Weak spark issues.

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

My first suspicion is you flooded it and the spark plugs are fouled now. Don't think it would be the points or the coil since you were running just fine until you ran out of gas. I'd put a new set of spark plugs in and try it again.

Weak battery make for weak spark, but an old band-aid trick its to temporarily bypass the resistor. Jumper two top resistor terminals together....worked for me last Saturday,

Plugs may need to be cleaned due to flooding. If you can get a car or truck close to it you might try jump starting it by turning it on then ground the - side to a good spot on it and hook the jumper cable to the starter. That way your not pulling any power off the tractor battery so that it will have enough to fire it up. DO NOT hook a 12 volt battery to a 6 volt one or things can go bad as in explode the 6 volt battery

In my experience with N series Fords, they do not like to be choked when the engine is already warm. Many times they will not
start if you choke them if you've already got them hot.
As to the spark issue....I'm sure it is the spark, because even if a jet in your carb was restricted, the engine would still
have started on the starting fluid if you had any decent spark. How come it was running before? Well, brush hogging is heavy
work, and your engine was drawing in a lot of fuel as it labored along. If your plugs hadn't been cleaned in a long time
already, they could very well have become more blackened. As long as the engine was really hot, the high heat in the cylinders
would allow the fuel to be ignited even by the weakest of sparks. After sitting and cooling off, the weak spark might well have
not been enough to restart the engine. Clean/replace plugs...if you still have trouble, look on youtube for a N-series
distributer video if you need help. One thing to remember: you can improve your spark by cleaning (bright and shiny by sanding)
the posts inside the dist. cap, cleaning the tip of the rotor and by making SURE the spring on the top of the rotor under the
cap is positively touching the ball in the center of the underside of the cap. I just fixed a 46' truck the other day that had
very poor/almost no spark...the rotor spring was hardly touching the ball contact in the underside of the cap. If you pull the
dist., do this: close the points, and use a continuity beeper/tester on a voltmeter or a battery powered test bulb to see if
power flows strongly through them when they are closed(one test lead on each side of the points). If power does not flow, or the
test instrument beeps/blinks uncertainly, simply pass a little fine sandpaper through the points, getting both sides, until
power flows through. An invisible film of corrosion can form on them, and even when they appear to be closed and contacting,
power might not flow through them, or at least not optimally. My 9n had no spark this spring, and that was the issue.
You have a good tractor; once you get it fixed, it will be an even better tractor for you, because you'll know how to go about
fixing it next time!!

Good afternoon all.

I thought I would share an update.

I charged the battery for 24 hours and replaced the spark plugs. NADA! Nothing! Zip! Zilch! More words that are not suitable for polite conversation and head scratching followed. The whole time I'm terrified in the back of my mind about removing the distributor and even looking at the points. Finally, after digging out my big boy underware I fetched a 1/2" socket and ratchet from the box closed my eyes and began removing the bolts holding the distributor from "Lulabelle". (I did have the forethought to mark the plug wires and cap so I didn't screw that part up. Once the distributor was in hand I retired to the barn for some testing. I know that resistance is not an exact science but the coil primary and secondary both tested as they should. I removed the condenser and it too tested as it should.

Now the moment of truth, the moment I had avoided for so long. The points................well never having even laid eyes on a set of points before, they didn't look too intimidating. They didn't appear burnt or cracked, broken or out of place (I suppose). However, they did appear dull on their contact faces. At this point in for a penny in for a pound, I took some 2000 grit sand paper to the contact faces of them ever so lightly a few times. I checked the gap (a little tight on the .015 feeler) on all 4 lobes and I was good to go. While I had everything apart I took the sand paper to the contacts in the cap, the rotor button and the contacts on the coil and cleaned and stripped the condenser bonding point with brake cleaner.

To be completely honest I did mark the distributor so I was sure it went back in the the same way it came out. Now I understand how the timing works and realize that this was not needed but at the time it made me feel better.

When I put everything back together..................

VIOLA!!! I didn't even have to use the choke! It started like a champ! Lulabelle lives!!

Now for some reflection about this experience.
1. A new cap and rotor button are in order as the current cap and rotor are showing their age.
2. Don't be afraid of the distributor.
3. The distributor needs new cork gaskets around the coil and cap.
4. In hindsight I think this issue may step from my recurring overheating issue. I think that the radiator spewing coolant down the front of the tractor may have fouled the points and thus caused this issue.

I would like to thank everyone who contributed to helping me figure out this issue! This forum is a great place for scaredy cats like me to come a learn something!

Thanks again!

No longer stranded in a SW Ohio field!

Lowell

(quoted from post at 13:49:56 06/25/15) Weak battery make for weak spark, but an old band-aid trick its to temporarily bypass the resistor. Jumper two top resistor terminals together....worked for me last Saturday,

Click to expand...

BTW, this is the set up that my tractor has. I found this behind the dash while looking for bare wires etc.

Thanks for the follow up report, glad that you get 'er running. You should probably get a new set of points just to have on hand. When you have to sand them like that, they tend not to last too long before they get goobered up again.

My 2N's distributor does not like it when the radiator overflows either. Helps if you can extend your drain tube with some rubber hose (so it doesn't blow on the distributor) if it does it again.