Posts: 6
From: Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 11, 2006 18:38            

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Hello everyone. I bought a Dexta about a year ago, serial no. 957 47771 (on flange on the left hand side between the clutch and engine). There is no letter in the prefix, I guess its a 1961 model. I know nothing about its history, except that its been in the district for many years. It burns no oil and runs like a dream, so I guess it must have been rebuilt at sometime. Main problems are a loose steering box, and oil leaks, mainly from rear engine seal, which I'll fix one day. Just overhauled the generator, working fine now - output is 14.5 volts and rising.

I just discovered this bulletin - been reading for hours, and am only up to page 15 - I am now very concerned about my use of ether, and must stop it immediately.

I have had to use the ether very sparingly, only on very cold mornings, when the old boy hasn't been started for many weeks. Yes, it must be a boy, because my children named it ol' blue.

So how do you do a cold start using the pre heater, primer pump, and manually engaging the starter motor with the lever all at the same time? Do you get the heater nice and hot, then quickly inject some fuel in and engage the starter?
How long do you hold the heater button on to get it hot enough? Also the primer pump is gone, so I'll have to inject some fuel manually, until i find a replacement. How much fuel do you suggest to inject?
Brian suggested somewhere that instead of using a primer pump, it is possible to cut into the line that returns excess fuel from the injectors to the tank. The idea was to put in a tee piece and make a few loops in the new line going to the inlet manifold. This sounds like a very practical solution. But how do you stop this fuel from continuing to flow once the motor is running? I suppose a tap is needed, where would this be best placed for ready access?
Thanks for your help and advice.

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Posts: 6
From: Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 11, 2006 19:55            

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Sorry about that post, I did some more reading and found most of the answers myself. Well covered in previous posts. The solution is to have a heater with a valve- which I think mine already has got, but is capped off.

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Posts: 2824
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted August 12, 2006 08:16               

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Welcome to the board. Its a pity your Dexta is in Aus. not over here. Male Dexta's are very rare and perhaps we could have bred some new ones!

Glad you found your answers. There is a lot of information on here but its good to know about people too. Please post all you like.

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Kind regards
Brian

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Posts: 6
From: Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 13, 2006 17:13            

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Thanks for the invitation Brian, this board has really inspired me to get to work on the old boy. For the old girls over there, I forgot to mention his also got a relatively large front end loader - it's a little leaky, but he can still raise it high and proud. The bucket holds about 1/2 cubic metre and saves a lot of back strain moving soil, rocks, and generally heavy things around our 15 acre property. I try not to do much digging or scraping with it, because although the clutch feels nice and strong, I don't won't to push my luck.

Dextas parts are very rare in Australia these days, or so I've been told. And the tractor wreckers/secondhand dealers were scoured out a long time ago. I am glad to read that some parts are still readily available over there. The first things I might be chasing are some new seals for the clutch and brake shafts. I'll see what's available over here first.

I discovered the search function on the board, and did some more reading about the cold starting procedure. This is what I've gleaned so far.
First hit the pre-heater button for about 30-40 seconds. Then squirt some diesel in there, and you should hear it ignite. From what I read, it sounds like the flame burns for a few seconds. If that's true, there should be no problem starting. That's what confused me earlier. I thought you just got a flash of flame, so the motor would have to be turning over at exactly the right time to suck the flame in.

I thoroughly cleaned out the primer jet/valve that goes into the inlet manifold today. The jet is only a fraction of a mm diameter, and was totally blocked. Now it passes a nice stream of diesel, the problem is that a fair bit of pressure is needed for a good flow of diesel. That doesn't seem right, because the supply of diesel will only be gravity fed from the injector return line. Or is the vacuum in the manifold strong enough to suck a stream of diesel to the heater? If not, I might have to consider rigging up a primer pump. I was thinking an oil can, you know the one's you pump with your thumb, might be a good temporary measure. In the long run, I'll look around for a sutable primer pump commonly found on two stroke lawn mowers, brush cutters and the like.

If anyone is interested, next time my brother in law is up, I'll get him to take some digital photos to post. And please let me know of any errors in my logic.
Regards,
Aldo

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Posts: 2824
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002

posted August 13, 2006 17:32               

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The coil of pipe trick works well with a slightly different type of valve. The later type open enough to let a flow fall on the element. The Dexta original requires a pump.

New fuel taps can be got with the primer as per the old version but the cost is fairly high, around £40.00. Again, from reports, even these require a tap in the line. The later Super Dexta had a tap from new here in England.

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Kind regards
Brian

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Posts: 465
From: USA Washington state
Registered: Jul 2002

posted August 13, 2006 20:50               

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On one of my Dextas it was so worn out when I got it that tractor wouldnt start without a prime when it was warm. All the orginial primer was rotted out along with the tank I had to replace. I was lucky enough to still have one of a few old WWII milatary surplus primer pumps left. I bought them still packed in their box for $2.00 ea from a Army surplus store. I used them up on old forklifts, But they are quite large, about 6in long made like a bicylce tire pump and have 1/2 in pump barrel. They do have a diaphram spring steel discharge valve that will not allow fuel to flow with out pumping. I mounted it under the frnt of the tank on the right hand side. So you have to reach the knob handle and be off the tractor to pump it. You cant see it and have to know that it is there to use it. Now I doubt there are any more of these surplus units around but you may find similar units in truck wreakers yards. With this pump I only give it about a 1/4 squirt as it would flood the coil. Course now that tractor is side lined for OH (dead) and I hate to say this but I have been robbing parts from it for my other dexta that does not require any prime to start for about 5 months out of the year. Then when it does I just screw out the manifold plug spray either a little WD40 lube or some diesel with a plastic pump bottle in the manifold then start the glow coil. The complete primer system was missing from this tractor when I got it. It had a 0 time SMOH when I got it, I think that this tractor has the BEST running engine of anything I have had in any machine ever. I had timing problems when I got it, the flywheel was on wrong, one hole off. That really screwed things up not knowing that.

[This message has been edited by tmac (edited August 13, 2006).]

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Posts: 6
From: Victoria, Australia
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 23, 2006 17:56            

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Thanks for your replies Brian and tmac. I haven't been on the computer much lately, sorry for long delay replying.
I just had a good look on internet, seems many dexta parts are still available in Australia, even full engine rebuild kits, at about $A500. No oil seals for brake shaft, hopefully these are a common size. Also the left axle housing gasket (large trumpet end) is leaking near bolt hole at the bottom. Will need a big piece of gasket paper for that.

I found new fuel taps with primer here. About $A140, which is 50-60 pound i think. Might go with Tmacs idea for now. I'll put a brass fitting in manifold then plug that. May be I wont need it much, Its getting warm early this year in SE australia. And looks like a very dry spring coming.
My time and money will better be spent on fixing these oil leaks. The hydraulic pump for the loader is also slowly leaking from shaft seal. I have no idea what brand it is, and there is no markings. So that wont be too easy.
And the rear seal on the crankshaft is leaking, mostly after stopping the engine and parking for while.
I haven't split a tractor. So that one will have to wait quite a while. And the loader frame makes it difficult to get to the engine. Is it possible or too difficult to change the rear seal, underneath with the engine in place?
Regards,
Aldo

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