Problem - Engine run with low oil level

jimmy G M

Not good. Brother had tractor out on a run delivering stone. Dipstick came up a little on the road and engine began to blow oil up the dipstick. He never noticed and when he came back to yard, no oil showing on the dipstick and it required at least 10L of oil to bring it up to required level. :eek:

Since then the tractor has been dripping oil down the breather pipe pretty heavily and needs about 5l of oil a week to keep up the level.

I also feel I am hearing a slight knock from the engine especially after start-up. Engine starts no bother, no increase in smoke from engine.

What's potentially wrong here? Rings bucked? Potentially piston/bearing damage?

I just want to have an idea so I can figure figure which garage to bring it to for repairs.

Tractor is MF 4255, circa 3500 hours.

White Clover

jimmy G M wrote: »

Not good. Brother had tractor out on a run delivering stone. Dipstick came up a little on the road and engine began to blow oil up the dipstick. He never noticed and when he came back to yard, no oil showing on the dipstick and it required at least 10L of oil to bring it up to required level. :eek:

Since then the tractor has been dripping oil down the breather pipe pretty heavily and needs about 5l of oil a week to keep up the level.



I also feel I am hearing a slight knock from the engine especially after start-up. Engine starts no bother, no increase in smoke from engine.

What's potentially wrong here? Rings bucked? Potentially piston/bearing damage?

I just want to have an idea so I can figure figure which garage to bring it to for repairs.

Tractor is MF 4255, circa 3500 hours.

I'd say you have it figured jimmy.
I reckon there wasn't much oil left in it if it took 10L to top up. There's not a big sump in them

DACC

Set of ends and mains as long as crank and rods ok,probably broke a ring or 2,so set of rings if liners ok.do it ASAP before it leaves u stranded

smokey-fitz

jimmy G M wrote: »

Not good. Brother had tractor out on a run delivering stone. Dipstick came up a little on the road and engine began to blow oil up the dipstick. He never noticed and when he came back to yard, no oil showing on the dipstick and it required at least 10L of oil to bring it up to required level. :eek:

Since then the tractor has been dripping oil down the breather pipe pretty heavily and needs about 5l of oil a week to keep up the level.

I also feel I am hearing a slight knock from the engine especially after start-up. Engine starts no bother, no increase in smoke from engine.

What's potentially wrong here? Rings bucked? Potentially piston/bearing damage?

I just want to have an idea so I can figure figure which garage to bring it to for repairs.

Tractor is MF 4255, circa 3500 hours.

Cant see a problem with the rings or piston if its not blowing blue smoke. And its starting easy would suggest the compression is ok. The fact its dripping from the breather would be a sign of building up pressure in the crankcase, and whatever might be causing that probably was the cause of the dipstick being pushed out under pressure. Id think there could be a port or feed pipe blocked or something.

Also the 4 pot perkins in the 4255 only holds 6.5lts of oil so if its taking 10lts thats a problem in itself. So if your over filling it, its going to come out somewhere and build up alot of crankcase pressure.

dzer2

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Cant see a problem with the rings or piston if its not blowing blue smoke. And its starting easy would suggest the compression is ok. The fact its dripping from the breather would be a sign of building up pressure in the crankcase, and whatever might be causing that probably was the cause of the dipstick being pushed out under pressure. Id think there could be a port or feed pipe blocked or something.

Also the 4 pot perkins in the 4255 only holds 6.5lts of oil so if its taking 10lts thats a problem in itself. So if your over filling it, its going to come out somewhere and build up alot of crankcase pressure.

I would get the dipstick checked for being the right one as well Place I worked in got new forklift with wrong level marked on dip stick was always throwing out oil until a rather experienced service guy turned up and rang the supplier from germany who took the chassis number and was able to tell him what the problem was.

jimmy G M

Thanks for responses lads.

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Id think there could be a port or feed pipe blocked or something.

How would I check this smokey? I remember a few years ago, our MF 390T putting a bit of oil down the breather pipe, changed the air filter, problem solved. Air filter in the the 4255 is clear.

jimmy G M

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Also the 4 pot perkins in the 4255 only holds 6.5lts of oil so if its taking 10lts thats a problem in itself.

Ok, didn't know how much oil it olds, so I guess I was wrong on the amount of oil I put in. My bad. I have a can I use to fill oil into engines when I change the oil. I know aprox how much oil I need in the container to refill engine when I change the oil. I needed aprox 2/3 of that amount, so aprox 4 of oil to refill. Means that the engine was running on 1/3 required oil level for possibly 30 mins.

grassroot1

Mine went the same way in the spring(MF4255 1998) little end bearing and 2 cam rods 3000 euro to get fixed hope yours is not the same.

jimmy G M

grassroot1 wrote: »

Mine went the same way in the spring(MF4255 1998) little end bearing and 2 cam rods 3000 euro to get fixed hope yours is not the same.

What hours were up on yours when this happened? I am but disappointed with our machine giving trouble at 3500 hours, to be honest. It does no hard work, just tipping about,feeding & handling bales. There's a 390t here with the equivalent of 10,000 hours on it and not a bother.

smokey-fitz

jimmy G M wrote: »

Thanks for responses lads.



How would I check this smokey? I remember a few years ago, our MF 390T putting a bit of oil down the breather pipe, changed the air filter, problem solved. Air filter in the the 4255 is clear.

Only oil pipes you could do yourself are external pipes, also the oil filter (could be blocked). The rest are internal ports that would need a strip down. Check all the breather pipes too. A blocked breather pipe can cause excess pressure. Should be another breather from the cam cover to the air intake. Ill take a look on my 4355 tomorrow and see if there could be anything else.

If a small end or big end bearing is gone you will hear a definite knock. And either one will get worse quite quickly. But neither of them should be causing the extra pressure in the crankcase. If a ring was broke or worn you would have the excess pressure but should be burning oil(blue smoke) also, and harder to start. So hopefully its one of the simpler things.

jimmy G M

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Only oil pipes you could do yourself are external pipes, also the oil filter (could be blocked). The rest are internal ports that would need a strip down. Check all the breather pipes too. A blocked breather pipe can cause excess pressure. Should be another breather from the cam cover to the air intake. Ill take a look on my 4355 tomorrow and see if there could be anything else.

If a small end or big end bearing is gone you will hear a definite knock. And either one will get worse quite quickly. But neither of them should be causing the extra pressure in the crankcase. If a ring was broke or worn you would have the excess pressure but should be burning oil(blue smoke) also, and harder to start. So hopefully its one of the simpler things.

Thx Smokey, oil filters was changed in April, so it's hardly that............. Unless its the wrong one.

smokey-fitz

Had a look at mine this morning, only the one breather on them. Taught there was a 2nd. The only oil pipes you could really check are the ones coming off the oil filter housing but its doubtful they would block.

Id say the best thing to do is to ring your dealer/mechanic and see what he thinks. At worst id say you will need new rings. On mine the rings are worn and it puts out a nice bit of blue smoke, odd drop out the breather but nothing major, id top up with 1l of oil once every 2 or 3 months. Another possibility could be a damaged valve, if its not seating properly or slightly bent it could be causing the extra pressure.

Carrigogunnell

I have a 4270 here blowing serious oil out the breather always has since bought 4 yrs ago. She's not using oil just blowing it out as such could use up to a drum in between services every 300 hrs. Plenty of power tho and starts on the button