Good afternoon folks.
You guys/gals are a fount of knowledge and I've read several posts about said topic and I'll be honest...the electrical stuff is pretty intimidating to me.
Here's the details:
1947 9N/2N
6V
all original (as far as I can tell)
Something to ponder in the back of your mind: I don't believe that the battery is charging correctly. Under normal conditions (using the tractor 3-4 times per week for ~30min I have to charge the battery about once a month)
Yesterday afternoon I was bush hogging. Running along great and I knew I was getting low on gas but didn't want to stop to run to town to fill my can and I was nearly done bush hogging so I continued on........ran out of gas.
I return with gas and fill the tank about half. Set the choke about half and crank the tractor over a couple of times to get gas back to the carb. Push in the choke and the tractor should start, or at least kick over, right? Nope. This tractor has always been a hard starter (which I always attributed to the 6V charging system). So I do as we've probably all done before and choked it some more and cranked it some more and nodda! I figured I flooded it. I left the tractor sit with the pipe to the air filter disconnected for about 2 hours while I went on to slowly destroy my garden tiller. A story for another day!
I returned to the tractor and tried again. Nothing.. I knew I was getting fuel as I removed the carb drain plug as Bruce has commended ;-) so many times and the gas flowed in a nice smooth stream from the drain. Then I thought maybe there is an issue with the float... so I returned with a shot of starter fluid. Nothing, not even a cough.
Ok, I must have a spark issue...spark, compression and fuel right? Again, too lazy to walk to the barn again I pulled a plug boot off and placed a screw driver in the boot, gritted my teeth and hit the starter. BAZINGA! well #4 has spark on to #3. BAZINGA again! On the #2.... no not really I stopped after #3. I can only imagine what you all must be thinking! Spent some time scratching my head. Finally broke down and walked to the barn and retrieved my trusty spark indicator tool. (just like the one pictured on the left hand side of Bruce's pictures) Set the dial to about 1/4" and cranked and tested #4. Nothing, I then tried all of the rest of the plugs down to #1 nothing at this gap. Cranked it all the way down to just about nothing and then I finally got a spark. The gap is small enough that I can't get a .025 feeler into it on any plug.
I would assume that the coil is most likely bad. (front mount square) but after reading all of the replies to similar questions I'm not so sure. I'm really afraid to pull the distributor and do anything with the points but I know it will need to be done. I can remember my dad cussing about points and distributors when I was a kid and hope to never relive those moments in front of my kids. ;-)
So what say you? Thoughts, questions, comments, snide remarks?
As always, thanks in advance!
Stranded in a SW Ohio field,
Lowell
You guys/gals are a fount of knowledge and I've read several posts about said topic and I'll be honest...the electrical stuff is pretty intimidating to me.
Here's the details:
1947 9N/2N
6V
all original (as far as I can tell)
Something to ponder in the back of your mind: I don't believe that the battery is charging correctly. Under normal conditions (using the tractor 3-4 times per week for ~30min I have to charge the battery about once a month)
Yesterday afternoon I was bush hogging. Running along great and I knew I was getting low on gas but didn't want to stop to run to town to fill my can and I was nearly done bush hogging so I continued on........ran out of gas.
I return with gas and fill the tank about half. Set the choke about half and crank the tractor over a couple of times to get gas back to the carb. Push in the choke and the tractor should start, or at least kick over, right? Nope. This tractor has always been a hard starter (which I always attributed to the 6V charging system). So I do as we've probably all done before and choked it some more and cranked it some more and nodda! I figured I flooded it. I left the tractor sit with the pipe to the air filter disconnected for about 2 hours while I went on to slowly destroy my garden tiller. A story for another day!
I returned to the tractor and tried again. Nothing.. I knew I was getting fuel as I removed the carb drain plug as Bruce has commended ;-) so many times and the gas flowed in a nice smooth stream from the drain. Then I thought maybe there is an issue with the float... so I returned with a shot of starter fluid. Nothing, not even a cough.
Ok, I must have a spark issue...spark, compression and fuel right? Again, too lazy to walk to the barn again I pulled a plug boot off and placed a screw driver in the boot, gritted my teeth and hit the starter. BAZINGA! well #4 has spark on to #3. BAZINGA again! On the #2.... no not really I stopped after #3. I can only imagine what you all must be thinking! Spent some time scratching my head. Finally broke down and walked to the barn and retrieved my trusty spark indicator tool. (just like the one pictured on the left hand side of Bruce's pictures) Set the dial to about 1/4" and cranked and tested #4. Nothing, I then tried all of the rest of the plugs down to #1 nothing at this gap. Cranked it all the way down to just about nothing and then I finally got a spark. The gap is small enough that I can't get a .025 feeler into it on any plug.
I would assume that the coil is most likely bad. (front mount square) but after reading all of the replies to similar questions I'm not so sure. I'm really afraid to pull the distributor and do anything with the points but I know it will need to be done. I can remember my dad cussing about points and distributors when I was a kid and hope to never relive those moments in front of my kids. ;-)
So what say you? Thoughts, questions, comments, snide remarks?
As always, thanks in advance!
Stranded in a SW Ohio field,
Lowell