Buying a Dexta special? in france

[gimiq]

gave the battery a charge til it was full. dash warning lights seem to be sorted. yellow light was not being used so i think the black wire which seems to be a custom jobby is the line to the alternator? or where ever it connects to for the charge light. purple definitely the oil switch. In this case blue and black wire is the live supply line. I split that in two and put one on charge light and the other on the oil light.

Went through cold start procedure, After about three attempts the Dexta started of its own steam no ether required, its night time here and around 10c

on the second attempt while holding the heater button i thought i noticed some smoke coming out from around the dash area at around 35 seconds of holding it. I panicked as thought maybe some wiring is getting fried. So i aborted that attempt. I know the heater mixed with the fuel can cause some smoke could that of been what i was seeing somehow seeping out somewhere? or would it come out of the exhaust and that was what i was seeing? i have a side exhaust at the bottom of my left foot pointing outwards. i think i saw it before i tried cranking so not sure whats going on there

or could it be something getting cooked? didn't notice it on third attempt so not sure what to make of that.

third time was the charm though and it fired up. But i noticed the engine sounded like it was hunting, which is the first time of the few times i have seen it start up that i noticed that. Is that to be expected after it hasn't been started for a while? i couldn't let the engine idle long to find out if it would settle down as i was in the poly tunnel and it was quite smokey by then (haven't got round to extending the exhaust out while its in the poly tunnel yet). There is this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3eo785qRjM

explaining it could be down to filter on the simms pump. I think mine is the mechanical type without the diaphragm.

I was planning on changing the oil here when I change the engine oil. Finally i changed the oil on the air filter, perhaps an incorrect level there is causing the revving up and down, not sure

Planning on giving it another go in the morning and hopefully get it moving out of the tent. Anyway so far so good, was worried that it was going to need the ether again.

once i feel i have got the cooling checked over and starting situation checked over, given it a little test run I will get it back in for oil and filter changes.

I added sae 90 gear oil inside the steering column from the top, need to top it up every so often as you can only get a bit in at a time, so will keep adding that until it no longer seeps down anymore.

just need to figure out whats going with the revs hunting next.....one thing leads to another eh

anyway thanks for all your help, it started from cold without ether for the first time I have seen it

[Billy26F5]

Great to hear that it runs again!
Here's the Ford wiring diagram:

It could have actually been dirt in the dash, I would definitely give it a clean but I wouldn't fiddle with anything now that it's working again, but by all means have a look. I don't remember a minimec hunting but it's probably best if you post a video like you did a few weeks ago. The other type of pump is prone to bad hunting as it has no damping valve like the Major does. A good service is always worth it, so after you do that see what happens with the hunting as well as running in general. 12.73V is a bit high for a battery (12.6 is ideal), but when charging it should be at 13.5-14V depending on the charger, even higher when the engine is running as the regulator is set to 16V roughly.
Sandy

[gimiq]

thanks for the diagram there, very useful.

ok haven't heard the hunting since that first time I started it.

took it for a little run around today everything seems to be in order. q
I think the battery needs replacing because it seems to start ok from cold after it has been fully charged using my charger. The voltage drop on pressing the starter lever look like it was about 2 volts. I will keep an eye on this.
The operators manual I have from 1963 for dexta and super dexta says it should have an 80ah battery so will look for something in the 80 - 85 range if I find one that looks like it will fit.

I think I need to make a rubber stop for the battery as it does move around a little while driving about.

The fan noise seems to have gone so i think the water pump replacement sorted that, no leaks from the hoses or gaskets anymore either.
blew the fins with a compressor and gave it a gentle scrub etc. straightened some of the fins on the radiator it looks pretty good in that area now.
The bottom hose sits close to the fan belt so will keep an eye on that for any contact being made and do as others have suggested an apply some sort of shield around the bottom hose if it looks like it needs it.

next up oil filter change. now i have ended up with SAE mineral 30 non detergent and SAE mineral 30 with additives and I presume detergents etc.
Reading the forums I get confused as there is varying opinions on using detergent as to whether this will dislodge stuff etc.

