8N Ford won't start

1951 Ford 8N, 6V...won't start. About a month ago I was out plowing heavy wet snow. The tractor started occassionally misfiring as it has in the past when a bit of moisture gets into the distributor cap. Limped her home and let her sit to dry...it usually dries out after a couple days. Well, restarted it and it continued to misfire, sputter, etc but she would run. Very low power but enough to carry a few loads of dirt over to the garden. In the past, as the condenser dies, I've had this problem. Since then, it won't start at all. Replaced condenser and plugs. Have spark at each wire. Fuel flowing to carburetor. I have not looked into the carburetor itself. After replacing ignition parts last night, it sputtered a couple times during the start but would not run. Does anyone have any ideas to try before I take it in to the repair shop. Is there any way to know if the problem is in the carburetor before I pull it? I'm not sure I feel comfortable enough looking into the carb but I have a friend who could. I would appreciate any insight!
 
Parker.........keep yer itchy twitchy fingers off'n them handy-dandy carb tweek'ums. They aint'chur problem as described.

You do know that 8N's had 2-different dizzys, don't you? The weird 4-nipple frontmount and the more common looking 5-nipple sidemount. Since you mention gittin' water in the cap, I'm gonna make a WAG (wild A$$ guess) that you're talkin'bout the 4-nipple frontmount.

You do know ittza 2-bolt 15-min job to remove the 4-nipple dizzy and change and adjust the points (0.015") on the kitchen table, don't you??? Just un-snapple yer capple and letter dangle.....installation is a reversal of the removal ...except... finger start the 2-bolts, now install the rotor and rotate the rotor until the OFFSET drive tang fits the OFFSET drive slot in the end of the camshaft. Now tighten yer 2-bolts and re-snapple yer capple. Simple, eh?

HOWSOMEVERS: you say you replaced yer plugs. (AutoLite 437's gapped 0.025" recommended) Check yer firing order. 1,2,4,3 CCW. Many neubie shadetree mechanics often gitt sparkie wires 4&3 reversed. The N-Engine is SOOOooo GOOood that it will start and run on just 2-sparkies without much power, just as you complain. ........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister
 
what's spark look like? white/blue and snappy.. jump a max gap from center to edge?

or orange / yellow and won't jump a max gap?

will it start on starter fluid?
 
Is your spark a good blue/white and will it jump a 1/4 inch gap or more. A condenser almost never goes bad but the points do as can a cap and a hot engine means a hot cap and cold snow hitting it can crack it and cause funny problems. One sure fire way to find out if the cap is bad is hold the cap as you try to start it up. If you jump 5 foot when you do that good chance the cap is bad. By the way there is a better way to find that but you will have to ask LOL
 
Thanks Del. yes, your WAG is correct. She has been reassembled correctly. I have good spark and a correct firing order. Keep the ideas coming!
 
Spark is snappy on the new plugs. I did not regap the plugs to see if it would really jump. No go on the ether tonight, either. When I sprayed it in it seemed to try and start but no luck.
 
Interesting. New plugs and spark seems nice and white/blue. I did not see a crack in the cap and probably won't try your interesting testing idea!! But they are cheap to replace so I may just do that. It seems that the electronics on this 8N requires service every other year or so.

So, what is the better way to test the cap?? Curious.

Any more thoughts?? Appreciate your time!
 
I guess the key here in my mind is the slow deterioration over about a month. While plowing, she begins to sputter. She rests for a few days, starts right back up but sputters. She has enough power to haul 3 loads of dirt over to the garden. Later that day, when trying to pull a camper from the shed, she quits.

New condenser but did not do the points. I will tomorrow. New plugs. Won't start on ether. More to come...
 
Parker.......you ask how to test yer 4-nipple crab-cap. Go out when it is DARK and start yer engine. And watch all them blue sparkies dance allover the place. Dancing sparkies is BAD. Replace the dancers. Simple, eh? .......Dell
 
Parker, buy quality parts. I like Blue Streak points from Standard ignition.
You say it's a front mount distributor?
If so, do you have all four gaskets in your distributor set up?
They are not as susceptible to moisture if you have all the gaskets in there.
Make sure your bushings are good too. The shaft shouldn't move side to side.
 
When a distributor cap cracks it does so in such a way you can not see the cracks but it will still let water in and the water in turn shorts things out and put the spark where it should not be. To maybe find the cracks pull the cap off and spray the inside with starting fluid. Let it air dry then look for small lines in the cap. Each line you see if a crack in the cap.
Many many years ago my dad had a 1972 GMC pick up. It had a 250 straight 6 engine and he kept having problems with it running when it was wet out. He had it at one place trying to find the problem but they could not find it. While it was running I grabbed the distributor cap and in doing so found the problem. Place then wanted to charge him for finding the problem but my dad siad only if you hire my son since your guys could not figure it out but my son did
 

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