Ford 4D engine on a frosty day

[AdrianNPMajor]

Went over to the farm today to start my NP Super, which had been standing for a couple of weeks. The air temperature was -1C. I set quarter throttle, pressed the cold start button, climbed aboard, depressed the clutch, leaned on the starter lever, and within a couple of seconds or so she fired and ran smoothly.

After a trip up the lane and back the engine was purring in the sub-zero temperatures. Isn't the Ford 4D engine a beautifully simple (not easy to design simple) engineering triumph? Discuss.

Best

Adrian

[Kiwi Kev]

Isn't the Ford 4D engine a beautifully simple (not easy to design simple) engineering triumph?

Best

Adrian

and they are 50 to 60 years old
Kiwi Kev

[AdrianNPMajor]

Quite so, Kev, but what I love about them is that they were designed to be pulled apart and rebuilt to be as good as new. As long as they keep making the spare parts, these engines will still be doing good work long after more modern ones have been scrapped and melted down.

I would love to meet the designers of this engine. They left one very impressive legacy behind.

Best

Adrian

[Dandy Dave]

I would love to meet the designers of this engine. They left one very impressive legacy behind.

Best

Adrian

I'm sure many of them are sitting around that big Fordson show in the sky after 60 some years. What would have been the average age of an experianced engineer at the time? I would have to guess that if any of the original engineers are still with us they would be at least 90 to 100 years old. Dandy Dave!

[super6954]

Went over to the farm today to start my NP Super, which had been standing for a couple of weeks. The air temperature was -1C. I set quarter throttle, pressed the cold start button, climbed aboard, depressed the clutch, leaned on the starter lever, and within a couple of seconds or so she fired and ran smoothly.

After a trip up the lane and back the engine was purring in the sub-zero temperatures. Isn't the Ford 4D engine a beautifully simple (not easy to design simple) engineering triumph? Discuss.

Best

Adrian

Hi
-1 Thats jeans and tee shirt weather Here in Canada I can get my super we use for grass cutting all summer to start in -15 0c after sitting out all winter without using block heat . I don't make a habit of doing it. Usually I wait till it warms up to plus temps, I tried it once on a spur of the moment thing , to prove a point that it started better than A green and yellow thing a local guy had plugged in heating the block most of the winter in his workshop .
on the engineering side its pretty good when they can run for years with no oil pressure, some haven't been serviced for years, and it can be totally worn out and will still start and run like a half decent Chinese watch
Regards Robert

[Dandy Dave]

I tried it once on a spur of the moment thing , to prove a point that it started better than A green and yellow thing a local guy had plugged in heating the block most of the winter in his workshop .

All the green and yellow thingy's we had on the farm would not start below 50 F. And the Orange AC thingy was even worse as it would not start below 70F without being pluged in for a bit. And yes, we bought them all new at the time in the 1970's. Dandy Dave!

[super6954]

Hi Dave
This one was a 2003 with 3000 hrs on it . The saying round here is if the sun goes behind the clouds a 4020 won't start
Regards Robert

[Dandy Dave]

Hi Dave
This one was a 2003 with 3000 hrs on it . The saying round here is if the sun goes behind the clouds a 4020 won't start
Regards Robert

Yep, that's about right. We had one of those. The other G and Y's were a 4030, and a 4230. The AC was a 175. Dandy Dave!