'51 Super C not getting spark

06 DIESEL

Member
I bought this Super C a little over a month ago. The fifth time I went to start it the starter quit, bought a new replacement as well as a new battery since the old one was weak. Started fine, unloaded it from the trailer and parked it. Went to use it last night and it would turn over but acted like the on/off switch was not in the on position. It was pulled out like it should be, gas was on. It is 30* here and snow is sitting on the tractor, not that it should make any difference. The seller stated that it recently had a tune up and new everything since it was converted to 12V. The wiring on it definitely is a get it fixed so that it will work for now job by the seller, I have plans to redo all wiring this spring but would like to be able to use it to plow snow this winter, especially since I live on a road that is not county maintained and we are expecting a good snow storm this weekend. Any ideas? Any way to isolate the switch, the coil, etc to narrow it down before I start throwing parts at it?
 
Do you have a voltmeter? Pull the switch out & check for voltage at the coil or if there is a voltage dropping resistor, check for voltage on both sides of that.
If voltage is good, take off distributor cap & dust cover. Take coil wire out of dist. cap & hold 1/4 inch from a good ground. Making sure points are closed, open & close points by hand. You should have a blue spark at coil wire.
If no voltage at resistor or coil primary terminal, check switch & wiring to switch.
 
First thing you do is check for spark at the center post of the distributor cap like Brownie says. Next, pop the distributor cap off, remove the rotor and dust cap, and check the points. Crank the engine over however you can and make sure the points are opening and closing as the shaft turns.

We've had two cases of broken points in Super C's lately, and yours may be another especially considering the previous owner "put all new in" before he sold it to you. The points you can buy these days are of iffy quality.

If the points look good, get yourself a voltmeter and check for 12V at the small post on the coil that's connected to the ignition switch, with it on. If no voltage, then bypass the switch.

There's nothing special about bypassing the ignition switch. All you need is a piece of wire to connect from the battery + terminal to the same post you tested for voltage on the coil above. You can put ends on the wire, or just wrap the stripped wire around the screw and hold the other end against the battery post, or get fancy and put alligator clips on both ends of the wire to make yourself a useful test lead.
 
Thanks Guys, I figured it was easy enough, just not much experience with this particular tractor. I also have invested in the manuals for this tractor, they have come in handy for my 504D before.

I hope it is something that I can fix easily, I would bet something just gave up the ghost as I seem to be chasing down electrical issues on this tractor, one after another.
 
I do work for an elderly gent.that has a late super M w/12 v.conversion. always has problem starting it. I go there pull the start rod,get it swinging good then let off of start rod,will start evey time. Just can not get this through his head. Starter is taking fire from the coil.I would like to add a seperate switch-12v to the coil,but that would confuse him more.
 
Seems like every time i get a tractor converted to 12v someting is messed up so start at the sw to make sure there is voltage at the coil when engine is crankng.
 
Rub the points with a point file or 320 wet or dry until they're shiny. Then see if the engine will start. Hal
 
This could also be due to excess resistance in the coil circuit.

I bought an 8N Ford that acted the same way. It had a 12 volt alternator conversion kit.

Whoever did the conversion used a direct 12 volt coil (no resistor required) but did install the resistor and the resistor measured 5.5 ohms rather than the 1.5 to 2 ohms that it should be.

I removed the resistor and it started and runs like it should.

Check to be sure you have either a 6 volt coil(1.5 ohms across small posts) and a near 1.5 ohm resistor, OR a direct 12 volt coil (3 ohms across small terminals) and no added resistor.
 
First off check for spark at the coil wire that goes to the center nipple of the distributor cap. Should be a blue/white and jump a 1/4 inch gap or more. If no spark hot wire it. Go from the ignition side of the battery to the ignition side of the coil and check for spark. If you have spark then you know the problem is from the coil back to the battery. If no spark then the problem is in the distributor
 
(quoted from post at 06:53:45 01/22/15) I do work for an elderly gent.that has a late super M w/12 v.conversion. always has problem starting it. I go there pull the start rod,get it swinging good then let off of start rod,will start evey time. Just can not get this through his head. Starter is taking fire from the coil.I would like to add a seperate switch-12v to the coil,but that would confuse him more.

As long as the coil is still the original 6V style with a ballast resistor, that'll work.

Give the coil a straight shot of 12V while it's cranking, and it will fire right up.
 
I have spark to the distributor, was not able to verify spark to the plugs last night as I was working by myself in the dark. Looked at the points, cap, rotor, etc and everything looked great, was making proper contact, etc.

I decided to look in the fuel tank before I quit for the night, there is some debris in the tank, I am going to check out the fuel supply tonight as well as get a hand verifying spark at the plugs.

I sure hope I can figure it out before Monday as the snow storm is coming and I need to be able to get myself plowed out.
 
Wondering if you have solid core spark plug wires?
If you have resistance wires, they can cause problems getting spark to the plugs. Even from the coil to the distributor cap.
 
It has fuel to the carb. Went to test for spark at the plugs and the battery was dead after forgetting to turn the switch off when I was messing with it earlier last week. Definately getting fuel though as the plugs smelled of gas bad and appeared to be fouled and burnt.

What plugs does everyone recommend? They currently have Champion in, but I seem to remember my uncle not having good luck with them in his 560. Also, what should the gap be set at. My manuals are not in yet and I plan to stop at the parts store on my way home but I can not get them to look anything up, they do not have anything tractor in their computer and look at me like I have two heads when I try to get parts for one.
 
Got it figured out, plugs were fouled bad, and it was running rich. New Plugs and leaned it out and now it runs like a champ.
 

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