Vintage Tractor Engineer

Hi, I’m in the middle of rebuilding a 1957 35 with the 23c engine. I bought this as a non runner having had a engine rebuid kit fitted the previous owner failed to get the tractor going. After stripping the engine down again I found the trouble to be a ringset that was about half an inch too small had been fitted ( possibly out of a 20c?) any how I have fully rebuilt it from scratch and have used your DVD as a guideline which was most helpful. After this the engine purrs with no smoke and a lovely even tickover but is a swine to start. It takes 20 seconds of heat, try it with no luck, heat again, no luck but usualy on third attempt it will splutter on 2 cylinders then cough into life. I’ve adjusted the pump timing to where it starts the best. Any ideas what I could try next?Many Thanks, Powys, Wales.

VintageTractorEngineer says…..

Have the injectors been serviced? as that is a good place to start. There are 2 jets in the injectors, one is the running jet and the other is more effective during starting. The starting jets have a habbit of getting blocked or at least not working to full efficiency.

If they have been serviced, then have you also had the injector pump looked at? Worn injector pumps often do not produce sufficient fuel pressure fast enough under starting conditions.

Because the fuel filter element is containeed within a bowl, it is possible to run these engines without a fuel filter fitted. If a previous owner has ever done this then it is more likely that there will be problems with the injector pump hydraulic head. This device has two closely fitting, highly pollished components, which are a fuel tight fit to each other. As you can
imagine, the slightest bit of wear can make them leak considerably and hence cause a drop in fuel pressure.

When running, if it is timed up correctly then it should sound similar to any Peugeot diesel engine.

Only other thing is to make sure there are no sticking valves. You could take the rocker-cover off to check this.

Hope that helps,

VTE.

Hello there,

I have a MF35 with the 23C four-cylinder diesel engine. While these engines never started easily, this engine is getting particularly hard to start. I have heard that it is possible to fit a different starter motor, which turns the engine over faster than the original starter motor, and ths improves starting. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, what starter motor can be fitted?

Hi,

We’ve no first hand experience of changing the starter motor, but I’ve heard that the starter from a Ford 5000 fits. Maybee a better avenue to explore would be Sparex - I understand that they used to do a 3kW HD starter to fit the 23C engine.

VTE

How about increasing the compression?

 If you watch our DVD you’ll see that we had to skim a bit off the top of the
block (and the same amount off the pistons) because we had a problem with
liner standout. The net result of this is a reduction in the depth of the
relief in the top of the pistons, which produces a slight increase in the
compression ratio of the engine. This should aid the process of compression
ingition (hence improvements in starting).

Between 1946 and 1956 over 517,000 Ferguson TE 20 tractors were manufactured. We have information for serial numbers and model variants but there are loads of good sites that go into further detail. Friends of Ferguson Heritage is always a good starting point as they have lots of good articles and links to Ferguson sites & suppliers.

However, or favourite site is Ploughmyfield. This site follows the journey of Tim and his TEF 20 restoration over the past few years. Each time Tim solves a problem or sources a replacement part everything is recorded in his diary, including what the problem was and where he sourced the new parts from. When Tim hasn’t been able to get what he has needed, then he has manufactured it himself and he will supply some difficult to find parts.

Tim even used his TEF to arrive at the church on his wedding day. This site is a great read and no doubt there will be much more to come in the future. Now that VintageTractorEngineer has found Tim’s site we are regular readers and would recommend Ploughmyfield for any TE 20 enthusiasts.