I noticed that underneath this dexta there is no oil sump plate, not sure if there should be one. I can see the bolt for the oil drain where it should be.

Which oil should I go for out of the two?

the original operators handbook printed in 1963 says this:

Temp Range. --- SAE
above 32c --- 30 HD. or 20w/30hd
-7c to 32c --- 20 HD. or 20w/30hd
below -7 --- 10 HD. or 10w/H.D

as it stands I am going to use the SAE 30 mineral marketed at tractors with the additives as it seems the closest to 30 HD.
But i do have the non detergent SAE 30 if thats any better?

the temperature gauge hasn't shown anything yet. So i'm not sure whats going on there. I tested the new one before putting it in. And it worked within about 5 degrees F of my digital thermometer. Either it got damaged when going in or I just haven't ran the tractor long enough for it to register.

How long should the tractor run before the temperature goes to the centre blue point? I did a few laps of the 5 acres here in 1 2 4 low and 3rd high.
around 15-20 minutes. at between 1400 and 2000 rpm. That should have registered on the temperature gauge shouldn't it? the needle did not move.

I put ptfe tape around the probe nut thread when installing it to minimise the chance of leaking about 4 wraps of it. Should the nut collar of the thread be fully against the housing? as you can see about 3 turns of the thread and the PTFE tape sticking out on mine. i didn't want to turn it too much as it feels pretty tight here. But I cant imagine hot water not being able to reach the probe either way if its is fully against threaded into the housing or not. But i thought I would mention it either way

Before i drain some coolant and unscrew the probe and test it with digital thermometer and boiling water again I wanted to double check.

[Emiel]

Change filter often if in doubt how clean your engine is and use a 15w 40 all year. That is better then a straight outdated oil.

[Billy26F5]

The Dexta battery size (L12.5 H9.969 W6.875" or L31.7 W17.4 H25.3 mm) is not a common one, and it is worth getting the right one so you can use the original style battery clamp (there are new ones around but I don't know how good they are as I want to give Davie an original one as he has the same problem) make sure that the positive pole is at the rear LH corner to allow the leads to reach it properly. Hopefully the hose position can be tweaked slightly to keep clear of the belt. Could you post a pic of the sump? There should really be an inspection plate, but I don't know what sump would fit a Dexta without an inspection plate. Diesel engines should always have detergent oils to aid cleaning the engine internally. Sounds a bit like the temp gauge tube has developed a leak, as you should have a reading in some 2 minutes or so, it looks a bit like the repro gauge quality has got even worse. You'll probably need to repair it using that link in an earlier post. Very good point about the filter Emiel.
Sandy

[gimiq]

ok so I checked the thermometer by draining enough coolant to remove it. Checked with boiling water and the gauge responded pretty instantly.

I noticed that when I put the thermostat housing back on with thermostat in it, during water pump change, it looked to me like it was in the open position. A raised centre disc around half a cm more than the surrounding thermostat outer ring. I put this down to being how it was designed or something and now I am starting to think it was stuck open.

here is a photo which kind of shows that:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EyhhMn ... sp=sharing

If the thermometer is working, it should respond to the temperature change. Now if the thermostat is open all the time could that be enough to not register on the temp gauge? I would have thought something would have registered even if that was happening. After running the tractor for about 15 minutes the thermostat housing was hot to touch as was top hose and the air blowing through fan was warm.

In other news couldn't unscrew the oil drain plug, seems to have been rounded in the past. Will order a few replacement plugs for all the oil drains before attempting to take out the engine oil plug.

Replaced the fuel filter instead, attempted to bleed the fuel after the change, the pump lever didn't seem to be doing much but not sure. Saw a few bubbles through the bleed screw, pumped it some more and eventually the bubbles stopped. unscrewed the bleed screw more and fuel started coming out, tightened it a little and pumped a little more on the lever before tightening it again. Not sure if there is more to bleeding it.

