MF 35 Diesel Tractor

[AUSDOK]

Hi I have bought this tractor with a 23c engine. I have looked in the manual re oils .Sorry about the  dumb question ,but it says fill the transmission with transmission oil. this is the same for the steering box, but what grade oil should I use. I have had it running after a long period of neglect and am doing all the needed servicing. including the injectors the filters and hoses, putting on a recon dynamo and rebuilding the regulator , and rewiring. cheers Rudy

[Combustor]

            If your transmission shares oil with the hydraulics then it may use one of those "universal" tractor oils that were supposed to be good for engines as well. It is somewhat thinner than the 85/140 type trans oils that were EP (extreme pressure) rated for hypoid diffs etc.  BP made something called Tractor Oil Universal or TOU and Caterpillar have Trans and Drivetrain Oil (TDTO).
          Not sure I would run TOU in a diesel engine, but I guess on some farms any oil beats none. Stick to multigrade diesel oil in the engine.    Sure someone here will have a full service manual with correct data for your model. Regards,
Combustor.

[cobbadog]

Given the approximate age of the MF35 I would think that standard Dexron Auto Fluid would be the go. Wasn't many choices back then, it was about the only Auto Fluid oil around. I would use Gulf Western Diesel Oil in the engine. I use it in a few of the old engines and in our 1991 truck engine and find it works a treat. It is a general purpose oil.

[AUSDOK]

Thanks for the replies, I will get back to it on Thursday. I am advised to initially put a detergent oil in the engine as  a flush and then change the filter again. I am waiting for the new injector needles to arrive and the I can pressure wash the engine to see where I am at. There is a little water in the transmission as there is no covers on the gear sticks ,so after warming it up I will also drain and replace the oil. A work in progress. Cheers Rudy

[wee-allis]

Hi Rudy and others,

I use Castrol Super Tractor oil in many of these earlier tractors. It is formulated for both the engine and transmission/hydraulics. It works well and I am confident enough to use it in customers tractors, without worry.

Massey Ferguson/ AGCO put out a similar oil to use in most of their modern tractors. I forget what they call it.

When you drain the transmission, don't forget to drain all three compartments, as they are linked.

Good luck with the project. I've just finished, (yesterday), an engine rebuild and tranny service on a FE35 like yours. A good old machine, despite the previous owner having fitted a FEL from a TEA. Bloody ugly and bloody useless.

Cheers, Steve.

[AUSDOK]

Hi Steve what is the best way to drain all 3 transmission  compartments please. cheers Rudy

[wee-allis]

Hi Rudy,

There is one drain plug approximately under the left hand rear axle trumpet, another under the centre of the main transmission and the third further forward, approximately in line with the centre of the steering box. If you drain all three,  all of the old oil will be removed.

When refilling, it is just necessary to fill through the large plug hole to the left of the main gear stick.  The oil will find it's way to all three compartments.

Re your earlier post,  I would be reluctant to put a high detergent oil in any old engine, as it will loosen old deposits and pump it through your oil pump, bearings, and other components. This can cause more damage than leaving things alone. Experience tells. I would recommend just using a good quality oil, run it for a while, then drain and replace it along with a new filter.

Just my thoughts and many may beg to differ.

Cheers, Steve.

[cobbadog]

I have seen a detergent oil work so well in cleaning up old carbon deposits that it ruined the engine. Lost a lot of compression. Stick with what has been suggested by Steve.

[AUSDOK]

Hi started the engine yesterday ,It has not been up to temp for about 2~3 years.  The new injector nozzles are working well. The oil pressure unit was disconnected and after   putting on a new one the oil pressure at idle was 40 and on revs went to 80. I understand there is a pressure relieve valve on the oil pump .Which way is this adjusted to open the bypass valve earlier.  Cheers Rudy

[wee-allis]

Hi Rudy,

The by-pass valve and the pressure relief valve are two seperate items. The by-pass valve is located inside the filter housing where it mounts onto the block. The relief valve is on the outside top rear of the housing.

When adjusted correctly, there should be 8-10 threads exposed above the lock nut. To reduce pressure, loosen the lock nut and wind the screw out.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Steve.

[AUSDOK]

Thanks Steve will look at it again on Thursday for a bit more muddling . Cheers Rudy

[AUSDOK]

I am slowly progressing on the tractor .I think i will do a compression test after running th engine up to temperature for a while.? What would be a acceptable compression reading. Cheers Rudy

[wee-allis]

Hi Rudy,

The compression ratio on the 23C engine is listed as 20-1, or about 294psi.

Cheers, Steve.

[AUSDOK]

Thanks Steve ,Got the engine running yesterday for about 1 hr to get it to temp.It restarted several times with no problems, after being warm. On the fuel pump side of things the timing mark should be the letter G . I have set the flywheel so that a 1/4" bolt fits into the timing slot and the mark on the pump is C a long way away from G . Any ideas please.  Cheers Rudy

[wee-allis]

Hi Rudy,

With regard to your pump timing, "C" is 180 deg opposite "G" and a DPA pump cannot be assembled 180 out. This would indicate that you are timing on the wrong stroke.

Rotate the engine 360 degrees and then check your mark again. It should then read true.

On the other hand, I recently had a B275 Inter tractor which had a pump from a Perkins adapted to fit, by reversing the rotation within the pump.  This was required as the perkins has an extra idler in the timing gears, which reverses the pump drive.  The correct timing mark "E" was nowhere to be seen and it lined up on "H". That one took some sorting out but once done, it runs well.

Cheers,
Steve.