Major, it has an open crank case breather. Could be your's is different, do you have pictures of your Power Major? If you can list serial number and casting numbers others on here can tell you more than I.

rich2a · Post by **rich2a** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:45 pm

Hi, I think mine is also a `59er. eng no 1499268, eng cast code A16C, various others are M17B, M22B and M20B. what do you mean by an "open crankcase breather" ?? cheers, rich

Post by **Brian** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:26 pm

That is not a Power Major engine. Fordson Majors had no breather on the timing cover up to 1957 so I would suspect your tractor has had an earlier engine fitted.

Can you post the number from under Number one injector,

or a casting code from under the manifold,

or the casting code on the clutch housing,

These will enable us to date the tractor and help you further.

Post by **Brian** » Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:31 pm

We crossed

.

Certainly from your dates she is a Power Major, it is possible then that a Fordson Major timing cover has been fitted. She should have a breather on the timing cover.

Wonder if she is badly worn and was blowing oil out of the breather and someone has fitted the earlier cover to cure it.

rich2a · Post by **rich2a** » Sat Jun 05, 2010 9:04 am

ta for replies, any reason i cannot simply drill and tap timing case to fit a breather? How did the earlier majors breath without timing case breather?? Thanks, rich.

Post by **Brian** » Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:51 pm

You would be better off getting one from another scrap tractor, as well as the breather there is an oil slinger to fit on the pump drive gear to prevent oil from coming up the breather.

The breather is an inlet for the air which then passes through the engine and out of the valve cover into the intake.

When the engine wears, compression by-pass prevents the system from working and oil starts coming out of the breather, lift pump breather hole and oil seals in the clutch housing and front of the sump. With a "good" engine there should be a vacuum in the sump that prevents this, hence "positive ventilation". The older Majors did not have this.

The only cures for this are new liners and rings, possibly a bit of hard work and use a slightly heavier weight of oil. If you are running 15/40 W try 20/50W.

Dandy Dave · Post by **Dandy Dave** » Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:11 pm

Welcome Aboard Matey.

I also have a 1960 Power Major. I posted a lot of stuff a while back but the server I was using changed hands and all the photos vanished.

Not sure who to use now. I tried the new server and eveything disappears in a day or less. Frustrating. Dandy Dave!

rich2a · Post by **rich2a** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 8:02 pm

thanks for replies one and all! cheers rich

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Fri Sep 17, 2010 6:18 pm

Hello to all. I want to may sure I'm correct about putting oil in the crank case breather as you do with the air intake oil bath? Thanks

Supermanuel · Post by **Supermanuel** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:35 am

You can also try with higher grade diesel oil in sump. Classified for turbocharged diesel engines.

Often sticking piston rings are the result og neglected oil service. Resulting pressure in crankcase. High quality diesel oils hv detergents which are capable to free sticking piston rings.

Also the use of oils which are classified only for petrol engines may cause sticking.

There are 2 alternatives, sticking piston rings or worn pistons/rings/liners. The first alternative is cheaper to solve, but only you know when the oil has been changed and the quality of the oil.

Gman · Post by **Gman** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:18 pm

Gman wrote:Hello to all. I want to may sure I'm correct about putting oil in the crank case breather as you do with the air intake oil bath? Thanks

Hello super, my next oil change will look at using a higher grade of oil, I have been using Shell Rotella. How about my ? above, should I put oil in the crank case breather? Thanks

Post by **Brian** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:33 pm

Higher grade oils will cause major problems. These engines were designed to work with relativly low grade, Series 1, oils. Series 3 oils as used in the '000 series tractors back in 1965 caused increased oil burning. The later oils and the synthetic varieties can damage oil seals and gaskets causing leaks.

The oils Ford recommended are here on the forum. Stick as near as possible to those and you cannot go wrong. My oil supplier backs this up with experience and I can only repeat my own expeirences over nearly 50 years.

There should only be a small amount of oil in the breather, hardly a thimble full.

Supermanuel · Post by **Supermanuel** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:06 am

I agree to that point that synthetic oil can cause seal problems. When the first multigrade oils came, (shell x-100 10-30) those oils didn't keep the correct viscosity range. The tricks was made so that oil companies used SAE 10 oil and added polymers to it. The polymers didn't stand for heat and promised change intervall.

It is hardly possible to get such lowgrade oils which existed during the sixties. The classification was DG diesel general, DM diesel moderate and DS diesel severe.

The tractor, bus and truck manufacturers always proposed the lowest (read cheapest) oil which still worked. The reason was that big bus and truck companies allways calculated fuel consumption, service costs etc. and need of more expensive oil was not favorable in making biz.

I refer what Leyland (trucks) added to their manuals at that time. (Mainly for the O.400 engine) "Use of oil of higher grade must always be considered as a sound investment"

This problem with multigrade oils existed at least in 70-75. BMW engineers told me then that the 10-50 does not show better engine viscosity than SAE 20 oil and the use of it (10/50) is forbidden in BMW engines. (petrol) They told that Our problem is, when the customers are told that this our new 10/50 is our best and most expensive oil. And even if he would buy the cheapest SAE 30 oil, he should have a better oil in his engine. So there is Brian correct.

I hv not proposed use of multigrade or synthetic oil, despite they are much better today and it may be difficult to obtain single grade diesel oils.

Shell X-100 caused often damages to connecting rod and main bearings. Shell tried to declare that their fine new oil had released dirt which was rhe reason to damages. That was not true. Their polymers worked only for a short time.

I heard that in Gambia people believe that the piston rings should be changed once a year for diesel engines. That they also believe that it is too expensive to change oil, gives a hint.

Rotella is sufficient for Fordson, but not effective enough to release stuck piston rings. If you hv changed the oil after 200 working hours and preferably once per years, the piston rings are hardly stuck. To run a diesel engine at very light load or idling is hard for the engine and oil. Blue smoke for one or half of an hour from exhaust is the sign for it when the engine is more heavily loaded. It may also cause stuck piston rings. Then there in no end of blue smoke.

The oil I mean is that big diesel trucks use. Not expensive per litre.
Look for Turbo diesel oils. No need for expensive oils for cars.