Old tractor misses and dies out of the blue

rcrown · Oct 12, 2015

I have a 55 ford that is having a difficult time running all of a sudden. The tractor appears to have a miss at idle, applying the throttle has no effect, still misses then stalls out, thought it was gas but flow pretty good out of tank. I currently replaced the cap, rotor, plugs, points and wires. The tractor was running fine afterwards. This new formed issue came out of the blue, was thinking maybe coil. The way the tractor looks to be wired is battery, key, resister, coil, then distributor. Does anyone have any recommendations on what might cause this issue that i am experiencing?

Thank you
Ron

maxwell99 · Oct 12, 2015

I know some will say not to just throw new parts at a problem.

I had one act similarly, run a short while then die, let it set and it would run again.

If you are absolutely sure the fuel tank cap vent is not stopped up and you do not have
a vacuum being created inside the fuel tank. That you are getting fuel to the
carburetor when it starts missing and dies (normally they will run 30-40 minutes before
they die of fuel starvation).

I would change the coil, if it's mounted next to the motor block, if it has a broken
wire, as soon as it picks up some heat from the motor block, the coil will start to
expand, shorting out the broken wire, when the motor and coil cool, the motor will start
up again and run awhile.

Post what you find wrong and what fixed the problem, others may need that information in
the future.

old · Oct 12, 2015

Do some real trouble shooting not a bunch of guessing. Make sure you have a good blue/white spark from the center wire on the cap that jumps a 1/4 inch gap or more. Then if it is good there check at all 4 plug wires for the same type of spark. If you have it there pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas that will fill a pint jar in 3 minutes or less.

souNdguy · Oct 12, 2015

I'm with old. quit guessing and start troubleshooting.

miss at idle and throttle kills it? sounds way lean to me.

So what is the spark like. I know you just threw a ton of parts at it.

If spark is good. check to see if she is lean.

as a test.. se if a little ( varrying degree ) of choke helps.

Colin King · Oct 12, 2015

Ron, The most likley culprit is an ignition part. As the others said, check for spark using a spare plug. You should be getting a good hot zap. Double check that your points didn't slip, causing an incorrect gap.

Fuel is much less likely, but where are you checking for fuel flow? You should be checking at the carburetor.

Colin, MN

Leroy · Oct 13, 2015

The one thing you did not mention replacing is the condensor, try that and see what it does, may have to try a few to find a good one.

jtwat · Oct 14, 2015

Worn distributor bushings will also cause this problem. I had the same problem and went through the complete fuel system then ignition system before hooking up a dwell meter and seeing the dwell jumping all over the place.

Old tractor misses and dies out of the blue

rcrown

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maxwell99

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old

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souNdguy

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Colin King

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Leroy

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jtwat

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