Topped up the transmission oil, seemed straight forward enough. That will need to be drained and replaced once I have taken care of the rest of the list.

Will get photos up regarding what i think seems to be no sump plate and any other remaining question areas tomorrow.

[Billy26F5]

I'm now wondering if it might be open too, this is what it should look like cold (I'm afraid it's not a great pic, I can get you a better one if required):

Your temperature inspection however sounds like the temperature is right, as it should be hot but touchable at 155ºF which is Davie's usual running temperature with notably warm air being blown by the fan. Did the gauge show the correct temperature when you tested it?
If the lift pump doesn't seem to be pumping much turn the engine one revolution and try again, as if the eccentric is in the high point there will be virtually no pumping possible by the lever. As long as after one pumping all resistance goes the system should be ok, if not some air will still be there, preventing the pressure to go up enough, although poor lift pump valves will have the same effect.
Sandy

[gimiq]

those AC TF3 thermostats are hard to find it seems. I see emiel posted one for 90 pounds from moss company.

I found a tf2 on ebay but that is 80c i think.

there is a good blog on these thermostats here: http://www.bobine.nl/jaguar/02-engine/t ... 0-and-150/ for anybody interested.

I assume it can only be the stuck open position that causes this. The thermometer was accurate to about 5c. hard to tell with laser thermometer because it can be inaccurate and can vary a bit depending on the colour of the surface you read from etc

Could I try putting some cardboard over the grill to see if it heats up? I feel this would be an easy test to do to see if the needle moves.

My other thought was that is there a chance there is an air lock somewhere somehow preventing some circulation. preventing water coming from the engine block back through to the thermostat housing. and so the thermometer is only ever reading re circulated water from the radiator. While the engine is possibly over heating. seems unlikely with the way the thermometer is positioned in relation to the engine block though

not sure if thats possible, but would be worse as the engine could be boiling. Will get the digital thermometer out and see if that can shed any light by measuring temps on the engine block, thermostat housing and various hoses.

It's a little confusing as the bottom temp on the temp gauge is 90f and thats about 32c which is a tepid shower in my books. I would assume even the conducted heat through the metal housing would be enough to warm it up to a little above that, but could easily be wrong about that. I will do the digital thermometer checks before trying any cardboard over the grill.

there was an adjustment screw on the water pump. Could that need adjusting? the water pump pulley felt stiff compared to the old one. a flick of the wrist and the pulley would stop turning as soon as my hand left it. The old pump would continue to turn. little. I put this down to new bearings and that it would loosen over time, but maybe the screw was to slacken the pulley? if the pulley was too tight I would expect the temperature to be on the higher side if the coolant was not getting pumped fast enough though.

which brings me on to the subject of fan belt tension. i get the odd screech from the belt at certain rpms most noticeable on first start. Im thinking the belt could be too tight. I think the manual mentions total travel of either 1cm or 1 inch. Now what i don't get is if the total travel is measured from both extremes of movement from the centre point or just in one direction. i.e. if you push the belt one way measure the total travel from the two points, starting point and pushed point. Or if total travel if from the fully pushed to the other extreme pulled point (passed the centre starting point).

[Billy26F5]

