Pastors 8N needs help

Hoping you guys might give me some pointers to look for on a 51 8N that won't hit a lick. My Pastor has asked me to give him a hand getting his running again but I've never been around an 8N although I've done my share of work on Farmalls and Cases.

Unfortunately its about 75 miles away and I have very little info to go on other than it ran until he parked it last spring. Said he has since installed a new carb, points, cap, wires, plugs, coil but still nothing. Any tips or special tools I might need or just the basics? My thoughts are bad fuel and maybe a points issue.

He has it listed on Craigslist too. I welcome any suggestions.
http://montgomery.craigslist.org/grd/3604209754.html

Point gap = .025"
spark plug gap = .025"
Jump a wire from the (-)battery post (the one going to the starter) over to the (-) wire going to your coil. This will bypass your ignition switch and other sources of electrical problems. MAKE SURE THE TRACTOR IS IN NEUTRAL or you"re in the seat when you try it.
Make sure it"s spinning when you pull the choke so as not to foul the plugs. If plugs are fouled; try a dry set or take a propane torch and dry the ones you just took out. replace them and try again.
I don"t know the carb settings. Some one else might. If you have fuel running out the plug on the bottom of the carb when you open it; you may still have plugged passages. I don"t usually advocate starting ether but a little spritz in the carb throat will get it to run after a fashion for a brief period if you have no fuel making it past the carb. At this point you"ll know if it runs whether you have a fuel problem or, if it don"t run, an ignition problem.
Good luck.

With everything already done, i would try the tip below about the plugs. If he couldn't get the tractor started in the first place, almost a 100% chance the plugs have a coating on them. Even if he did put in new plugs to start with, if he cranked the tractor over enough times without firing, the new plugs probably have that nasty invisable coating on them now.

I forgot to mention that your connections need to be clean and tight, too.

id take points , condenser, and plugs with you, maybe some electrical wire and terminal ends, pull the distributor, 2 bolts, 1 wire, keep them in order side to side, the distributor will only fit one way when you go back and that way you have it out where you can see something, im betting its flooded, fouled the plugs due to something in the distributor touching ground,or the little pigtail spring isnt making contact from the coil , a common problem if somebody tried to install points ect with the distributor on the engine, also pull the plug on the bottom of the carb with the sediment bowl turned on, to verify fuel flow, if no fuel, there should be 3 screens if somebody hasnt been at it, one in the carb elbow, 1 in the sediment bowl, and one on top of the shut off valve inside the gas tank, if it has these and a add on inline filter throw the inline away, unless its a filter for a motorcycle or lawn mower the inline filters are designed to be run on a pressurized fuel system, the n is a gravity feed system, and the screens are enough to clean the fuel.if that doesnt have it running post back [ either way] and we'll dig into it deeper, the N tractor is about as simple as it gets mechanical wise and isnt hard to fix

I don"t recommend pulling the distributor on a "51 8N side-mount.($.02)

Thanks for all the tips! I feel better about being able to help him now. I hate to see him give up and just give it away due to a simple problem. Thanks again!

your right i didnt have my eyes open enough to see that was a side mount, do not pull the distributor ,you can work on these where they are, but do bring what i posted ,thats stuff will cover most of the likely causes of a n tractor no start,if it was running before and recently , the one exception is if the ignition switch itself is bad, which we'll talk you thru if the other things dont fix it, the most likely cause is no fuel in the carb due to clogged screens followed by flooded plugs, if fuel is present in the carb, the flooded plugs may be caused by too much choke or something grounded in the distributor,causing no spark, the electric wire and terminals are in case you find a damaged wire in the system, its possible,and you dont want a parts trip for a 4 dollar roll of wire , lets us know what you find out there are many here who can help you and talk you thru virtually anything you find

Looks like we're heading down Saturday morning to give it a try. Any idea on starting point for the carb settings?

(quoted from post at 10:42:20 03/06/13) Looks like we're heading down Saturday morning to give it a try. Any idea on starting point for the carb settings?

Click to expand...

One turn open on idle jet and 2 turns open on main jet is a good starting point. may need abit more or less on main jet for best running.

Brian.........you ask how to adjust the M/S carb. I recommend the down-pointing mainjet, 2-turns and LEAVITT!!!

I then adjust the side-pointing idlemix for FASTEST idle, NOT SMOOTHEST idle. Understand the difference??? I then adjust the BEHIND the carb idle speed for a SLOOOooow 400-rpms (ennythang under 500-rpms is good) I do this 3-times. Remember, the side-pointing idlemix is BASSACKWARDS; out fer lean; IN fer ENRICH. The last time I adjusted the carb on my eazy starting 6-volt 52-8N; the side-pointing idlemix was 1/8-th turn and idle was 435-rpms. Yers should be similar. ........HTH, Dell

He's a preacher, tell him to pray over it, maybe do a laying on of hands...... :lol:

First thing I'd check would be the points, run a piece of paper between em to make sure they are clean.

Rick