This message is a reply to an archived post by davidrzun on July 07, 2011 at 22:06:23.
The original subject was "8n 12v coil, leave resistor or not ??????".
Hi all, new here to the forums and new to working on 8N tractors. My father passed away in May and I have inherited his 1948 8N. He had previously done the conversion to 12 volts but hadn't had time to convert it to electronic ignition yet. He had purchased the parts to convert it but didn't have a chance to do it before he passed. So he asked me to do it after I inherited the tractor. I've been an old muscle car hot rodder all my life (I'm 47 now) so I figured it wouldn't be too big a job to do. Wen't pretty smoothly really.
Before I did it though I went out to try to start the tractor just to get a feel for how things were with it. The battery was shot so I had to go buy another one. I got that in and discovered I was getting no spark to the plugs. I had voltage to the coil at the nut on the top and traced it back and found a problem with the ignition coil. When trying to take wires off of it to test it one of the lugs twisted off and I noticed that the resistor across the top was broken in half. When I touched it the thing crumbled in my hands. So I ordered a new ignition coil and proceeded to do the upgrade to the distributor while I waited for it to get here. I have a feeling the points and condenser were also part of the problem of not getting spark at the plugs. In doing my research I discovered that I did not have the second ballast resistor that some people mentioned but it seemed like I didn't need it from what I read. As a side note, prior to all of this the tractor was running good before it was parked about a year ago. We used it for bush hogging and other things around the property so I know that it was running well before it was parked.
So today I took my new parts and went out and installed everything. The battery was weak, I think from sitting in the cold weather and my attempts at cranking it before. I did have spark at the plugs now though which I didn't have before with the old points and condenser distributor and ignition coil so I think that was a good fix. Progress made right! I had my truck connected to the tractor battery with jumper cables since it was weak while I was trying to crank it and it was turning over and then I noticed a hot electrical smell. I looked around the tractor and noticed smoke coming out around the distributor cap. So I disconnected the battery and pulled the distributor cap to find smoke coming from the coil.
I have been doing some more research but one thing I can't figure out is how to tell if it is a 12v coil or a 6v coil. It is a front mounted distributor and knowing how my dad did things I would think it would be a 12v coil but my concern is that since there is no seperate ballast resistor, just the one on the ignition coil, that I have burned up this coil because there was no second resistor? My electronics background is sort of weak but I know enough to get into trouble as they say
which apparently I have done in this case.
After this happened I did test that resistor on the ignition coil to see if I had messed it up and it still showed 3 ohms resistance so I think it is okay and also I still have 12 volts at the wire that connects to the nut on top of the coil. So I believe the rest of the electrical system is okay still. I have a feeling having the battery connected with the jumper cables while trying to crank it was too much for this coil.
So I guess what I need help with is figuring out which type of coil I have and is there a valid way to test and see if I did destroy it before I order a new one?
Also I am assuming if I do order a new one I should order an 12v one and then I should not need to add the second ballast resistor as mentioned in the original post, correct?
Thanks in advance,
Tim
reference info:
I found this forum based on this original post: http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/nboard/messages/823285.html
This is the electronic ignition kit that I installed:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Pertronix-Electronic-Ignition-Kit-2N-8N-9N-EF4FM-Front-Mount-Distributor-/131789541532
This is the ignition coil I purchased and installed:
https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Ignition-A8NN12250A-Resistor-Assembly/dp/B00MTZB4AE/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1480263684&sr=8-9&keywords=ford+8n+ignition+coil
This is the coil I am thinking of purchasing:
https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-IFD0003-Ignition-Tractor-Front/dp/B00Q8LS1T2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480263684&sr=8-1&keywords=ford+8n+ignition+coil
I am thinking this would be the resistor I might need:
https://www.amazon.com/TISCO-Tisco-8NE10306-Electrical-Resistor/dp/B00BW5SVVW/ref=pd_bxgy_86_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00BW5SVVW&pd_rd_r=3TRAZGQTHX8XN0N3Q6VX&pd_rd_w=jYSEf&pd_rd_wg=yf3wi&psc=1&refRID=3TRAZGQTHX8XN0N3Q6VX
The original subject was "8n 12v coil, leave resistor or not ??????".
