A timing

Tuning up my father inlaws A , I would like to check timing (ignition) but not sure how. Now don't get mad at me ,but I usually work with red ones so I am unsure how to tell if it is running right ( sound is a littttle different than I am used to). This is a real dumb question but where is #1 - flywheel side ?

It seems to run well. starts a little hard cold.

thanks ( no red jokes ,now)

Yep Left Flywheel is number one. Left fires then 180 later right fires then a 540 coast cycle then she starts all over again. Typical timing for gas operation is near TDC for starting then maybe 20 to 25 BTDC when running depending on if mag and what drive cup or distributor.

John T

I forgot to say ..... it is a distributer ( not a mag). Is there a timing mark? where? Or do you just do the finger over the hole thing to determine TDC and the set rotor ?

thanks again.

It depends on the year of the tractor ,where at, but yes there's a mark.

Assuming the governor is timed correctly to the engine, a good place to start is with the vertical seam of the distributor cap straight up and down. That will get you very close. Mike

Since it has a distributor It's most likely that it is a late A tractor which has a cute little flap on the top of the flywheel cover than can be rotated for a peek at the marks on the flywheel.

You may have to pull the flyweel cover to clean the flywheel up enough to see the marks.

When you say that it "starts hard" does that mean it cranks over and over and over without firing up, or does that mean it kicks back on the starter? If it kicks back you may just need to look at the advance mechanism in the distributor. To see that it works just grab onto the rotor and twist it back and forth. Does it twist against spring pressure then snap back when released? If not pull the plate on the bottom of the distributor to access the mechanism. Free it up and try again.

Usually the reason for hard starts is weak spark. Use good ignition parts with a coil proper for your supplied voltage and metal core wires with good properly gapped plugs. These tractors are old and often the wires have been cobbled. If all the above advise doesnt fix your problem you may want to check avialable voltage at the distributor while cranking. Many times small cables have lowered the voltage too much for a good spark while cranking. They run fine once the starter is no longer engaged but wont start while cranking.

The last bit of advise for easier cranking it to look at the arm that controls the throttle plate. Push the throttle ahead just enough to get the throttle plate arm just off its rest for cranking. They usually start best with minimal throttle.

As per jd operators manual for a 60. #1 cylinder is flywheel side. Remove spark plug, roll flywheel in direction of normal running travel by hand, keep finger over sparkplug hole so you can feel compression stroke. It says to go to 5*ATDC

(5 degrees past tdc;flywheel should be marked on top/thin side near ring gear with tdc and some degree numbers)that mark should line up with notch in timing cover inspection hole.

When you are at that point, loosen distributor and roll it forward. With top sparkplug wire on distributor removed from sparkplug end (hold sparkplug end on a piece of metal to see spark) Roll distributor towards back of tractor slowly until you see a spark. When you see a spark stop turning and tighten distributor.

hope this helps