# MF 35 Continental troubles



## nate_838 (Jul 19, 2012)

Hi there,

I'm new to old tractors and fixing them, and I would love some advice from people who have experience in this area.

I have a 1961 MF 35 Deluxe with the Continental engine that we got to do some brush mowing.

I have two main issues:
#1 - The engine runs rough, lacks power, and backfires.
When I pull the spark plug wire off of each cylinder while it is running it runs worse on all of them except the #2 cylinder. That one makes no difference. I have swapped spark plugs, swapped spark plug wires. I know it is sending power down that wire, because I pulled it off too slowly and got shocked a few times. The plug has large amounts of carbon buildup on it, and when I clean it it fouls up almost immediately with "clumps" on the end. Also it appears to be burning oil, and there appears to be a fair bit of air/oil blowing out of the valve cover vent, especially when it is working hard.

#2 - Leaking engine oil from clutch cover
The clutch cover was missing when I bought the tractor, and when just puttering around it was not losing much oil, but when I took it out into the bush and started putting it to work I used probably 2 liters of oil in a couple hours, and when I brought it back to the shop it was leaking quite badly from that clutch plate hole. Once I shut it off the leaking slowed, and eventually stopped. It has not affected the clutch at all (if that offers a clue) but I am losing so much oil the tractor is almost unusable

I have heard that it could be the oil pan seal, or the crankshaft seal. I was wondering what your opinions are, and if there is a way to split the tractor without a hoist?

Thanks in advance for your advice and time!


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## deerhide (Oct 20, 2016)

The block is probably cracked between cylinders 2 and 3.......you can fix it with some of that 2 part stuff. A homemade rig to pipe in a negative pressure on the engine will stop those oil leaks......maybe.


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