Follow Up.........

Goose

Well-known Member
A week ago, I posted a thread about an M Farmall I'd bought on an auction that would run fine when pulling, but ran rough under no load or light load conditions. It also smelled of stale gasoline.

I put fresh gas in it, boiled the carb and put a kit in it, serviced the air cleaner, etc. Nothing helped. The distributor cap, rotor, and plug wires looked new. The points were OK.

I then pulled one of the spark plugs and saw it was an Autolite. I smelled a rat right then, 'cause I once had a Chevy pickup that needed new plugs. I put a set of new Autolites in it and it ran worse than with the old AC's. I then put a new set of AC plugs in it and it ran fine.

Upshot on the M was, I had a new set of the correct Champion plugs on the shelf in my shop I'd intended to use on an H. I put them in the M and it runs fine.

I didn't suspect the spark plugs because they usually act the opposite, they'll misfire under a heavy load and still run OK under a light load.

BTW, a bit of trivia. Do ya'll know that AC and Champion spark plugs are named after the same man? Around 1910, when the automotive business was in its infancy, a man named Albert Champion started a company manufacturing spark plugs and branded them "AC" after his initials. He ultimately sold the company to Buick, which is why to this day GM uses AC spark plugs. Mr. Champion then started another company manufacturing spark plugs and branded them "Champion" from his last name.

I know some of ya'll have been losing sleep wondering about that.
 
That is odd, I have never had a problem with autolite plugs. I am a member of the Early Ford V8 club, for flathead powered cars and trucks. They recommend Autolite plugs over Champions.
 
Strange... The only plugs I would ever use in my Super C and 706are Autolite!! Cmore will NOT tolerate Champions!!
 
Whatever works for ya.

Now, in that episode with Autolite plugs in the pickup, I did get them at Walmart. When I went to NAPA to get a new set of AC's for the pickup I mentioned it to the counter guy 'cause he's a longtime friend. He says Autolite makes plugs especially for Walmart that are cheaper and inferior to the ones parts stores carry, and that AC and Champion wouldn't knuckle under to Walmart's demands. Which is why Autolite are the only plugs Walmart carries.

Sounds plausible to me.
 
(quoted from post at 15:41:16 04/19/15) That is odd, I have never had a problem with autolite plugs. I am a member of the Early Ford V8 club, for flathead powered cars and trucks. They recommend Autolite plugs over Champions.

I have never had a Ford run good on anything but Autolites or Motorcraft, which I believe have always been Autolite. I have always used Champions in my tractors because they are easier to find and haven't had a problem.
 
I have a vast number of old tractors only run Autolite. Never had a problem but have with other plugs that came with the tractors I purchased.
 
Perhaps the new plugs, no matter what brand would have fixed the problem. Have you ran the tractor a while & re-inspected the plugs ?
 
Shouldn't even say anything here but why not. It is not the brand, it is the material, the heat range and the style of the plug. I have heard guys on this forum comparing a Champion D-16 to a Autolite projected nose plug that crosses to a Champion D18Y. Can't do that. Apples to Oranges.
 
I can tell ya this i would dare say that there was a time that i have used a lot of plugs and what i have found early on that in the engines i have worked on that the Auto lite of the past and then the Motor Craft ran better in the engines that i was working on . Back in the day when a couple tenths would either get you a payday or not . I proved it to the guys whos cars i use to tune for the drag strip every weekend starting on Wednesday evening on thru Sunday . weather it be a Ford or a Mo Par everything i worked on had the auto Lite till the switched and the Auto lite change a bit and did NOT do well and the Motor Craft did. The two plugs that i have found that work well in a Farmall is either a Auto lite or a A/C C86 . I use to buy plugs in mixed lots and to get the best price break i got them in lots of 20000 at a time and for now get this 21.7 cents a piece . When you work on 487 Donavon's 413 -426 hemi's and oh god lets not forget the old 392's . 289'on up thru the Boss 351and 429's and all then Mopars . And god how i hated them Mustangs with the 390 and 428's to change plugs in.
 
I don't think the issue was the brand but rather the outlet you bought the plugs at. Probably 30 years ago I overhauled pop's 101 combine, purchasing all the electrical parts new at WalMart. It would not start for anything and of course with all new electrical parts I didn't bother to check the plugs for fire. I had an uncle back then that was about the most well-known, (respected), tractor mechanic in the area and dad had him come over to see if he could figure out the problem. Bro was pulling the combine to try to start it while uncle and I rode up by the engine, messing with timing, etc. We both held onto the manifold when it was moving. It would only occasionally hit. His side got too hot to hold on to while mine stayed cool. He had dad and bro stop pulling us. He pulled all the new AC plugs and only one of them would fire. He then went to the back of his pick-up and to our scrap pile and dug out a half dozen old plugs and after cleaning them up a little he stuck them in the old 101. It fired up like you'd just shut it off and ran like a new one. He said that he figured AC boxed up barrels full of seconds and sold them to places like WalMart. You can bet I never bought anymore tune-up parts from the "Chinese five & dime."
 

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