3010 gas is hard starting

MasseyRed65

New User
I need some help in getting my 3010 to start. I cant figure out the pattern to it. Sometime I can choke the tractor and let off the choke while cranking it over and she fires. Other time you have to keep choking it fires after you crank on it for a good while. If you run it to where it is warm, the tractor will not start till it cools off for a while. Anyone have any ideas. It has good compression, new plugs, new points and condenser. The coil I have has a built in resistor. Help please.
 
#1 coils do not have built in resister there just wound different to have a high ohm rating.
#2 what does you spark look like?? It needs to be a good blue/white and jump a 1/4 inch gap or more or it will be hard to start.
#3 pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas that will fill a pint jar in less then 3 minutes and yes catch it to look for dirt/water etc.
#4 when was the last time you serviced the air cleaner
 
You probably have weak spark as that tractor has a built in resistor. Go to John Deere and get the correct coil for it!
 
In the last month I have cleaned the Carb and fuel system. Last week I cleaned the air cleaner. I have been thru this tractor with a fine toothed comb. I will check the spark tonite. Thanks,
 
First of all, typical "old farm tractor" ignition coils DO NOT HAVE AN INTERNAL STAND ALONE DISCRETE "RESISTOR" TUCKED AWAY HIDDEN SOMEWHERE INSIDE THE CAN. A few old auto coils DID HAVE an actual internal discrete stand alone "resistor" inside the can as the pictures illustrate.

Many full true "typical old farm tractor" 12 volt rated coils have around 2.5 to near 4 ohms (many 3) LV primary winding resistance as measured between its small + and - terminals and that's made up of the wire ONLY and NOT a stand alone discrete "resistor" inside there.

Many typical 6 volt rated farm tractor coils have around 1.2 to 2 ohms (many 1.5) LV primary winding resistance, again NO INTERNAL RESISTOR

Many 12 volt tractors use a 6 volt coil PLUS an external series voltage dropping (12 down to 6) stand alone ballast resistor, be it a bathtub style or resistive wire link or a thermistor type device.

A coil labeled "12 Volts" or "12 Volts NOT for use with ballast resistor" is a full true 12 volt coil HOWEVER BEWARE if labeled "12 Volts for use with or requires ballast resistor" its in reality more like a 6 volt coil and needs the ballast JUST LIKE IT SAYS !!!!!!!!!!

NOTE as this is an old tractor forum and NOT an old car forum I'm talking about "typical old farm tractor coils" NOT old car coils other then the reference above. Also not knowing if your tractor is original or has been modified or how over the years I purposely made the above generic in nature.


THE PROBLEM YOU DESCRIBE COULD POSSIBLY BE CAUSED BY A WEAK SPARK, THE CAUSE OF WHICH MAY BE AS NOTED BELOW AND/OR THE TIMING ISNT CORRECT Have you checked the ignition timing lately ?????????????????

A) Burned or carboned or incorrect gapped points...
B) A weak or bad or incorrect sized condenser...
C) Bad plug wires or a cap or rotor problem
D) A weak ignition coil
E) Fouled spark plugs

NOTE often a weak condenser or a weak coil will act okay until things warm up before it starts to fail !!!!!

NOTE are you sure the coil is wired to match the tractors polarity????????? as if not the spark is weaker !!!!!!

NOTE even if the plugs are new they could be carbon or oil or gas fouled which can be another cause of hard to start !!!

Sure there may be fuel or carb related issues but you need a good strong blue spark (even at full temperature) and NOT any faint thin wimpy yellow one lol

Insure the coil is the correct one and voltage,,,,,,,,,,insure coil is wired correct,,,,,,,,,,,check for a good strong highly visible BLUE spark,,,,,,,,,,try another condenser if you have one,,,,,,,,,,check points gap and ignition timing ........of course the coil may be faulty or its not the correct one or gets bad ONLY after she warms up IE could be a coil problem !!!

Best wishes, hope this helps

John T Retired Electrical Engineer
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I have a 3020 that was much the same and I too found a 12 volt coil (not needing an external resistor) in place.

The Deere tractors use 6 volt coils. If you look closely you will likely see TWO wires on the battery side of the coil. One is from the ignition switch the other is from the bypass post of the solenoid. That bypass wire shorts out the designed in resistance which takes the place of the ballast resistor used in/on other applications. Under normal operation with the right parts in place, the 3010 coil works with about half the battery voltage when the points are closed. When the voltage drops because of the heavy load of the starter, the resistance is bypassed applying full battery voltage to the coil which delivers a EXTRA HOT spark while cranking! All goes back to normal as soon as the solenoid falls open.