That's a bit unlucky as I remember considering getting one when we got our TF4's and there were a few TF3's around, I'm afraid the Moss thermostat is not a TF3 equivalent but a TF1, so it's not ideal for a Dexta and anyway it's very pricey. That's a very good page for finding the correct type of thermostat, but AC ones are the easiest to find nowadays. The reason the water pump should turn freely but not spin is the seal, which on your old one was gone, new bearings turn smootly whereas bad ones that are noisy are pretty rough. This screw on the new pump is probably a locking screw to hold the bearing in place but I don't know for sure. As for the fan belt tension I'm afraid I don't know this as the only instruction book I've seen is the one on the forum that unfortunately doesn't have the necessary pic, but if you hear screeching it suggests slipping so try tightening it just a wee bit. If you do have the instruction book you should have this pic, but you should be checking the tension between the crank and dynamo pulleys (in your case between the crank and alternator pulleys). I would heat up some water to 160ºF and see how it feels to touch then feel the engine running near the temp gauge bulb, if they feel very similar the gauge isn't working properly and the thermostat is fine, if it's notably much cooler then the gauge is probably ok and the thermostat is failed open (a feature of bellows thermostats).
Sandy

[gimiq]

Hello again,

So since I last was on here I have been giving the dexta a few test runs, after having replaced the battery and replacing the solenoid with the lucas type starter solenoid (one of the poles on on the old one was a little lose and had some play) everything seemed relatively good.

from cold it would start pretty much first time with the cold start procedure and would start first time every time after being warmed up.

I had been giving it a little run around in 1st - 3rd gears at about 14000-18000 rpm. Seemed to run ok to me and no signs of issues.

tested the hydraulics with 3 point palette forks moving a few relatively light loads around, and used a landscape rake on it. No issues.

I have been having intermittent issues with the starter lever. (one of the reasons i decided to look into replacing the battery and starting solenoid.

When i press it sometimes it operates fine other times it feels like its jammed and pushing it down harder sometimes freed it and it would start cranking. This is intermittent. Generally ok but sometimes it just jams.

Seemed to get better after the changes I made. I replaced the rubber boot and cleaned the contacts and had a look inside with the snake camera to see if it engaged ok. it looked ok in there and nothing jumped out.

Another symptom was that sometimes you would press the starter lever fully and nothing would happen.

I used the voltmeter to check continuity across different parts of the circuit and things seem as they should.

Anyway things seemed better after replacing the battery and solenoid like i mentioned before.

Now, feeling somewhat confident that it seemed to be running ok. I thought i would give my neighbours 1m topper a go. Hooked it up and tested a few passes at pto rpm speed and it seemed to work fine. Did a few more passes with the topper and it looked good.

Checked the engine temp underneath the injectors around the thermostat housing and on the engine block in between the exhaust manifold connection points.

if you remember the new thermostat i put on it seemed faulty (weirdly working in water but not when placed onto the dexta)

highest temps i got on the housing was around 130F and around 220 - 230 on the engine block (hottest point being on the engine block under the middle injector)

parked it up and now with some sunny weather we have had the ground was finally dry enough to give it more of a go in my field with the topper. I know i shouldn't run it without the thermostat working but I was checking it every 20-30 minutes with the laser thermometer.

after about an hour of topping in 3rd gear at PTO rpms (18000rpm) I had nearly finished the field at the back (somewhere between 1-2 acres) of 2ft tall grass. and as I was finishing up only had a few more passes to do It lost power, rpms dropping and feeling like it was going to stall.

stopped put in in neutral, disengaged the pto, stopped the topper and raised it up. If I lowered the throttle it felt like it was going to definitely stall.

put on full throttle and it seemed like it was barely staying running and it stopped.

Checked the fuel tank had diesel in there. But topped it up 10 L anyway.

After checking the forums here I thought it could be one or more of three things:
1. it overheated - since it happened an hour after topping and so had time to warm up and possible overheat.
2. fuel supply issue somewhere, I was hoping it was this issue.
3. It's basically siezing up, pistons are knackered, blown gasket. probably needing engine rebuild, maybe why the guy was selling it.

read on other threads that if it cranks its probably a fuel supply issue.

and here is where it gets tricky. The starter lever issue came back again, starter lever jamming, getting stuck, or not jamming and doing nothing when fully pressed down.

it cranked a few times before this issue came back, but when it cranked it sounded like a weak crank, what you would expect when the battery is low maybe.

battery 12.8v and new, disconnected the battery checked connections continuity seemed ok and when i reconnected it again, it cranked again.

tried the cold start procedure sometimes it cranks but when it does it doesn't sound like a strong cranking and sometimes even just stops cranking after a few seconds like it just gives up. Will try and get a video of this happening.

