Farmall H Distributor Question

fairrunpa

Member
Hello all, New to site, Question. I have (it is my first tractor) a 1944 Farmall H that is a 12 volt system positive ground and uses an Alternator. The magneto has a horizontal distributor. Does a replacement distributor cap have to be a certain type specifically compatible for use with a magneto? Thanks for all replies.
 
Yes the magneto cap (H-4 Mag) is way different than a distributor cap for a battery ignition. Many different mags can be used on an H, so yours should look like this if it is an H-4. Jim
a281836.jpg
 
"magneto has horizontal distributor" there is not such a thing you either have a mag that uses a grounding sw to stop or a distributor that uses battery voltage to work and what kind of an alternator do you have that is positive ground
 
(quoted from post at 16:36:03 10/06/18) "magneto has horizontal distributor" there is not such a thing you either have a mag that uses a grounding sw to stop or a distributor that uses battery voltage to work and what kind of an alternator do you have that is positive ground
Yes it has a horizontal distributor cap that looks just like the picture in the above post. I'll have to check on the Alternator.
 
The reason Gene is asking about your alternator is that nearly all 12 volt alternators are negative ground. The only positive ground alternators I know of are built by a company that builds them to look like a stock generator and offers a positive ground model and they are quite expensive. So if your tractor is indeed positive ground and the main charge terminal is connected as normal the smoke has probably been let out of your alternator. The only other option is to elaborately mount the alternator insulating it from the engine block and then run a wire to connect the case to the negative post of the battery and the main charge wire to the positive battery post. Which is highly unlikely because at that point any time you would accidentally ground the alt. case to the engine or tin work it would cause a short and or sparking. The more likely scenario is your tractor has been converted to a negative ground system.
 
Is the distributor just the part with body, cap and rotor, which distributes the spark, whether the spark is generated by a magneto or a coil? Various parts on a complete H4 magneto are labelled as distributor parts in my parts book.
SadFarmall
 
The setup looks just like the picture posted earlier. The spark (I believe) is from the magneto. I apologize because the alternator is negative ground and the battery is negative ground not positive ground system, My mistake in reporting/implying otherwise. I got a new set of wires nd plugs . The distributor cap, rotor and condenser are new. I hope this resolves my won't start up problem. If not I think that an electronic system would maybe solve the starting problem,,,, The motor cranks well/strong I even had it towed to start/pop the clutch. It seemed like it wanted to start but no... points and plugs were gapped correctly Frustrating... Thank you for all replies. I appreciate all comments and insights.
 

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