# Massey Ferguson 85 issues



## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

I've recently purchased a MF85 to help maintain pastures, mostly for brush hogging duties. The tractor looked good and was advertised as "work ready". The gauges were not operating properly, so I purchased a set of gauges for it and got them installed this evening. My biggest concern is the oil pressure, when at idle, the gauge barely come off of the needle stop, when the engine is reved, the oil pressure is still in the red zone. When I did the service on the tractor, I did not see any metal particles in the oil, So i don't think there is any damage, but I would like to see that needle in the green zone.

2. The tach cable was not hooked up, and I cant seem to find where it plugs into on the engine.

The engine is a continental HD277 Diesel


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

I DONT KNOW PERSONALLY BUT A QUICK SEARCH ON GOOGEL SHOWED, A complete service tear down/rebuild manual for 38.00.. probably the best investment you can make.. good luck..


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

Howdy LCR, welcome to the tractor forum.

I would drain the oil out of the engine, drop the pan and check the pump and the relief valve on the pump (could have a broken spring on the relief valve). Also check for disconnected lube lines.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

thepumpguysc said:


> I DONT KNOW PERSONALLY BUT A QUICK SEARCH ON GOOGEL SHOWED, A complete service tear down/rebuild manual for 38.00.. probably the best investment you can make.. good luck..


Yeah, I bought the owners manual for it and I purchased the shop manual for it as well. I was very disappointed with both. The shop manual showed zero information on the wiring of the tractor, which would have been handy in replacing the gauges.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

sixbales said:


> Howdy LCR, welcome to the tractor forum.
> 
> I would drain the oil out of the engine, drop the pan and check the pump and the relief valve on the pump (could have a broken spring on the relief valve). Also check for disconnected lube lines.


Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm very apprehensive to tear into it that much, that seems like a pretty serious en devour.


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## sixbales (May 18, 2011)

LCR,

You cannot continue to run the engine without oil pressure or you will ruin it. Maybe your oil pressure sending unit or oil pressure gauge are defective?


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

I think before getting too carried away working on the engine, I would try a temporary gauge setup in place of your current unit. One with numbers not just colored ranges. Once you have actual numbers, that may tell a different story.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

sixbales said:


> LCR,
> 
> You cannot continue to run the engine without oil pressure or you will ruin it. Maybe your oil pressure sending unit or oil pressure gauge are defective?


It's a mechanical pressure gauge, it has a copper tube of oil that runs from the engine to the gauge. The line is wet with oil, so it is getting some oil. The gauge is brand new and it does show some pressure, so the gauge is working it seems. It's just that the gauge is only showing the bare minimum of oil pressure.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

Fedup said:


> I think before getting too carried away working on the engine, I would try a temporary gauge setup in place of your current unit. One with numbers not just colored ranges. Once you have actual numbers, that may tell a different story.


That's a pretty decent idea, make sure it's a an engine issue and remove all doubt that its the current gauge set up.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

Last Chance Ranch said:


> That's a pretty decent idea, make sure it's a an engine issue and remove all doubt that its the current gauge set up.


Well I went out and purchased another gauge and hooked it up, with it's own fittings and it's own hose, same thing, engine shows 2-3 psi at idle and less than ten when at operating speeds.


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## VT_IH250 (Apr 10, 2017)

dropping the oil pan is not that big of a deal and you might get lucky that the pick up tube is loose in the pump. That's definitely not enough pressure and you're sure to wipe a bearing if you keep running it like that, especially under any load. Better to do a little work now than have to rebuild the whole engine not far down the road. 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tractor Forum mobile app


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## BigT (Sep 15, 2014)

I agree, dropping the pan is not a big deal......and you cannot keep running with virtually no oil pressure.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

BigT said:


> I agree, dropping the pan is not a big deal......and you cannot keep running with virtually no oil pressure.


I totally agree, right now I'm trying to work with the dealership that sold me the tractor, the add said "work ready".


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

I got a hold of the dealer and we worked it out, I'll be keeping the tractor and he gave me a partial refund. I did drop the oil pan and found nothing that would indicate as to why the oil pressure is so low, I did find a few drops of coolant in the pan as well. Dang, looks like this old girl needs a lot of help. Head gaskets here I come.


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## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Headgaskets? Maybe at some point, but what's the plan for addressing the oil pressure question? The pan is off and you still don't see a reason for the low pressure? The few drops of coolant certainly didn't cause it.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

Im going to have somebody look at it, you can get a oil pump rebuild kit so I'll see what they say. Head gasket must be bad with coolant in the oil, those are pretty easy to find. The head could also be warped or have a hairline crack, but hopefully not.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

Most of that series Continental diesels came with a "floating" oil screen. Check the pivot for the screen head.


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

RC Wells said:


> Most of that series Continental diesels came with a "floating" oil screen. Check the pivot for the screen head.


I gave the oil pick up a tug and it was nice and tight with a clean screen head.


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

CONGRATS on getting money BACK from the "stealer".. THATS no easy feat.. you must be a heck of a negotiator ?? Good luck on your repair.. TPG


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## Last Chance Ranch (Aug 27, 2017)

thepumpguysc said:


> CONGRATS on getting money BACK from the "stealer".. THATS no easy feat.. you must be a heck of a negotiator ?? Good luck on your repair.. TPG


Thank you, the money that I got back should come close to getting me the parts that I need, but it will certainly not cover the time and labor that I will incur.


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## flagman12ron (May 16, 2021)

Last Chance Ranch said:


> I've recently purchased a MF85 to help maintain pastures, mostly for brush hogging duties. The tractor looked good and was advertised as "work ready". The gauges were not operating properly, so I purchased a set of gauges for it and got them installed this evening. My biggest concern is the oil pressure, when at idle, the gauge barely come off of the needle stop, when the engine is reved, the oil pressure is still in the red zone. When I did the service on the tractor, I did not see any metal particles in the oil, So i don't think there is any damage, but I would like to see that needle in the green zone.
> 
> 2. The tach cable was not hooked up, and I cant seem to find where it plugs into on the engine.
> 
> The engine is a continental HD277 Diesel


on the gas engines of your model the tach cable attaches to the back of the generator providing it has not been changed or upgraded to an alternator. i saw one of the replies said dropping the pan is not too bad just heavy and he is right sounds like a good idea to find out what is going on there. good luck those tractors are beasts and good. ron


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