[AT] Ford 4000 Quitting Afer Running a While

[SZakaluk at aol.com]

I agree with Charlie Hill that this is likely a fuel problem.  My  Ferguson 
TO-20 does the same thing, sputtering and quitting after running a  while.  
Here, it's caused by particles of rust in the fuel tank that block  the 
flow of fuel to the carb.  If I change the fuel shutoff valve to  reserve, wh
ich moves the fuel flow to a different hole in the valve, the engine  smooths 
out.
 
Steve Zakaluk
Falcon Co
1951 TO-20
 
 


Subject:  [AT] Ford 4000 Quitting Afer Running a While

The shooting club I belong  to has a Ford 4000 which is having "issues".  
I'm 
not sure where to  start trying to narrow it down.  This is the newer 
version 
with the 3  cyl. gas engine, not the early one which looks like a beefed up 
N  
Series.  We use it, with a 6 foot bushhog, to keep the weed/brush  growth 
down on several acres of old pasture land around the club  grounds.  I get 
along with it as it is the right age, even if it is  an off brand(Ford was 
never real popular around here).  Nobody else  really cares to operate it 
as 
it is a bit of a clubfoot and is not a shiny  compact tractor.

I starts fine and runs good for the first 1-2  hours.  Then it starts to 
stumble and over a few minutes gets worse  until it dies completely. 
Sometimes it will restart immediately and run  (barely) for a few seconds, 
at 
other times it won't restart without  sitting 30-45 minutes.  After that 
rest 
period it will again run  normally but for a shorter time, continuing that 
sequence until It won't  run at all until completely cooled down.

When it starts stumbling I can  usually notice the difference in engine 
note. 
If I catch it in time I find  I can take the load off it, close the 
throttle 
to barely above idle and,  by playing with the choke, manage to limp it 
back 
to the barn.

It  doesn't backfire when it acts up, if it was going lean I would expect 
it  
to belch and bellow.  If the ignition was cutting out completely,  then 
kicking back in I would also expect a horrendous backfire from  unburned 
fuel 
filling the exhaust and then getting lit off.

Since I  am always alone when I'm working it I don't have anyone around to 
help in  trying to troubleshoot the thing.  Unless I am constantly playing  
with the choke it dies, there is no pulling the choke partway and having  
it 
continue to run.

One thing that may be relevant or not is that  this thing has the 
absolutely 
harsh exhaust fumes I have ever been exposed  to.  Terrible eye irritating 
stuff.  I added some to the stack  so it is quite a bit higher than my head 
and I'm still coming home with my  eyes so irritated that I often have to 
pull my eyelids part manually when  awakening the morning after a hogging 
session.

Anyone have any  ideas?  If you want more information ask any questions and 
I'll  answer them as fully as I can.

As for taking it to a shop, it is really  hard now to find anyone who knows 
diddly about carburetors and spark  ignition.  Because it only acts up 
after 
being worked for a while I'm  not sure how viable it would be to get it 
into 
a shop.  Now that I  think about it I may well let it run at high idle and 
see if it craps out  without a load.  If it does that would make getting it 
to a shop a  bit more practical.

Al  Nadeau