This kind of happened a few times before every trying the topper on it. Which is why i replaced solenoid cleaned the contacts under the rubber boot on the starter motor and replaced the battery.

so to sum up, ran it for an hour, it lost power, stalled and now the cranking doesn't sound great.

Any ideas?

[Billy26F5]

I had been giving it a little run around in 1st - 3rd gears at about 14000-18000 rpm. Seemed to run ok to me and no signs of issues.

I assume you actually mean 1400-1800 rpm, as what is written is dangerous for even the fastest piston engines.
I would change the fuel filter and maybe check the tap screen and all fuel pipes and connections, but the poor turning over sounds like a bad connection, have you checked the starter field terminal? If that is ok remove the cover band and look at the brushes and commutator, as worn brushes will give this sort of indication. If the starter lever jams it means the teeth are not lined up, just try pushing a wee bit more and you should hear a distictive clunk of the teeth engaging, all this just before the starter turns the engine.
The temperatures don't sound good as the hottest point should be where the gauge bulb is and it should be at 160ºF roughly, I'm wondering if there's a major build up of dirt inside that is difficult to clean, if so you're unlucky that Dexta's have dry liners as you get no more access to the block than you've already seen. See what the coolant level is before and after as if the temperature is 230ºF boiling effects will be worsening the cooling. Check the fan belt is nice and tight too (but not too tight).
Sandy

[gimiq]

yes i meant 1400 - 1800rpm.

to clarify around the thermostat housing I only measured 120-130F. It was on the engine block itself just below the 2nd (middle) injector that I measured around 220c.

The starter itself says Made in England on it so maybe its the original one? I presume these are not made in england anymore . And so could well be worn.

Yes when it sticks like that I usually just give it a harder push and eventually it unsticks and starts cranking. I was adding that detail in case it provided more information on what was going on. I will re check all the connections. I have had this starting issue occur before the power loss and stall that happened after an hour of topping yesterday. I was working on flat but bumpy land so could well of dislodged some debris etc that could of caused the issue I guess.

As a side note. What gear are people using for topping? I used 3rd (which i understand to be high for the right lever and top/forward right) with 4th gear being where you would have expected 3rd to be (low on right lever and forward left on left lever). My assumption being 3rd would be ok and if it got bogged down drop into second. It didn't seem to be getting bogged down to me. It actually sounded like it was working pretty well until that issue manifested at the end.

I did notice the coolant seemed a little frothy at the top with a rusty red tinge. Previously when I removed the thermostat housing to remove the stuck thermometer probe it looked pretty rusty inside, which I presumed would be expected for something this old. heres the pic of that : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GX1-ys ... sp=sharing.

It's interesting you say the hottest point should be in the thermostat housing. I would have thought that it would be on the engine block itself since that is the source of the heat. With the cooled water passing through to take that heat away. By the time the cooled water reaches the thermostat housing it would have been lower than the engine temp but higher than the water temp from the radiator outlet and so giving you the desired temp of approx 160F. But that could easily be me misunderstanding how all of it works.

I have recently replaced the fuel filter But I have not checked the mesh on the fuel tap. I will look through the forum for the process of checking all the lines starting from the fuel tank.

I wonder why the fuel line issue would manifest after an hour of topping though. Since it's the easiest thing to check I will check that anyway.

I am going to have to check over the thermostat and thermometer issue as we have seen there is obviously something not correct with that.

So it seems I could be dealing with a few possible issues:

1. engine temps: with the thermostat and thermometer issue which was mentioned earlier in the thread.
2. A separate starting issue with either connections being loose and/or the starter motor itself being worn.
3. Fuel supply issue, air or debris blocking the lines somewhere between the tank and engine.

