So, you think you need to overhaul your engine in your Nuffield, Leyland, or Marshall tractor? Thinking of getting an engine rebuild kit? Here at Tractor Spare Parts Ltd, we can offer complete engine kits and all the individual components for the BMC and Leyland engines as well as for the Perkins AD3.152 engine that is fitted into the Leyland 245 and the Marshall 502 tractor.
The engine kits that we make up for both the BMC and the Leyland engines, we construct from components stocked individually in our stores. A typical engine kit will consist of:
- engine liners
- pistons and rings
- head gasket set
- bottom gasket set
- small end bushes
- engine liner seals
- engine liner shims (which may or may not be needed)
- front and rear crankshaft seals
We do not put crankshaft bearings in our engine kits because they come in different sizes and if you are having your crankshaft reground, then sometimes the crank grinders like to supply their own crankshaft bearings. But we can offer crankshaft bearings, both mains and con-rod bearings in a variety of standard and undersized bearings if you need them.
Engine Serial Number Required
The BMC engines and the Leyland engines that are fitted to the tractors are relatively easy to work on, but in true Leyland fashion, there have been variations and improvements in the components of the engine throughout production. As a result of this, we always ask for the engine serial number off the engine block when selling you an engine rebuild kit, or any of the individual components on their own. I know it is a pain to get this number, as they are not always easy to find, but we ask for it as it is a lot less frustrating getting it for me at the purchasing stage compared to once you get the products in your workshop and you are trying to fit incorrect parts.
We are always coming across engines that are of different ages compared to the tractor that they are in, and this tells us that these tractors have had a replacement engine at some point in its life. Occasionally, we will get customers who swear that their tractor has never had a replacement engine, but according to the serial number, it has had a replacement short motor at some point – maybe when the tractor was just a few weeks or a few months old and was replaced under warranty from the dealer.
Where To Find Serial Number On Your BMC 3-Cylinder Engine
The 3-cylinder BMC engines such as the BMC 2.6 litre engine, and the BMC 2.8 litre engine are typically fitted to the Nuffield Universal 3 tractor, Nuffield 3DL tractor, the Nuffield 3/42 tractor, the Nuffield 10/42 tractor, and the Nuffield 3/45 model tractor.
There are several change-points in the liners of these engines, so we need to know which liner you need for your engine, and the serial number is the easiest and quickest way to find which engine liner (and other variations in the engine kit components) you need as you do not have to have already dismantled the engine in order to work out what should be in there.
On these 3 litre BMC engines, the serial number is stamped on a machined face on the forward lower right-hand side of the cylinder block, beneath the fuel injection pump coupling.
Where To Find The Serial Number of Your BMC 4-Cylinder Engine
The 4-cylinder BMC engines such as the BMC 3.4 litre engine and the BMC 3.8 litre engine are typically fitted to the Nuffield Universal 4 tractor, Nuffield DM4 tractor, Nuffield 460 tractor, the Nuffield 10/60 tractor and the Nuffield 4/65 model tractor as well as some JCB excavators, although this engine is also fitted to other applications such as marinised boat engines and also in road vehicles.
As for the 3-cylinder BMC engines, the 4-cylinder BMC engines, particularly the BMC 3.8 engine, has numerous variations to the components as BMC improved the design of the engine throughout production. It is important to get the serial number so that we can work out exactly which components are needed for your engine.
To find the serial number of your BMC 4-cylinder engine, you should look on the right-hand side of the cylinder block below No 4 injector and the engine serial number will be letter stamped on a machined face. It is visible if you are looking down from the top of the engine. Because the serial number has been letter-stamped in, you may have to clean the machined face in order to be able to read the serial number as it may be dirty or may have been painted over.
Where To Find The Serial Number of the Perkins AD3.152 Engine
The Perkins AD3.152 engine is fitted to the Leyland 245, Leyland 253 and the Marshall 502 model tractor. The serial number for this Perkins AD3.152 engine is needed mostly because there is a change in the rear crank seal from a rope seal to a lip seal, and this change point is well documented in these Perkins engines.
On the Perkins AD3.152 engines the serial number can be found on the right hand side of the engine next to the lift pump. You will find a serial number like 152U123456, and this is the number that we may need when selling engine parts for this Perkins engine.
Where to Find the Serial Number of the Leyland 4/98 or Leyland 6/98 Engine
The Leyland 4/98 engine has numerous variations for both the liners and the pistons, so the serial number is especially important for identification of which engine kit components you may need. The Leyland 4/98 engine is fitted in the Leyland middleweight tractors such as the Leyland 255, Leyland 270, Leyland 272, Leyland 282, their four wheel-drive equivalents, that being the Leyland 472 and Leyland 482, as well as many JCBs. The Leyland 4/98 engine was also fitted in a lot of the Marshall Golden Harvest tractors – Marshall 602, Marshall 702, Marshall 802, and the four-wheel drive versions the Marshall 604, Marshall 704, Marshall 804 and Marshall 904 model tractors.
The Leyland 6/98 engine was fitted to the 6-cylinder Leyland heavyweight tractors, them being the Leyland 285, Leyland 2100 and the four-wheel drive versions the Leyland 485 and Leyland 4100 models.
Both engines are widely used in other applications such as in boats as marinised versions of the engine such as those made by Thorneycroft, or in trucks such as the Leyland FG truck.
The Leyland 4/98 and Leyland 6/98 engine serial number can be found in the same place as the 4-cylinder BMC engines – on a machines face on the top of the right hand side of the block underneath No 4 injector (or No 6 injector in the case of the Leyland 6/98 engine.
If you need a little help identifying the serial number, you are looking for a serial number that looks like 498NT/1234/12345 or 698DT/1234/12345.
For more helpful information regarding tractors and tractor engines, we have our own You Tube channel, @TractorSparePartsLtd, and on this channel we put up useful videos showing all aspects of Nuffield, Leyland and Marshall tractors. One useful video is showing where to find the serial number. Take a look at this video by clicking here.
What Does the Engine Serial Number Mean?
It is all very well for us to ask for a serial number, but what does it mean? Well, it tells us a lot about the engine. The diagram below shows you what the different parts of the serial number means.
Why Can I Not Find a Serial Number? Or When the Serial Number Might Not Be Enough
So occasionally we will come across serial numbers that we just do not trust, or something that just seems off with us. On these occasions we may have to ask a few more questions about the engine, or we may even ask you to pull a liner out just to make sure before we can make up an engine kit for you. We may ask for this before we can sell you components for your BMC or Leyland engine.
Here at Tractor Spare Parts Ltd, we have been supplying engine components for these engines in tractors, trucks and boats for many years and we have built up a spreadsheet of serial numbers. So, we are well placed to get the correct components first time – there is nothing more annoying than having received your delivery of parts and you make a start in your workshop only to find you have been supplied incorrect parts.
Sometimes the serial numbers have been stamped over, or have been modified completely and they just do not match this format above. This is quite often done on purpose so that you must go back to where you purchased your machine from, say JCB, in order to cross-reference the serial number back to the Leyland number. We often find this with marinised engines such as the Thorneycroft engines where they sometimes have their own numbers.
We can still work with you to work out what components or engine kits you need for these engines, but we may need to ask a few more questions. We are not trying to make any more work by asking further questions or asking you to strip the engine before we send the parts – it is all easier than sending parts that we are not 100% sure about. But don’t fret, the majority of engine component enquiries are straight forward, and we do not need any further information.
