Massey Ferguson 590 waterpump change
At the spring 2022 my Massey Ferguson 590 was running on iddle, when I heard it make bad noise in the front end. Sounded like the cooling fan was scraping something or the pump just got stuck. The radiator core was still OK and I didn't find other marks, but anyway there was plenty of play in the pump bearings.
This is a 4.248 engine and the pump change is rather similar in all of these common Perkins engines. However there are different fans; This 590 has a solid fan with 6 blades riveted on the center part and I needed to take the radiator off to get the fan out. I have changed pumps in my 390 and 565 and I didn't remove the radiator then; The fans were put together of 2-blade elements, that fit to come off between the windtunnel and the radiator frame. Today is also available a 6-blade plastic fan; I assembled one on a 575 and I had to cut some material off from the blades, because they came too close to the radiator core. Anyway it works fine and would probably suit 590 without cutting.
The wind tunnel needs to be moved towards the engine; The fastening bolts are on the sides. I opened the tap on the rad bottom corner and also the plug on the left side of the engine block to drain the fluids.
I removed the air intake hose and also the filter housing to better reach the radiator fastening bolts here on the front. Hydraulic oil filter and cooler are bit in a way too, the battery I lifted out.
I took the thermostats housing off, so that I can get the wind tunnel close the engine. The pump sucks from the lower rad hose and cap heater's return hose is connected here too. Heater's other hose is connected to the engine head.
I pushed the wind tunnel towards the engine and lifted the radiator up and away.
The drain valve and the pipe stump on the rad bottom are bit difficult to get pass the wind tunnel, needs some careful slaloming. I cleaned the rad using water and pressure air to get grass etc out; This radiator is recored about 10 years ago. Clean radiator lasts longer, cause it lets the air flow through and the fan don't bend it so much.
The fan bolts are secured with thin steel plates, but can be opened with an open jaw wrench. Socket wrench don't fit on the bolts because of the lock plates. I can now lift the fan away.
The pump's fastening nuts are partially under the belt pulley, so I take it off first; It's fastened with a big nut. I prevent the pulley from turning with an old V-belt; I tie the cut belt somewere, then place the other end on the pulley and turn the pulley about one and a half revs. When I open the nut, the belt tightens in the V-groove and stops the pulley from turning.
Old and hardened hoses leak easily after re-assembling, so I often use 2 hose clamps in a row as seen in the pic. Heat and pressure are stretching the hose and also the clamp. With double clamp assembly the first one neutralizes the stretching and helps the second one to seal better. I can also insert the second clamp afterwards, which stops the leak usually. The alternative way is to renew the hoses.
I pressed the old pump shaft out just to see if the bearings are totally collapsed; No more failure than lots of free play on the other one. Bad bearings stress the fan too and a broken blade can destroy the radiator core for example. The new pump was with Agco logo. I used the old pulley and tried it on the pump shaft beforehand to see it fits OK. The fitting was tight; Once the pulley went too deep and I had to file the pump body a bit to prevent touching. I scraped old gasket remains away and inserted a kind of sealing glue on every surface before installing the new gasket and pump. I tightened the nuts and let glue and the gasket settle for some time and tightened some more.
I assembled the pulley, the belt and the fan and bended the locking plates back. Then lowered the radiator in the frame, fastened the hoses and did remember to pour the new fluids in too. To change the belt the windtunnel has a more roomy spot on the upper part, where the belt can be moved pass the blade. In fact you move one blade pass the belt and turn the fan so that the next blade comes to this spot until the belt is on the right side of the fan. My belt was almost too short, but I managed to pull it on the alternator pulley with a help of a bale string.
The 590 was then used with this Fella 6 rotor tedder in hay making and cooling worked fine. Temperature went up to 30 celcius degrees, which used to be rare here in the north.