To be safe & certain of what's happening here, roll the engine until the points are closed then with volt meter ready, turn the key to the run position. Don't crank it, just turn it ON. Check the voltage at the battery post of the coil. I'm betting it's way less than the 12 volts you see at your battery! Turn the key off! The voltage will be even lower while cranking! Since you have a 12 volt coil it's being asked to work properly though he's being fed by about half the voltage he's designed for. It's trying to start with maybe 35% of normal spark power and that's asking a lot!

As other said, put the correct coil (one that needs an external resistor) in place and hook the wires directly to it. Don't use a resistor because your tractor already has that covered and you will have proved that if you see anything but battery voltage after testing like described above. It will be a different machine!

Go to NAPA & if they can't find a coil listed for the 3010, get a coil for a mid 60's Chevy truck. It will work fine. BTDT.

Hope that's helpful.
 
Many times even when a guy has done about evert thing he can think of doing something small jumps up and kick has back sides. That is why I post what I do because the simple things can/will get you. Like on an 8N I was working on. Good spark but the point gap was wrong and could not be set correctly. Replace the distributor with a rebuilt one and the thing started right up
 
Indeed Al, I AGREE, if he has by mistake a 12 volt coil where a 6 volt belongs and there's still the ballast resistor HES GONNA GET A WEAK SPARK..............

Fun chattin with you

John T
 
I changed to a straight 12 volt coil instead of the one with the built in resistor. It starts fine now. Now I am having fuel problem. It"s acting like it is running out of gas. Will trace that down. Thanks so much to all of the answers. Good people.
 
Dear Buckeye Al, You are one of my favorite persons on this forum and I consider you a genius. However in this particular instance, I would like to clear up one statement. The 3010 would have a six volt coil and a ballast resistor from the factory. With the switch on and the points closed in this correct situation you would have roughly six volts on the battery side of the coil. According to ohm's law the voltage will divide near equally between the primary windings of the coil and the ballast resistor. The voltage will very somewhat dependent upon the resistance values of both the resistor and the coil primary. To be perfectly correct he should either get a proper John Deere coil and the Deere 2 ohm resistor. A Chevrolet coil and the 1.86 ohm resistor will work fine as you suggest. Don't put a Chrysler resistor on as they are only .5 ohm resistance and have to be matched to a Chrysler coil. So far everything is as you stated and there are no problems.

However the scene changes somewhat if he is using the higher primary resistance true 12 volt coil with the factory resistor. In this case with the key on and the points closed(just like in case 1 above), we will get a different result. In this instance the voltage on the battery side of the coil will be HIGHER than above. This is because with a higher primary resistance in the full 12 volt coil and the same resistor, voltage will not divide as close to equal as before. The electrons are smart and they will save more of that voltage to go through that higher resistance in the primary. Consequently there will a higher voltage reading on the battery side of the coil. I mean no disrespect as you are probably the wisest contributor to this forum.
 
(quoted from post at 17:36:54 11/01/17) I changed to a straight 12 volt coil instead of the one with the built in resistor. It starts fine now. Now I am having fuel problem. It"s acting like it is running out of gas. Will trace that down. Thanks so much to all of the answers. Good people.

Massey, you posted "I changed to a straight 12 volt coil instead of the one with the built in resistor. It starts fine now. Now I am having fuel problem. It"s acting like it is running out of gas. Will trace that down. Thanks so much to all of the answers. Good people. "


Hey as they say IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT LOL


Thanks for the feedback. Of course NOT being there and NOT knowing if there's a factory series ballast resistor in place and functioning between the ignition switches IGN output and your new coil its hard to say whats going on. As a tractor dealer I saw a ton of farmer mods over the years and have no way of knowing what you have grrrrrrrrrr


THAT BEING SAID if it does have a ballast resistor (sized to drop 6 volts if the correct coil was there) in place between the ignition switches IGN output and the coil ??????? I personally would have installed a 6 volt coil instead. If the coil is rated for a full 12 volts and there's a ballast resistor between it and the switch, the 12 volt coil (if that's what you have) will be operating at a reduced voltage which can reduce spark energy HOWEVER if there's no ballast in place (may have went bad and removed who knows) then I would have used a full true 12 volt rated coil as you did.


If its running out of gas time to check fuel delivery to the carb and the carb itself including float levels and needle n seat operation so the bowl keeps full and any sediment bowl or other fuel filters.


Thanks again for the feedback


John T
 
I finally put on a new condensor. Then I added a relay which inputs 12 volts staight to the coil to start it. I put a ballast resistor in the wire coming from the key switch. It runs on six volts after the 12 volt start up. Starts every time now. Almost starts when you turn the key. Thanks for the help.
 

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