My 1952 8N, which has been behaving well the last couple of years, has refused to start twice in the last week, both times after running for an hour or more on a pretty warm day. The first time, I tried it again a couple of hours later and it started easily. Today it started easily the first time, cold, then was a little balky when I stopped it a few minutes later to hook up a mower, but did start when I gave it no choke (usually I'd pull the choke out maybe halfway starting after it had run only a short time). I then used it for about an hour and a quarter, during which time it ran nicely, but when I finished and parked it I shut it down and then tried to start it again and couldn't. I haven't tried again - I'd guess it probably would start now that it's cooled off but I would like to fix the problem anyway.
The oil is in the safe operating range according to the dipstick. The first time this happened I checked the radiator and the level was somewhat low, so I thought that might have been the problem, but the fact that it happened again today suggests it wasn't. My guess is it's refusing to start because it's overheated, but I am not sure why it would be overheating or exactly why that is stopping it from starting. Or is it possibly something else? Any suggestions appreciated.
The oil is in the safe operating range according to the dipstick. The first time this happened I checked the radiator and the level was somewhat low, so I thought that might have been the problem, but the fact that it happened again today suggests it wasn't. My guess is it's refusing to start because it's overheated, but I am not sure why it would be overheating or exactly why that is stopping it from starting. Or is it possibly something else? Any suggestions appreciated.