Ford 4000 gasoline -- won't start

Last year, after sitting for 4 months over the summer, this same tractor would not start. We had our tractor mechanic pick up the tractor and haul it back to his shop. The mechanic said it was the points, and brought it back to us. It ran fine for the next 8 months.

Yesterday, we went back to the farm where we keep the tractor -- we live 160 miles away from the farm -- and, again, it would not start after sitting there for 4 months.

Also, the coil has two small posts -- one marked positive and one marked negative. Which one goes to the small wire on the distributor?

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with the tractor this time? It cranks really well, so it isn't the battery, but it gave no indication of starting.

Anything you can suggest would be appreciated because we have to pay $150 every time the mechanic picks up and returns the tractor JUST for that service.

Thank you. The tractor has always run well prior to these last two episodes.

This is just a guess, without you doing some
troubleshooting...
I'd check for spark first, since that was a problem
before. If your mechanic put cheap (Chinese) points
in, they could very well be bad again.

One likely cause is that the points have developed a film on the contact. Fold up a dollar bill and rub it through the points.

As mentioned, use only quality points.

If tractor is negative ground, negative coil post goes to distributor, if positive ground, positive post to distributor.

Till we get to know you - or at least get to know your tractor, you should always mention whether you have a 62-64 4 cylinder 4000 or a 65-75 3 cylinder 4000. They are completely different machines.
That said, points are VERY simple so you really could learn to do this yourself.
Do a search on youtube on replacing ignition points or adjusting ignition poits and spend half an hour watching a couple of videos.
That would help you a lot.
Your problem can often be solved as easily as taking a piece of brown paper grocery bag or new dollar bill and wiping the invisible corrosion between the points.
If you don't wish to learn to do this yourself then I would have your mechanic install electronic ignition in the tractor for you.
The parts will cost about $125 but it will pretty much eliminate future maintenance on your ignition system.

Points do not generally go bad from sitting, although it's certainly possible. Another possibility is stuck valves, particularly on a tractor which is stored outside.

You need to learn some basic troubleshooting skills. These are simple machines and not terribly difficult to fix. The first thing to do is to determine if the problem is spark, fuel or something else. Fuel can be eliminated by a small dose of starting fluid in the air cleaner inlet. If it won't at least sputter, you don't have a fuel problem. So then move on to spark.

The simplest way to check for spark is to pull loose a plug wire and stick an insulated screwdriver into the plug wire boot. Hold the screwdriver shaft a quarter of an inch away from a convenient ground and crank the engine. If you see a spark, you probably don't have an ignition problem. No spark means you need to dig further into the ignition system. I'm not going to go into further details right now, because you can find plenty of info on how to troubleshoot no spark or no fuel problems by searching this site. You'll get plenty of help when you come back with more details.

One note about the four cylinder tractors: If you remove the distributor cap to inspect the points, you'll find a dust cover under the distributor cap and rotor. That cap is secured by a small clip on the distributor cap that also hold the rotor in place. Remove this clip carefully, as it's easy to lose or break, and you don't want to make a trip to the dealer just to buy a replacement clip.

Spark? Most likely not.

RV and FF nailed it below.

Cheap contact sets have very, very thin coatings on the contact surfaces and will corrode very quickly during periods of non use (depending upon conditions). Use ONLY good quality Standard Ignition or Echlin contact sets. Note: Both companies market both good quality (expensive) and cheap sets. Almost certainly, your mechanic installed cheap points because the quality sets are becoming more difficult to find quickly.

You can burnish the surface of the contacts with an IBM card (if you can find one) or a piece of a brown paper grocery bag (again, if you can find one). This will (usually) remove the insulating surface corrosion allowing you to start and use the tractor but the same condition will return within days (depending upon conditions) until you install good quality points.

NEVER use a point file.

Dean

By any chance when you returned to your place did you discover the tractor was left with the ignition switch on? Often someone will try to start an unattended tractor; if they're unsuccessful they'll just leave the key on. The result is a dead battery and burned-up points.

Hi, everyone!

Thanks for all the good tips. They are much appreciated.

My tractor is a 3-cylinder; the distributor is in a horrible place to get to, so that is one problem.

Still, you have given me a lot to consider. I'm printing out all of your replies right now, and I will use it the next time we're at the farm (and with the tractor).

I'll let everyone know what I find out then.

In the meantime, thank you for the help!