Since I replaced the fuel filter (a couple weeks ago) and bleeding the system at the fuel filter (two bolts) and on the injector pump (one bolt) It seemed to run ok just tottering about without any 3pt tools on the PTO at between 1400 and 1800 rpm.

Finally there is one other symptom i have noticed before trying the topping. 1st and 2nd gear move quite slowly. I assumed this was as designed since when plowing that is desired. In first especially sometimes it will periodically kind of shunt, lunge forward in increments rather than move smoothly. I guess it would be good to get it compression tested at some point.

thanks for all the help Sandy.

[Old Hywel]

Unless you’re cutting elephant grass, a Dexta will fly away with a 1 metre topper. As for possible overheating, if an engine boils it produces unusual smells and lots of steam.
Undo fuel feed to lift pump to check for a good flow of diesel.

[Billy26F5]

The starter is original, as is the old solenoid. Be careful when measuring the temperature not to get a false reading because of the exhaust, which will be hot (much hotter than the engine). The only work the starter is likely to need is checking the brush length and the condition of the commutator, it should be nice and shiny, not like this (Billy's starter before overhaul):

The brushes are available, to fix the commutator (if it looks like the pic, a pic of the commutator on here would let one of us give you an opinion too) you'll need to get the armature out and put it in a lathe, which I don't think you have, but a friend might be able to help with that.
The coolant gets to the engine at the lowest temperature, it then gets hotter as it goes through the block and then the head, being as hot as it will get at the thermostat and gauge bulb before beginning to cool from there till it gets into the engine again. I don't know what's the matter with the temp gauge, as it seems to be doing very odd things.
First and second are really only for things where you need to move at the speeds you get (like getting through a tight doorway) as you'll never use full power before the wheels slip, for ploughing you'll normally be in third or fourth depending on soil conditions. Fifth and sixth are really only for transport. I wouldn't think the compression is bad at the moment, as that's something that will appear gradually.
Sandy

[gimiq]

Ok so, managed to get it running again and it sounds as good as it ever did.

1st issue around starter: Tightened connection on top of solenoid. The connection that goes to the positive terminal of the battery (mine is neg ground/earth) worked loose. Probably because the battery is not strapped down and moves about a bit. I have some straps I can put around it which I will do to ensure that is minimised. Looking at the old starter solenoid it was the same pole/terminal which had become loose so I am guessing that is something to watch out for if your battery can move about and a point of possible failure. The old solenoid terminal moves if you wobble it. This lucas one needed the bolt tightening to remedy the play.

Another issue of the cranking cutting out after engagement seems to be this Lucas solenoid has a sort of spade connector rather than bolt for the 3rd smaller connection and the the throttle linkage that passes by that area could make contact with that connection depending on which position the throttle lever was in. As a solution I bent down that spade connector to ensure it would not come close enough to contact it and placed some electrical tape around the metal connector and a little around the throttle linkage/bar where the solenoid is. I went around tightening all the connections from battery to starter. Cranking become more reliable and sounded better.

Still get the jamming/stiff starter lever maybe between 1in 5 to 1 in 10 attempts at pressing it down. This one was a pre-existing issue though and as Sandy mentioned you can push harder and it will eventually engage. Doesn't feel nice though as there is a fair bit of resistance and forcing it down so hard feels like i'm going to break something eventually. But from what I gather this last issue does not seem to be something to be too worried about, thankfully.

This starter issue seems to have been coincidental to the stalling issue which threw me off a bit on diagnosing the problem. The starting issue seems resolved for now with the above tweaks. It probably manifested now because it was the first work out the dexta got so maybe the first chance for connections to loosen.

