[AT] Diesel mechanic in Pittsburgh?

ken knierim wild1 at cpe-66-1-196-61.az.sprintbbd.net
Wed Sep 7 20:00:53 PDT 2005


On Wed, 2005-09-07 at 09:09, Ken Burner wrote:
>     I have a JD 400 TLB that's been sitting for ~6 years, which I'd like to 
> get running.  Can anyone recommend a good diesel mechanic in the 
> Pittsburgh, PA, area suitable for this project?
>     Thanks!
> 
> 
> Ken
> 


Hi Ken,
    Do you have any idea what the condition of it might be? My Dad
thought his Massey 97 (Minneapolis G705 diesel in Massey paint; this one
has the front wheel assist axle) was beyond hope because it had been
sitting where a flood went through and had been there for a LONG time
(10+ years). I walked out there with him and popped the fuel tank open
to have a look. The tank had pressure in it and the fuel smelled good.
Drained a couple drops of water out of the filter and good fuel came
out. Checked the engine oil and it was black (no water... very good
sign). He put a battery on it, rolled it over and fired it up. It ran
about a day before it quit. The transfer pump seems to have plugged up;
I suspect that the rubber hose between the filter and the main pump went
bad and it may have got junk in the system. Don't know, he decided it
was a little primitive for his weak shoulder (power steering on those
things left a bit to be desired) so he got a newer tractor.

Gist of it is that with a bit of maintenance (change the filters, hoses,
oil, coolant and such) might get you a long way toward a running tractor
unless there is something major wrong in the engine. These tractors were
designed to be worked on and maintained by farmers and hired folks that
may not have had a degree in diesel engine repair. Check it out and see.
If you have water in the injector pump or crankcase, that might be a
kill shot. Water in the cylinders breaking things is also bad. But most
of the rest can be done inexpensively to get it running and at least
establish where you are before you spend too much on it.

Hope this helps!

Ken





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