I recently acquired an 8N (12 V, side mount distributor) that I intend to use primarily for mowing our field and snow removal from the driveway. The tractor was in need of routine maintenance and got new points, rotor, condenser, distributor cap, coil, engine oil, hydraulic fluid, and 160 F thermostat. I have about 6 hours on the engine since the above maintenance and up until today it has been working very well. Easy starting, smooth idle at 450 RPM, and smooth running all the way up to 2100 RPM.
The tractor was last used this past Sunday to mow about an acre of field without any problem. With the recent cold weather and a little bit of snow, I wanted to test out the tractor but found that the engine would not rev above about 400 RPM while in the cold.
The tractor is kept in a garage that is about 35 degrees F and it was a little more difficult to start than when 60F. I idled it for a few minutes to warm up and started driving down the driveway at about 1200 RPM but lost power after a minute or two. The engine would start and idle roughly, but I could not get the engine to increase RPM. The throttle linkage would move and the governor would move the link to the carburetor but the engine would not increase speed. Fuel flow at the carb drain was good and jumping the key switch did not improve the situation. I was able to limp the tractor back to the garage where I adjusted the point gap and timing. Both were close to where they should be.
After checking gap and timing in the 35 F garage, the tractor started up and idled fine at 800 RPM. Before backing out of the garage, the engine had been running about 10 minutes and I was able to run it from idle to 1800 RPM (didn’t want to push it to full throttle) without issue. However, after heading out into the cold (around 0 F) for a minute or two the engine again lost power while running about 1500 RPM. The best I could do was keep the engine running roughly at 400 RPM. Even after idling this way in the cold for 15 minutes I could not get any more power.
Within 5 minutes of limping the tractor back to the warmer garage it would again run normally. Any ideas on what could be so sensitive to the cold? Thanks for the advice.
The tractor was last used this past Sunday to mow about an acre of field without any problem. With the recent cold weather and a little bit of snow, I wanted to test out the tractor but found that the engine would not rev above about 400 RPM while in the cold.
The tractor is kept in a garage that is about 35 degrees F and it was a little more difficult to start than when 60F. I idled it for a few minutes to warm up and started driving down the driveway at about 1200 RPM but lost power after a minute or two. The engine would start and idle roughly, but I could not get the engine to increase RPM. The throttle linkage would move and the governor would move the link to the carburetor but the engine would not increase speed. Fuel flow at the carb drain was good and jumping the key switch did not improve the situation. I was able to limp the tractor back to the garage where I adjusted the point gap and timing. Both were close to where they should be.
After checking gap and timing in the 35 F garage, the tractor started up and idled fine at 800 RPM. Before backing out of the garage, the engine had been running about 10 minutes and I was able to run it from idle to 1800 RPM (didn’t want to push it to full throttle) without issue. However, after heading out into the cold (around 0 F) for a minute or two the engine again lost power while running about 1500 RPM. The best I could do was keep the engine running roughly at 400 RPM. Even after idling this way in the cold for 15 minutes I could not get any more power.
Within 5 minutes of limping the tractor back to the warmer garage it would again run normally. Any ideas on what could be so sensitive to the cold? Thanks for the advice.