So it cranks, therefore ruling out the worst case scenario of needing engine rebuild , I had read somewhere on this forum that if it stalled and lost power and did not crank after this happened there could be something going on with the pistons and or seizing up. Basically because I haven't fully tested this Dexta in different uses and given it a good work out I am forever double guessing whether I have bought a lemon or not. Until I have proven it can do the few tasks I need it to do. Doesn't help that I am a complete novice to all this. So thank you all for your patience. All part of the learning process I guess and without this forum I think I would have gotten nowhere.

So onto the stalling issue. As suspected it was a fuel supply issue. Lots of air seemed to be in all the three bleeding bolts. (2 on the fuel filter, bottom and top one) and one on the Minimec injection pump. Most of the air was trapped around the injection pump and that one took a few attempts to fully bleed. about a litre of diesel came out before the frothing air bubbles subsided enough. While distracted with the starter lever and cranking issue I forgot to check for the puffs of white smoke that come out of the exhaust when cranking which tells you whether fuel is reaching the engine.

After remembering about that I bled the fuel lines until I saw that happen. cleaned off the fuel that had dripped all over the injector pump etc and it fired up quite heartily. I have seen others go as far as loosening the connections at the injectors themselves where the fuel line connects to the injector. I have not done this as there seems to be mixed opinions on this, possibly causing more problems and headaches. So i just followed what was in the manual, but some seem to think that they need bleeding all the way up to the injectors. Since i got the puffs of smoke without doing that I was happy to stop at bleeding the pump.

so how did the air get in? I think maybe the fuel tank was low and while driving across the flat but bumpy land air could have got in through the tank.
either that or I need to check the connection between the fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump. It seems that either it could be worn or I haven't tightened it properly when I was checking if the fuel tap was working. I will keep an eye on this. Added more diesel and if it happens again I will check that fuel supply line from tank to pump more thoroughly. But for now its working well. I don't think it was from when I changed the fuel filter as I have used it with pallet forks and test driving it around the woods next to my land. It was starting and working well as far as I could tell until it stalled after the hour of topping. The previous owner was using ether to start, so I am pretty happy about it starting so well with the heating element working now.

And @old_hywell, I agree I would have thought a 1m topper would have been no bother for the Dexta. Which is kind of why i risked using it without the working thermometer. thanks for the tips on overheating, I am hoping I never get to that stage of seeing it boiling over. It does make me wonder why the coolant was frothy on the top, I am hoping this is due to some contaminating residues from the vinegar rinse I gave it rather than anything gasket related. When I rinsed it after the vinegar I was just pouring 5litre tanks of well water into it rather than a hose as i I dont have a hose on hand where I am working on it and I don't want old coolant etc pouring into the soil. I also read that some people warm the engine up for a short while with vinegar in it to get it to do its job better, but I could not do that as It was when I was working on the water pump and it partly disassembled with the radiator removed so it was not in a state to attempt that. I plan on draining and giving it another flush soon when I have another stab at fixing the thermostat and thermometer, and last risk of frosts have passed, With the thermometer not working I am forever paranoid about overheating the engine so I need to get that sorted ASAP for peace of mind. The manual states to use plain well water in summer season, is that still advisable considering its so old and rusty? and do you adhere to the ratios suggested in the manual depending on expected temps in your climate and season? or are people just sticking in 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water? I have access to well water but will probably use distilled water after flushing with well water.

Anyway panic over for now . Next jobs are going to be oil changes, fitting manifold tap for primer pump (i have read somewhere on the forum that without this tap fuel can continue seeping through here when in use, mine does not have one) and hopefully get this thermometer and thermostat working.

Eventually I expect to have to change the seals on hydraulic lift, overnight the arms drop with just a draft bar attached, maybe expected for something this age. Holds pretty well in everyday use so not a major issue right now and not too worried about it other than to make sure to check the hydraulic oil levels more often. I plan on doing a full oil change for hydraulics, transmission and engine very soon, just waiting on replacement drain plugs since last time i tried removing it looked like it had been rounded off and it would not budge. The plan here is to use pipe wrench with bottle jack to hold in place as a first attempt as I have seen described on the forum and have seen someone doing similar on a Massey Ferguson 35.

