not a car, but still an engine problem

alright, i have a ford tractor. it has a 3 cylinder diesel engine. i was using it to cut grass today when the engine started to overheat. i shut it down, went back fifteen minutes later and when i cranked the engine, all i heard was what sounded like gears grinding. sounded like it was coming from the general area of the starter. i also tried to turn the engine from the pulley and it wouldn't move it all.

so my question is does anyone know what the problem is and how i could fix it?

Sounds like the engine may have siezed up due to the overheating.

yeah, thats what i was afraid of.
so what do i need to do/ how expensive is it going to be to fix it?

What model and how old is it???

It sounds like a possibility is that you cracked a head, blew a head gasket, or otherwise allowed coolant into the cylinders. That would describe the overheating, and after you let it sit its possible that one or more of the cylinders got some coolant in it. That would hydrolock the engine preventing you from turning it. I had a chronic head leak on a dirt bike once. It would stay sealed for a couple rides and then just over heat and lock up.

its a ford 1520, i don't know the year, but i would guess somewhere in the general area of 96-97.

a couple things i forgot to say: when the engine was at full throttle, there was a slight high pitched squeaking kinda sound, didn't think much of it at he moment, and the first two times i tried to start it after i let it cool down, the engine would crank for a split second then stop, then the next time it grinded something and i didn't try again. the engine is definitely locked up in some way

also, i looked over the engine pretty thoroughly, and i didn't notice any leaking fluids, cracks in the head or anything like that

edit: whats involved in unlocking this thing?

The head could be cracked or the head gasket blown without any external visual clues. Pull the dipstick and look for coolant. It has a specific smell so even if you don't see any, smell it. If you are adventerous, taste it. If coolant is present it will taste sweet. Make sure you spit it all out :) Check the coolant reservoir and see if its low or has any foreign material in it. Pull an injector or glow plug and see if you have any coolant in a cylinder.

If none of that turns anything up, its time to disassemble. A seized engine isn't something that can just be looked at and fixed, it usually means a complete rebuild with machine work.

One other possibility; if it was burning a lot more black smoke you could have a leaky injector or a bad injector pump. That would put too much fuel in which could cause overheating. Then when it sat, the cylinder filled with diesel fuel and won't let you turn it.

alright, sorry it took me so long to get back to this, ive been busy lately.

i checked, and ther was no coolant in the cylinders, no foreign material or low coolant level, and most importantly: the engine will turn now. i have no clue how, but now i can turn the fan.

it still won't start though. the battery has been dead, so i charge it up to try to start it again. it sounds like the grinding noise was the starter not getting enough power from the battery to turn the engine over. once i get enough juice in the battery, ill just hear either a small click or nothing. like power is getting cut from too much voltage or something.

i tried a different battery, same problem. any new ideas? thanks for your help

Possably a bad starter or solinoid.

i checked, and ther was no coolant in the cylinders, no foreign material or low coolant level, and most importantly: the engine will turn now. i have no clue how, but now i can turn the fan.

Its quite possible the the engine was on a compression stroke when you left it, and after a couple weeks the compression leaked out allowing you to turn it. Diesels with their high compression aren't easy to turn over like gas engines.

Good to hear there was no leakage. I agree that the starter might be dying, but it doesn't explain the original problem of overheating. Its possible that it was a freak coincidence of a stuck thermostat and a dying starter.

well when i had used it, i didn't realize that the oil was as bad as it was. when i removed the dipstick, it was black as hell. that was probably the reason for the overheating, a few hours at full throttle would heat it up if the oil didn't do its job very well.

hopefully sonn i will have some more knowledgeable friend look at it and see if we can get this thing fixed.

thank for you help

Diesel engines, especially higher mileage ones often turn the oil completely black within a short time, sometimes just a couple of hours of use, but the oil is still useful. One must go by engine hours of use since the last change to determine if its no good.

sounds like a siezed motor. If you can't turn it over, then you need to find out why.

The grinding sound is the starter trying to engage, but if the motor is seized, I assume that the bendix isn't fully engaging and thats the sound you hear.