# 76’ 4430 tick and blow by



## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

I was pulling my batwing today with my 4430. Wasnt working the tractor at all as I was just clipping some weeds. Then I heard a ticking noise about like it was low on oil. So I stopped and let the oil run down to the pan and then checked it. Oil level was fine. So I started it back up and there was no tick so I went back to it. Started hearing the tick again so I stopped and idled down and I saw blow by out of the bottom right window. Every older diesel has a little bit of blow by of course but this was new and a fair amount, enough to be concerning. Went back and parked it. I let it cool down and a little later I went back out to start it and listen to it. I couldn’t hear a tick and there was no blow by. Seems as it’s only happening when it’s at operating temp. Any help would be appreciated because I’ve been told by several people that theirs “went out the same way”. Scary words!


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Crankcase blowby is normally caused by worn piston rings, cyl head valves not seating correctly or coolant entering crankcase via faulty cyl head or gasket. Has tractor been overheated when operated? Ticking noise could be engine valve out of correct adjustment. I suggest to check cyl head valve clearances.check #s of compression on each cylinder. With engine cold start engine with rad cap removed look into rad neck for bubbles in coolant which would indicate failed head gasket or cracked cyl head.


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Tx Jim said:


> Crankcase blowby is normally caused by worn piston rings, cyl head valves not seating correctly or coolant entering crankcase via faulty cyl head or gasket. Has tractor been overheated when operated? Ticking noise could be engine valve out of correct adjustment. I suggest to check cyl head valve clearances.check #s of compression on each cylinder. With engine cold start engine with rad cap removed look into rad neck for bubbles in coolant which would indicate failed head gasket or cracked cyl head.


I just bought this tractor back in December so I can't tell you too much about it. But yeah it was fine the day before and then I use it today and it's like it flipped a switch! Thank you I'll check it out today


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## Farmerbrown2 (Sep 25, 2018)

I’m wondering if you have a broken piston ring happened to us once on a 4020. Small tapping noise that went away with increased blow by. Ours went down on a Friday evening Deere had an overhaul kit here by Wednesday and we had it running again by Saturday morning only down 7 Days.


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Farmerbrown2 said:


> I'm wondering if you have a broken piston ring happened to us once on a 4020. Small tapping noise that went away with increased blow by. Ours went down on a Friday evening Deere had an overhaul kit here by Wednesday and we had it running again by Saturday morning only down 7 Days.


Man I was thinking about that! It sounds like it's coming from the front of the engine like a single cylinder. The thing is it only starts the ticking when it gets warmed up good. It never really stops the ticking throughout the rpm range. To describe what it sounds like you could say it sounds like an engine with timing advanced too much which makes valves chattery. That's the best way I can describe it. Not saying it's valves. Just how it sounds


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Nalley

I'll suggest to get engine to operating temp then disconnect the frt hyd pump drive coupler. I've seen these couplers after they get worn make different sounds. This would be a good time to install new bushings(R45822 @ $2.37 ea)


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Tx Jim said:


> Nalley
> I'll suggest to get engine to operating temp then disconnect the frt hyd pump drive coupler. I've seen these couplers after they get worn make different sounds. This would be a good time to install new bushings(R45822 @ $2.37 ea)[/size]


Oh how I wish that's what it is.... But it's definitely engine related. Blow by is getting worse


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## newholland650 (Apr 20, 2015)

How bad is the blow by? My 4230 has a good amount of blow by but runs out fine


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

newholland650 said:


> How bad is the blow by? My 4230 has a good amount of blow by but runs out fine


My 44 used to have hardly none and then that day everything started it's like it flipped a switch and it's got a fair amount now. It starts the blow by about 2 minutes after I start it up. Here is a video of it. Not sure if you can tell on camera or not but it's there

https://youtube.com/shorts/lERFYMZesUg?feature=share

I'm not noticing the tick as much anymore but the blow by is there. In the video it's coming up from the blow by tube and rising around the side of the engine


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I've witnessed several used tractors that the engine had what I'd consider excessive blowby but still didn't use an excessive amount of oil.


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Tx Jim said:


> I've witnessed several used tractors that the engine had what I'd consider excessive blowby but still didn't use an excessive amount of oil.


Oh for sure I have too. But the thing I'm worried about is one day it had hardly none and literally the next day it's all smoky. I'm just gonna run it honestly.....


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## newholland650 (Apr 20, 2015)

You don’t wanna work around mine when it’s idling it’ll smoke you out but it’s been like that for years and doesn’t use a drop of oil. 9700 hours. In the video that don’t look that bad to me. Mines about like that


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

newholland650 said:


> You don't wanna work around mine when it's idling it'll smoke you out but it's been like that for years and doesn't use a drop of oil. 9700 hours. In the video that don't look that bad to me. Mines about like that


I don't mind the blow by for real it's just like. Why did it start that the next day out of nowhere? Just odd. I'm gonna run the darn thing though. It's got 8200 hours so a rebuild is in the future sometime somewhere so may aswell just do it once and be done lol. Yeah I hear ya though. It's a little worse in person but it's not "terrible". I have absolutely seen worse


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

I’d keep a sharp eye on it if you are running it. Sudden increase in blow by and some unusual engine noise can be an indicator of a piston/cylinder scoring incident.


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Gearclash said:


> I'd keep a sharp eye on it if you are running it. Sudden increase in blow by and some unusual engine noise can be an indicator of a piston/cylinder scoring incident.


Yep for sure gotta watch it. I must just be paranoid or something because I get people to listen and nobody hears what I hear lol


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## Nalley (Mar 29, 2019)

Little update. Checked the oil today and it doesn’t look like it’s using any. Uncle has a mechanics stethoscope so I used that and listened in several places. I don’t seem to hear anything anymore and the blow by is not as excessive as it was. Not sure what that means but I’m not complaining lol


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## JOR Farm (Aug 27, 2019)

I never had much luck with a stethoscope I prefer a infrared thermometer at the exhaust ports all 6 should be close to the same temperature. And I agree with Jim 100% about checking the front pump coupler had a guy bring one to me said the motor was about to fall apart replaced the bushings and all was good.


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