The oil level on this Massey Ferguson 575 suddenly rose up the dipstick.

The oil hadn’t gone the milky/creamy colour consistent with water getting into the oil, but had become ‘thinner’ and had a slight smell of diesel.  Clearly diesel was entering the oil, but where was it coming from?

In this case the fuel lift pump was at fault and a replacement unit and an oil and filter change, the tractor was back to work.

Winter work for this 575 is handling the round bale silage feeder to roll out feed to the suckler herd.  This tractor once did all the ploughing and cultivating on this farm.  In 1960 a Ferguson TEF 20 was the main tractor, then came a MF35, MF165, MF168, then the MF575.  The 575 was a shift in driver comfort with a sprung seat, ‘Q’ cab, full cab glazing and a dedicated cab heater.  The cab could get very hot on summer days when performing tasks such as baling, where it was ideal to have all the windows closed to keep out the dust on long 10 hour days – starting as early as 10.30 am and sometimes baling right through to 8.45 when the dew started to come down.  Many of these days were spent with the side window open on the single door cab, or (if the wind was in the correct direction) with the door open to let in some cool fresh air.

Round bale silage feeder

Contented cows eating silage, after Vintage Tractor Engineer had repaired the 575

And here’s how to do it……

To time the injection pump when you don’t know any of the marks etc, you need to have the injection pump so that it is connected to the fuel supply and bled off to the injection pump. The 4 pipes to the injectors want to be upright, but not connected to the injectors. The drive to the pump does not want to be connected so that you can turn it by hand. Then turn the injection pump in the correct direction of rotation until the injector pipes all squirt fuel out in turn. Then observing number 1 injection pipe (the pipe that connects to the cylinder closest to the radiator), turn the injection pump until fuel comes out of number 1 pipe and then just does stop flowing (it may take a few revolutions of the pump until you are happy with the position). This is the spill cut-off point for number 1 cylinder. Look at the rotor with the letters on (without moving the pump drive) and see where/which letter is at the marker/groove (on a circlip??). That point will then be the reference to use for setting the injection timing. Next go back to the procedure in the DVD and apply your own observation (where we used the ‘G’ mark).

Next check that the injection pipes are arranged correctly. Bear in mind that the direction of rotation of the injection pump, the required firing order (1,3,4,2) and the consequential arrangement of the injection pipes to facilitate this. ie. That when you turn the injection pump by hand that the fuel comes out of the 4 pipes in the order of 1,3,4,2.

Then connect the injector pipes and try it. (Once it is running!!!!!!!!, try small adjustmens on the pump mounting flange slide to get improvements in running.

Regards,

Nigel

Hi Nigel,

If the engine isn’t using an excessive amount of oil then I would start by having a look at the fuel injection system.

Start by looking at the injection pump timing, then think about getting the injectors serviced. Check the fuel filters and the air filter.

It is not unknown for the heater plug device to drip fuel into the inlet manifold during periods of non use and cause all sorts of strange symptoms. You could check the manifold after a period of long rest and see if there is any fuel in the manifold.

If you don’t know how to check the injection pump set-up then let us know and I can explain it in detail.

Hope that has given you a few ideas,

VTE

Normally the fuel system consists of a tank followed by a glass sedimentary bowl, lift pump, one or more fuel filters, injection pump and then high pressure lines to each injector. There may also be a connection to a thermo-start device (manifold heater).

Make sure there is sufficient fuel in the tank and that the fuel taps are turned on (believe it or not this has been overlooked before!)
The first task to remove the air is to open the bleed screws on top of the filters and pump the lift pump until clean bubble free fuel is expelled. Close the bleed screws in turn, whilst maintaining a small fuel flow with the lift pump.
Next, identify and open the bleed screws on the injector pump (there may be more than one). Pump the lift pump until clean bubble free fuel is expelled and close the screws in turn as they run free of air.
Undo one or more injector pipes at the injector end. With the stop control in the run position and the throttle wide open, turn over the engine on the key until fuel can be seen pulsating from each pipe. The pipes can then be re-fitted.
If a thermo-start is fitted, the fuel line must be slackened and bled by pumping the lift pump.
The tractor is now ready to start. If you are unsuccessful, there may still be air in the system and the procedure must be repeated.
Beware, in step 3 the fuel is potentially under extreme pressure. There is a danger of the fuel entering the skin and causing blood poisoning.

An inability to bleed the system could be caused by any one or a combination of the following.

• Blocked pipes
• Blocked filters
• Inoperative lift pump
• Frozen or waxed fuel
• Split suction pipes allowing air in
• Damaged injector pump
• Sheared injector pump drive

Sometimes it is necessary to turn the engine to a different postition to allow manual operation of the lift pump.

Watch a video of how to bleed a tractor fuel system in the window below.

If your internet connection will not run this video, then see how to bleed the fuel system here.

Robert has now sent us a link to the French site where there is information on these pumps.  It’s available from this MF835 page.