8N Points question

Ron Petterson · Oct 23, 2015

Have 8N Ford red belly, front mount distributor. When the tractor sits for any extended period of time I have to take out the distributor and clean and set points. Only takes 30 minutes or so, but would like to know if anyone who has experienced this issue knows any trick that keeps the points from doing this. Using the best points I can use, not the ones that are Chinese junk that burn out after just a few hours of run time. The points don't even look bad when I check them. Any know tricks to solve the problem would be appreciated.

Den N Ms · Oct 23, 2015

Ron.Put all 3 new gaskets on the distributor it keeps out dirt,dust and moisture.

Steve@Advance · Oct 24, 2015

What electric system are you running? Still 6v or converted to 12v? If it's been converted, was the coil changed or the proper resistor installed?

How are the distributor bushings? If worn, the points won't stay properly gaped and will arc and over heat.

Unless you are keeping the tractor totally stock for show purposes, electronic conversion kits are available at reasonable cost.

Ron Petterson · Oct 24, 2015

I am running stock. Nothing has changed on tractor to upgrade to a different voltage or electronic system. In other post about electronic systems, there are a lot of negatives posted concerning the front mount distributor and all the things that have to be changed to get them installed and working properly. When I remove the distributor to reset the points, the points have no burn marks or other damage of any kind since I began using better points (The Chinese ones did have small places where they burned and they burned out fairly fast). I don't mind taking the distributor out and cleaning and resetting them when the weather is warm in the summer, but in the winter I would prefer not to have to do that.

Bob · Oct 24, 2015

"all the things that have to be changed to get them installed and working properly."

While I am NOT one that believes the Pertronix units are the cure-all for all ills, NOTHING of any consequence has to be changed to get them installed on an "as-original" 6 Volt system.

If you have a good battery, a good charging system, and keep the battery charged (as needed) during long periods of non-use, likely you will have NO issues, whatever with the EI conversion.

Oh, yeah, and NEVER reverse the ground polarity or leave the ignition switch "on" while the engine is NOT running.

All that being said, I can't help but wonder if, rather than the points, you have some issues with poor connection(s) between the coil, distributor contact, points/condenser or distributor cap, and when you have problems and remove the distributor to muck with the points that poor connection gets jiggled around a bit and you then have spark for a while.

Could also be a "shorting" issue where something isn't quite right and shorts until you tweak things around a bit.

souNdguy · Oct 26, 2015

Ditto what Den said.

you using the gaskets?

Ron Petterson · Oct 26, 2015

Dan/Soundguy...As far as I know they are all there. I have not changed anything since I bought the tractor years ago, but they could have been missing one from previous owners work that I am not aware of. There is a gasket on the coil on top of distributor, one between block and distributor and a round hard paper or thin cardboard like on between rotor and the points. Any others that I should be ware of?

8N Points question

Ron Petterson

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Den N Ms

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Steve@Advance

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Ron Petterson

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Bob

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souNdguy

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Ron Petterson

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