Hard lesson

Boss Hog

Member
Once or twice over the past couple of months I've posted about my MF35 that was running poorly. Had a hell of a time figuring out what was wrong.

One day I filled it up with gas, and then went out to check on cows. While I was out in the pasture it started running poorly.

It acted like it wasn't getting enough gas. It would idle just fine. But get it up to 1,200 RPMs or so and it would start to die as if you had shut the key off. Pull the choke out and it would take off again for a few seconds.

I figured it wasn't getting fuel. But when I took the plug out of the carb I got a steady stream of fuel running out. I took the carb off, disassembled it, and blew out every orifice I could find. It made no difference.

I wondered if maybe the gas was bad. But we filled up 2 other tractors out of the same tank, and they ran fine.


I tried a new distributor cap, rotor & new spark plugs. The points and condenser were new last fall, so I didn't mess with them.

I did a compression check, and it turned out O.K. Took the gas tank and valve cover off, but found no problems.

Played with the timing, adjusted the carb, and everything else I could think of. But nothing seemed to make any difference. It was really frustrating.


I eventually gave up and called an old mechanic that used to work at an MF dealer. He came out and messed with it for an hour or so. He couldn't figure it out, so he loaded it up and took it to his shop.


He called a couple of days later to say the points were the problem. I had a hard time believing it, so I went in to his shop to have a look. Here's what the points looked like:

mvphoto5594.jpg



Here's a little closer look to show where they were arcing:

mvphoto5595.jpg



I had looked at the contacts on the points, but had never looked at where the wires attached. On this set the wires were just held in place by spring pressure. (No screw) And that's where they were arcing.

So I wasted 2 or 3 months trying to track down a problem that was caused by a set of cheap points that cost a few bucks.

Gonna have to look into one of those electronic ignition kits....
 
They make "bad ones" in EI also. Just get a good brand (echlin , Standard etc) points and you won't have any problems. I see more people post on here for EI problems than I do points problems.
 
Judging by the look of the rubbing block I would be
more inclined to run a file past the wire mounting
to break the glaze and stuff them back in.
Electronics is nice until fails on the side of the
road and you can't do a 5 cent fix to get it home.
 
Even if you have EI, you can still carry a set of points with you. I switched my 202 over to a Pertronix kit and haven't looked back. Soon as I have a few extra bucks, the TO35 is getting treated to one too.
 
I came to the conclusion years ago, if something ain't running right, or don't start, the wire from the coil to this spot is my prime suspect. And it is fried or broke or loose quite often. Maybe I am using the wrong kind of wire? Or the nature of the beast here? I think this or the condenser is bad on one of my 30's. too cold and windy to deal with it just yet...
 
Points are forgiving . They can be made to work if
you have trouble . But . E I is nice also . I carry
the points , and condensor in my boat , so if the e
i fails , it will only take a few minutes to put the
old system in .
Nice thing with points is that you can time an
engine , without a timing light .
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top