# Ford 4000 Mysterious leak



## mjp9348 (Jun 9, 2014)

Hellooooo Everyone ! Hope everyone is having a wonderful/day and or night

I have a interesting issue that I am not sure on what to do . I have a ford 4000 industrial , has a backhoe on it . This tractor has sat for a number of years , now I was told 2 years but in reality probably 5 years . I picked this thing up for the price of scrap metal with hopes to get it running . 

Long story short after all the trails and tribulations getting it home , I was told the gas tank leaked , pulled it all apart mucked out the diesel slug out of the system , new battery few other odds and ends , started turning it over and of course , nothing wont bleed to cav pump (I think I need to rebuild it , another issue) 

While im cranking its bleeding out of a weep hole lack of better terms out of the bell crank housing , its radiator fluid , I was in denial , but face the facts it is . I take the radiator cap off and your hear a suction POP and the fluid starts gargling, but it does not appear to be losing fluid out of the radiator . When the cap is off and I am turning it over it doesn't bleed fluid anymore out that hole . I do not see any radiator fluid in the oil pan or on the dipstick , but it is over filled with oil , and I thought well maybe it is in the pan , but its not milky or real watery . I looked around the engine to see if there is any leaks and I cannot seem to find any visible leaks , its just coming out of that pee hole . Any help , comments or suggestions would really be much appreciated . thank you very much .


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## Harvey_W (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi mjp9348,

Welcome to the Ford/New Holland tractor forum. 

The weep hole in the bottom of the bell housing normally has a cotter key sticking out of it. Is this the one you are referring to?? There are two core plugs (freeze plugs) in back of the block inside the bell housing. One is behind the flywheel. They develop rust holes and leak. There is another core plug in the back of the head. Requires a split of the tractor to replace these plugs. 

You might consider trying some stop leak in the cooling system if it's only a small leak. I've used Bars Stop Leak with some success in other applications. 

If you replace the core plugs, use permatex or RTV silicone sealant on the new ones to be sure they don't leak. 

Surely, you can get fuel to the injection pump?? There is a filter in the pump that may need attention. See item #11 on the attached parts diagram.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

First of all you need to always mention whether you have an early - 62-65 4 cylinder 4000 or a later 65-75 3 cylinder 4000.
They are completely different animals.
That said, if you have a 3 cylinder model And, depending on what year it is the leaking antifreeze is likely caused by a rusted out soft plug in the block behind the flywheel.


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## mjp9348 (Jun 9, 2014)

Hi everyone , Ultradog I am sorry I didn't touch base on that . Its a 1966 model 4000 4cyl diesel 

I learned this morning about the filter in the cav pump , I am sure that is what the problem is with the cav pump , Ive pulled all the lines and had to muck out all the sludge in them when I was redoing the whole tractor diesel system , I didn't want to touch that pump due to the schematics I have been looking at . 

As far as the plugs go on the back of the block , I will definitely have to look into that , I bet that is exactly what it is , I guess the million dollar question is would you still use the stop leak ? Or it a must to split the tractor , It sounds like a pretty big job , I don't know , never had to split them before . I do have access to 10ton jack stands and a skidloader . 

I wanted to say thank you to guys I really appreciate the help and honestly you took a lot of worry and frustration out of my mind with these possible ideas !


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## PeteNM (Sep 18, 2003)

Just remember with all diesel engines, every fuel part must be and stay clean. Dirt and air will take any brand down. If a system has any air or dirt in it, probably it's not going to run. Some are easier to prime and get the air out so it will run but they all will. No dirt, ice, water or anything else is ever tolerated.

Soft plugs are a bit more forgiving, and you've gotten some good advice on how to handle that. A treatment of stop leak will give you time to try the machine and see how it operates all around. If it's a good machine you may want to replace them, as they aren't likely to heal. Sounds like you have jack stands and a lifting mechanism so don't be afraid to dive in and fix it up. Let us know how it goes and good luck.....


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