1949 8N Wont Start.

Ran fine when I parked it just before winter,now it wont start.I had everything on hand for a tune up so I started there. Points,plugs,rotor,condenser,and a new coil just in case.I did not replace the distributor cap.It looked fine.Plug wires are fairly new.I removed the gas valve and screens.they were clean.No crud. Tank looks nice and bright inside.Blew out the gas line .removed the carb and flushed it out with kerosene and aerosol carb cleaner. Carb is getting gas. Motor turns over fairly strong and continues to do so until the battery start punking out.It just wont fire.I set the dizzy up according to the ITT manual.Got a bit confused on the need to set the timing with the 2 straight edges cause it seems to me the dizzy can only go in one way and the shaft has to match up with the slot on the camshaft.Am I suppose to top out the number one piston first ? I know the Firing order is 1243 but are the cylinders 1234.Just curious if I got the wires back on correctly Number 3 on the dizzy is no.3 cylinder .right.Almost forgot.I broke the copper strip that joins the condenser to the points co I replaced the entire plate with the points and such already on it.Set the points to.015 also.

It is a front mount dizzy.

Do you have spark at the spark plugs?
If not, are you getting voltage to the coil? You should have
battery voltage points open and about half that points closed.

I don't want to jump to conclusions, so check it out, but it sounds
like a typical symptom of a bad ignition switch. Got water/snow/
corrosion in it over the winter and now no voltage to the coil.

If that's the case you can run a hot wire from the battery to the
coil, bypassing the switch for testing. Don't run it more than a
few minutes that way though or you can damage your coil.

Yes, cylinders are 1234. #1 being at the front.What does the spark look like at the plugs?

Spark at the plugs was weak and the interval between sparks seems rather long. I will check the ignition switch tomorrow.

Billie,

My N was starting on first crank, then wouldn't start at all after N sat in a pouring rain. Pulled plugs and had orange sparks. I pulled dizzy cap and it had the slightest amount of condensation and I thought this isn't the problem and wiped it out.

N was back to starting on first crank. Good lesson for me.

Billie-
If the tractor sat for over 30 days without being fired up and battery recharged, chances are the battery got drained and won't hold a charge. I would start there before throwing all new parts into the mix. How old is the battery first of all? If 5 years or more, get a new one. Spend the extra few bucks on a good brand, not a cheaper wally world or tsc one. You can take your battery into a starter/alternator shop to have them bench test under load to see if battery is good or not. When you said 49 8N I knew it was a front mount distributor, so with the straight edges, you are setting the timing when the points just start to open at the proper position. Now TOH (The Old Hokie) makes and sells a gage to set the front mount timing and is well worth the 15 bucks to get one. Also, the points probably corroded setting that long so cleaning them might be worth a try too. You need three things to run an engine -spark, fuel, and compression. Let's concentrate on spark and fuel for now. You say you have good fuel flow. The next test is to check for spark. See Bruce(VA)'s 75 Tips For N-Owners. The firing order 1,2,4,3 with cylinders being 1234 starting at the front of tractor. Looking at your distributor cap from the front, some nipples are marked, most new aftermarket ones are not. The plug wires go left to right with #1 being at the top left nipple, #2 at he bottom left, #4 at the bottom right, and #3 at the top right. Get a good battery and check for spark then report back but don't put anymore new parts into it yet.

[i:654c4848f0][b:654c4848f0]<font size="4">Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)</font>[/b:654c4848f0][/i:654c4848f0]<table width="100" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bordercolor="#000000"><tr><td height="25" colspan="2" bgcolor="#CC0000"></td></tr><tr><td> </td><td></td></tr></table>

The battery went dead when I first tried to start it.Put it on the charger and it cranked really strong.Still holding its charge too.Everything in the dizzy is new.Guys,I am not much of a mechanic but enjoy tinkering with the old boy.So please bear with me if I ask a ton of questions.I assume the dizzy shaft connects to the cam shaft.If the two don't mate up wouldn't I have to turn the dizzy shaft to get it to slide into the cam ?If If I do that wouldn't that change the timing I just set.Guess I need to check with TOH about buying one of his gauges.The batt.is about 2 years old. The ignition switch is the same age.Thanks for your patience and help. It may take me a couple days to get back to you as I have 2 family members in the hospital and it doesn't look good for them.Thanks again.