Hi all, new here to the forums and new to working on 8N tractors. My father passed away in May and I have inherited his 1948 8N. He had previously done the conversion to 12 volts but hadn't had time to convert it to electronic ignition yet. He had purchased the parts to convert it but didn't have a chance to do it before he passed. So he asked me to do it after I inherited the tractor. I've been an old muscle car hot rodder all my life (I'm 47 now) so I figured it wouldn't be too big a job to do. Wen't pretty smoothly really.
Before I did it though I went out to try to start the tractor just to get a feel for how things were with it. The battery was shot so I had to go buy another one. I got that in and discovered I was getting no spark to the plugs. I had voltage to the coil at the nut on the top and traced it back and found a problem with the ignition coil. When trying to take wires off of it to test it one of the lugs twisted off and I noticed that the resistor across the top was broken in half. When I touched it the thing crumbled in my hands. So I ordered a new ignition coil and proceeded to do the upgrade to the distributor while I waited for it to get here. I have a feeling the points and condenser were also part of the problem of not getting spark at the plugs. In doing my research I discovered that I did not have the second ballast resistor that some people mentioned but it seemed like I didn't need it from what I read. As a side note, prior to all of this the tractor was running good before it was parked about a year ago. We used it for bush hogging and other things around the property so I know that it was running well before it was parked.
So today I took my new parts and went out and installed everything. The battery was weak, I think from sitting in the cold weather and my attempts at cranking it before. I did have spark at the plugs now though which I didn't have before with the old points and condenser distributor and ignition coil so I think that was a good fix. Progress made right! I had my truck connected to the tractor battery with jumper cables since it was weak while I was trying to crank it and it was turning over and then I noticed a hot electrical smell. I looked around the tractor and noticed smoke coming out around the distributor cap. So I disconnected the battery and pulled the distributor cap to find smoke coming from the coil.
I have been doing some more research but one thing I can't figure out is how to tell if it is a 12v coil or a 6v coil. It is a front mounted distributor and knowing how my dad did things I would think it would be a 12v coil but my concern is that since there is no seperate ballast resistor, just the one on the ignition coil, that I have burned up this coil because there was no second resistor? My electronics background is sort of weak but I know enough to get into trouble as they say
which apparently I have done in this case.After this happened I did test that resistor on the ignition coil to see if I had messed it up and it still showed 3 ohms resistance so I think it is okay and also I still have 12 volts at the wire that connects to the nut on top of the coil. So I believe the rest of the electrical system is okay still. I have a feeling having the battery connected with the jumper cables while trying to crank it was too much for this coil.
So I guess what I need help with is figuring out which type of coil I have and is there a valid way to test and see if I did destroy it before I order a new one?
Also I am assuming if I do order a new one I should order an 12v one and then I should not need to add the second ballast resistor as mentioned in the original post, correct?
Thanks in advance,
Tim
reference info:
I found this forum based on this original post: http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/nboard/messages/823285.html
This is the electronic ignition kit that I installed:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ford-Pertronix-Electronic-Ignition-Kit-2N-8N-9N-EF4FM-Front-Mount-Distributor-/131789541532
This is the ignition coil I purchased and installed:
https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Ignition-A8NN12250A-Resistor-Assembly/dp/B00MTZB4AE/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1480263684&sr=8-9&keywords=ford+8n+ignition+coil
This is the coil I am thinking of purchasing:
https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-IFD0003-Ignition-Tractor-Front/dp/B00Q8LS1T2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480263684&sr=8-1&keywords=ford+8n+ignition+coil
I am thinking this would be the resistor I might need:
https://www.amazon.com/TISCO-Tisco-8NE10306-Electrical-Resistor/dp/B00BW5SVVW/ref=pd_bxgy_86_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00BW5SVVW&pd_rd_r=3TRAZGQTHX8XN0N3Q6VX&pd_rd_w=jYSEf&pd_rd_wg=yf3wi&psc=1&refRID=3TRAZGQTHX8XN0N3Q6VX