Ford 4000 engine

[squazy84]

im telling the injectors are shot, and its letting to much diesel into the combustion chamber and it makes it a devil to start. theres no switch on any 4000 pump that i seen. or else the engine is finito

how do you know there is an injector problem?

 

[awemawson]

If there is no tapping in the inlet manifold, drill and tap anyway and fit a Thermostart. Lovely little simple devices - got them on the Ford 4000 and the JCB 3CX and they work very well. I have a 100kva generator with a 6 cylinder Ford enginewhich was relectant to start in cold weather. I bought a Thermostart for that but never fitted it as my other mods sorted the problem - a heater in the oil in the sump, and a heater in the water jacket. Plugged into the mains for 30 mins in very cold weather and she now starts easily on demand.

 

[morph]

Our tractor probably takes 30 seconds winding now its warmer and maybe 3 mins in the winter so get a new battery and i bet all will be fine. The dynamo soon charges it back up and starter moters last for ages so i wouldnt worry too much....I really dont think theres anything wrong with it a new battery wont fix (well besides being nearly 40 years old!!!)

 

[madkayaker]

a mate of mine has a modified hot air gun that he blows down the intake to help it start

 

[oilcooled :)]

how do you know there is an injector problem?

i no alot about old fords, and i no the injectors do get shot. if you have a good battery, that is heavy duty and it wont start (mornings) somethings a miss. providing it starts on easy start, you know your fuel pump works or it wouldnt start at all. at the end of the day a compression ignition engine ignites fuel under compression, and if the engine works, and it is getting fuel, its either getting too much fuel this prevents fire as it floods out the engine, or else no compression ie rings or worn

 

[the snooper]

if diesel injectors are shot they dont atomise the fuel correctly or spray in the correct pattern a diesel burning too much fuel will emit black smoke all the time as opposed to the light grey usually seen, blue smoke and its burning engine oil. it would be worth getting the injectors serviced.
if i had the same problem i would start by checking the battery, a weak battery could be the cause of non starting on a cold morning i would have it checked and make sure its man enough for the job ie has enough cold starting amps available.
secondly would be a compression check as mentioned earlier if you obtain a low reading pour a small amount of oil into the cylinder and re-test if the reading increases significantly then the cylinders/rings are worn if there is not much improvement then it could be leaking valves.
it could also be any or all of the above

 

[Howburn]

This may help you understand the lay out, it was available as an option for the 4000, I suspect it will be your cheapest, quickest easiest solution to get an older engine to start.

 

[dannyp]

ford 4000 engines arn't the best starters TBH

i've rebuilt a few and they do start much better whne fresh.

if it's a pain i would be tempted to lift the head and the scrape all the coke out the exhaust ports then regrind the valves and put it back together.

will start a hell of a lot easyer and have quite a lot of lost power back

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

Thanks for all the advice and Howburn for the fuel system layout , I will install a Thermostart and get the compression and injectors tested . The starting is getting easier now the weather is a few degrees warmer . I managed to burn out yet another battery booster on the tractor , have fixed the present one three times already but think this time its had it as there were clouds of black smoke coming out the vents which I didnt notice until too late.