The pulley that fits on the front of my crankshaft on my big tractor came apart, and hard pieces of rubber came out of it. Some of it went through the radiator. Why is the rubber in the pulley? How can I keep this from happening again?
The heavy round piece that fits on the front of your engine (or a pulley mount) is called a dampener. The rubber that couples it together is designed to help the engine absorb the shock of each explosion in the cylinder that begins the power stroke. The rubber in your dampener became brittle and allowed the assembly to separate. The dampener really should be changed at each overhaul or around 5,000 hours of operation. Here's a tip: If an engine ever breaks the crankshaft toward the front of the engine for no apparent reason, it could be because the rubber in the dampener became hard and could not flex.
I'm having occasional problems with a stopped-up fuel line on my diesel tractor. I bought the tractor new two years ago. Sometimes I get little black pieces in the fuel lines and connections before the fuel filter.
I don't have this problem with my older tractors. Where is that black stuff coming from?
I had this problem on my personal tractor. When the manufacturer drilled the holes in your polyethylene tank to install your fuel lines, sending unit and other parts, small drilled pieces fell into the tank all the time. In fact, new fuel tank debris has been such a problem that some manufacturers have added a "clean-out" hole in the bottom of the tank. Your problem will go away in time.
When my tractor has not been started in a while, the battery dies. The battery is not that old; however, it is placed on the tractor where the top of the battery stays dirty. Can a dirty battery top cause a drain on my battery?
A dirty battery top can cause a continuous drain on your battery. Always try to keep battery tops clean. To check for drain, remove the ground cable from the battery. Connect a volt meter to the negative post and a good ground, like the frame of the tractor. This reading will allow you to see your continuous drain through the debris on top of the battery.
Exactly what is the firing order of an engine, and what does that mean? I have a John Deere tractor and a Ford tractor—both with 4-cylinder engines. The firing order of the John Deere is 1, 3, 4, 2; and the Ford is 1, 2, 4, 3. How can the same number of cylinders have different firing orders?
This is possible because the four strokes of a 4-stroke-cycle engine are controlled by the valves, not the pistons. In other words, when the piston comes up—whether it is on the compression or exhaust stroke—is totally controlled by the valves. Notice that the firing order, although different on your engines, alternates from a piston that is up to a piston that is down. On a 4-cylinder engine, pistons 1 and 4 are up at the same time (one piston ending the exhaust stroke and the other beginning the power stroke) pistons 2 and 4 are down.
Remember, it takes two revolutions—or 720 degrees—of the crankshaft on a 4-stroke-cycle engine to complete a cycle of intake, compression, power and exhaust. This allows a 4-cylinder engine to fire every 180 degrees of flywheel rotation.
A Note from Steve.
The November column about welding magnetized pipe created much discussion—from those not knowing pipe could become magnetized and difficult to weld to many pros who had "been there, done that."
All in all, I believe the readers with whom I have corresponded have reported they can now weld their magnetized pipe. Many readers thought the reason they could not weld the pipe was due to rust.
As a refresher, here are the recommendations of the pros when it comes to welding magnetized pipe:
- Weld using an AC machine.
- Wrap the ground lead around the pipe several times.
- Weld with 7018, 8018 or 9018 rods.
Experimenting with a number of wraps of ground lead and trying different rods—plus gaining experience—is key.