Major surgery in Paradise...Help!

[Lilly B]

Now I know it’s a ford major motor I have in my boat, I’ll move the conversation to this section. Thank you Brian for response, I am impressed with the efficiency and knowledge, within this site. So some more questions, based on more numbers I find on the block, below the H22V (is this the part that tells you its from 1954?) there is a 3. On a cast plate, back left hand side (if water pump is on the front) are small stamped digits, H then a triangle with 75 W T stamped inside then 460 in a circle. On the head which of course may not be original, DDN F4 is cast under the thermostat and DDN F2X on injector side, on the other a J at one end and D1 8B the other, stamped digits in the centre are hard to make out, there’s a 2 in there.
I have found a lot of water getting into the oil and am currently chasing the cause, I have just removed the head and will check for damage there or around the gasket shortly, though analysis so far, points to the problem being deeper – cylinder linings, or as Brian suggests, erosion of seal ring grooves in the block, or even corrosion between water and oil within the block… anyone think that’s likely? I presume that would mean the end for my dear Ford.
I am in the West Indies and helped here by an excellent mechanic, but identification of course when it comes to ordering parts (like the head gasket for example) will be very important, any more info from above numbers would be greatly appreciated.
Now being clear it is not of the 2700 series (Thanks Brian)for which I have the manual, is this manual still applicable when it comes to specifications like torque settings, and parts numbers for gaskets and seals? Sure I’ll have more Questions as surgery continues ….

[Brian]

I have moved this post to this forum as this is the one for your Major.

The numbers you have found on the block are mould numbers and will be the same on every Major. The important one is the H22V which is the date code for that casting.

The usual place for corrosion is the ring grooves or liners. I have never seen another area of problem in that engine but I can always be surprised!

There is nothing in the manual that is any use in the Major engine. The 2700 series was a completely different engine and did not have things like wet liners that you have in the Major. Parts like the gasket kit, bearings and liners are readily available. There were thousands of those engines out there. Here in England, Dunlop Tractor Parts, Old Twenty Parts and Agriline all are prepared to ship overseas. You may also find parts nearer to home in Canada or the US. I believe Yesterdays Tractors supplies basdic parts for Majors like gaskets.

[AdrianNPMajor]

Very interesting post. Lovely to think of a Major engine chugging away in the West Indies.

Brian, re corrosion in the ring grooves how common is this? I have never seen it, but that's not so surprising as I have only sprinkled the parts of two major engines across the floor! In those engines I encountered a fair build-up of scale, like in a kettle, which led me to think that the scale had perhaps done a good thing and protected the block from corroding. Could this be true? And if so, would corrosion around the ring grooves happen more often where soft water had been used in the cooling system?

Best

Adrian

[Brian]

Hi Adrian,

We have hard water hear in Norfolk and yet I have seen many, many ring groove problems in my career. Electrolysis and erosion are the main causes of the problem. The corrosion also came on fairly quickly too as the tractors were only a few years old when we were experiencing it. Diesel engines are known to suffer from these problems due to shock loadings in the combustion. Caterpillar wrote a thesis on the subject back in the 1950's.

Antifreeze at 50% has really helped with the problem, modern engines have water purification filters and special cooling fluids to combat the problems.

Henrietta, at 60 years old does not suffer from it but, of course she is a petrol/paraffin.

[AdrianNPMajor]

Thanks, Brian. Very interesting points that I would never have thought of.

Best

Adrian

[Pavel]

The other serious problem caused by untreated cooling systems is cavitation -- best seen when the propeller of a boat starts working and all the bubbles appear. In an internal combustion engine, as the fuel is ignited, the top section of the cylinder walls expand minutely and then collapse in micro seconds. This violent action generates thousands of minuscule bubbles which then collapse and explode against the cylinder walls. In doing so they cause pitting and erosion of the unprotected molecular structure of the cylinder walls causing, given time, terminal damage. Whilst low compression engines are not affected for some considerable time, high compression diesel engines, especially modern seriously high compression ones, have been shown, by research, to be destroyed in as little as 200 working hours. Cavitation is also the cause of damage to water pump impeller blades.
The best protection has been found to be an inhibitor, or anti-freeze, containing propylene glycol [which should be re-newed every 12 months] as this 'coats' and, to a large extent, protects the walls.

Pavel

[AdrianNPMajor]

Fascinating Pavel. The designers of the 4D engine couldn't have known about these effects (could they? ) but they created something that stood up to them. Inspired design!

Best

Adrian

[Lilly B]

Thanks all for response, Brian was spot on - major corrosion of a cylinder liner and when I dug out the half inch of gunk around the base of the liners one minor pit on the block above the O-ring, but I think not a problem. I ordered an overhaul kit through Agriline - very efficient, ordered on Wednesday, arrived in Grenada the following Monday - it took the same time to get the last 25 miles to Carriacou! (partly due to having to persuade customs I the parts were for a boat in transit, not a tractor! the postage was more than the parts - due as much to the fact that the parts were very reasonable, as the high cost of postage. I will pay more attention to adding antifreeze to water now - something I haven't been very good at as I've had problems with losing alot of fresh water through a copper heat exchanger. I will try looking now online but is there a manual available for my engine - I will be rebuilding today, so torque specifications would be of immediate interest.

[JC]

Here's a couple of pages to get you started. Let us know what else you need.