John Deere 60 distributer problem

deltaelectric · May 6, 2015

Hi all! I am new to the forum and I have a question about my 1955 60. I recently bought this tractor from my brother in law and did a full clean up and paint job. The tractor ran when I got it, but it smoked black a bit, so I did a carb rebuild on it. Been restoring it for 2 month's. Finally went to start it last night and had a heck of a time. Checked everything. Long story short, I put the flywheel side at TDC (with thumb on the spark plug hole) and set the flywheel to 5atdc per my operators manual (yes, I have one!) and removed the distributer cap. The rotor was pointing down instead of up. Switched the plug wires around and it took off. Still smoked bad and no amount of carb adjustment would lean it out.
My question then is this. Can the distributer be installed 180 deg off? If so, would that affect timing, advance, or operation of the govener at all? I also did not get into the engine at all and I never touched the dist. either. I will be adjusting my valves per the manual just for peace of mind.
Any advice for this newbie would be appreciated!

MT RON · May 6, 2015

It doesn't matter on the distributer,you probably got the wires switched when you were working on it.Sounds like carb problems more than anything else.Ron

deltaelectric · May 6, 2015

Thanks for the reply Ron. I decided to set the distributor and timing per the manual today. Found TDC on the flywheel side cyl and rotated the flywheel to 5atdc as instructed. I then removed the distributor housing and reset the rotor to point up. There is nothing to stop you from setting it pointing down except the book says to set it pointing up. Installed the housing and left the clamps slightly loose. After installing the cap and rotor, I turned the housing toward the front of the tractor about an inch and stuck a wire in the top hole of the cap and held the other end close to the frame. Turned the IGN sw on and slowly rotated the housing to the rear until a spark jumped from the wire. Locked the housing in this position. Reconnected the plug wires and fired it up. NO more sputter and NO more smoke!! I assume that when it was 180 off it messed up the timing and the weights for advance? Not really sure but I know it runs much better now. I will adjust the carb from there and call it good. Hope this post can help anyone who may have the same problem.

rick deere · May 6, 2015

send carb to popin john and get and get it done right.

BushogPapa · May 7, 2015

Glad you have it running OK..!!

The JD 60 is a GOOD Horse...

Ron..

John Deere 60 distributer problem

deltaelectric

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MT RON

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deltaelectric

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rick deere

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BushogPapa

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