@Sandy thanks for that info so I presume 3rd or fourth should be fine for topping then if its ok for ploughing in considering there is even less contact being made with the ground. And good to know what to check for regarding worn brushes. I should maybe look into returning the old solenoid at some point if its original but will post a video of the play on the terminal before I do. I think the play could be due to the battery moving about and it tugging on the terminal connection when it does and so possibly increasing wear on it. A temporary solution is going to be battery straps

I will try get the picture of that missing sump plate/drain for the engine oil that we spoke about before. All I have on the bottom of mine is the drain plug. Looking at pictures and manuals others seem to have a round plate with 4 bolts which can be removed and sump filter/metal gauze. Cannot see one on mine. only a single oil drain bolt/plug.

had a go at adjusting the fan belt tension the other day to solve the screech on start up. If I remember correctly it seemed to get better for a while but after todays fixes it was back. So either I am not adjusting the belt to the right tension or I am not tightening the bolts down well enough and they are working loose a little, or both. The manual has no pictures on how much you measure the travel on the belt so I am just going off verbal descriptions I have seen on the forums. I will look for some videos online maybe for a Massey Ferguson as there seems to be more videos of those being worked on. I am always trying to be careful of not over tightening things, maybe I should get hold of a torque wrench to help with this. In lieu of that I tend to hold the spanner close to the head to avoid putting too much force on things.

And yes the temp probe is puzzling, need to get that sorted. I presume as long as the laser thermometer reading around thermostat housing near to the where the thermometer probe is bolted on should never read above 160 - 170 F if all is well. The reason I check around the injectors is because I worry that the somehow there could be a chance that the cooled water is not flowing through the engine block as it should and is mainly circulating through the radiator, water pump and back into the radiator, therefore not doing the job of cooling the engine block as it should. I think it's unlikely looking at how it's all plumbed but without knowing accurately what the water temps are it is hard to tell. Either way having to use the laser thermometer and checking it every 20-30 minutes is tedious and it needs sorting for peace of mind. Thats high on the to do list and will look at it ASAP.

I do like that feeling when you fix something that is not working, hearing the engine running well again is great after being stuck with a problem. Albeit with the great pointers on this forum

Thanks again all

[Billy26F5]

Sounds like you need a battery clamp (Davie does too), they are available not sure how accurate but we're going to try and find an original one. The loose battery is hellish, and I'm not at all surprised that it worked the connection loose, I am puzzled that the contact became so poor as everything is clean. Both solenoids are Lucas designs, but your new one is probably ten years younger or so. Shorting out the solenoid wire certainly does sound plausible, but you would probably have heard the arcs from that when it happened. It sounds like you're very unlucky with the position of the teeth as it is pure luck as to how they'll be. Always make sure all pipes are tight, there are actually two bleed screws on the minimec and I think it's worth doing them both. Low fuel could do that but it's more likely to bee loose pipes, check for dribbles after not running for a bit and see what you find. I would check your atomiser as if the spring loaded ball is alright you should be ok, the tap was only used on tractors in Britain and perhaps other places where regulations don't allow an engine to run on excess fuel (which the atomiser without a tap would allow). Never use water only, always use coolant with good corrosion inhibitor. Your hydraulics don't sound too bad, try sitting on the drawbar and see how many corrections you get, Ford specify three in two minutes with 1250 lbs on the arms, Davie has one every ten seconds just with leaning on the arms, and hundreds with an implement on (this is one of our many jobs to do). The area near the injectors isn't cooled all that much, and the three caps between the exhaust manifold will be very hot. The RH side should be better for block and head temperature readings without interfearance from the exhaust. I think I found a French Dexta instruction book online years ago that should have this, but I don't remember where. If anyone comes across it please post the link on the forum as then we'll see all the images in it.
Sandy