8N will not start, Help!

I own a 1951 8N Tractor and it quit on me. It has gas, it has spark, but gas is apparently not getting to the plugs. I have run out of ideas. I put in new plugs, cap, added gas, rebuilt the carb, Appreciating any response on this. I was in the middle of spreading gravel......

You say it has spark and gas but do you have

#1 a good blue/white spark at the center wire of the distributor cap and also at the 4 plug wires that will jump a 1/4 inch gap or more???

Do you have a good steady flow of gas form the carb drain plug that will fill a pont jar in less then 3 minutes??

#1, yes, have not tried the gas drain yet. It does drain gas out the air intake when I am trying to start it

That would indicate that the float/needle is stuck and your plugs are fouled. Try tapping the float bowl with handle of a screwdriver (not a BFH as you might feel like !). Pull the plugs and give them a moment with a propane torch - Luck. HTH

thanks, will try again tomorrow

things to check

1 good spark (bright blue spark 1/4"gap min)
2 good fuel flow (and not stale gas)
3 a rich enough fuel air mix (is the choke working)
4 is the distributor timed correctly (#1 on just before TDC rotor pointing at #1 plug wire)
5 proper firing order (1.3.4.2 IIRC)
6 enough compression in the cyl (60+ psi more is better and less than 20% difference between them)
7 is the rotor turning (could be a bad dist gear)
8 distibutor cap could be corroded or cracked also check for carbon archs across pins as ell is he
centre pin still there
9 are the plugs working (gapped correctly not fowled and not cracked also if you have spark t the
coil wire do you have it at each plug)

10 let us know what you find

hope I didn't miss somethinh

many yrs ago in my 20's I worked for a trailer sale repair place
they had a ford 8n
should have been scraped out 20 yrs before I got there
to say at the least it shoulda been rescued by someone that cared
to get it going in the morning in the summer even with gas dripping out of the carb
we had a spray bottle of gas we gave it a cple sprites up the carb
then choked it with a board as it had no choke plate
it took about 20 cranks to gt it going
as long as it didn't sit too long it would start every time the rest of the day
I couldn't stand working there after about 3 months as that was one of the better pieces of
equipment
their idea of fixing company stuff was not till it can't be worked or run after messing with it for
the day
but for what that poor little ford went through and kept on going I have a lot of respect for them
and keeping my own stuff in good working condition

good luck

How did you determine that gas is not getting to the plugs? I would put my money on it being the points. File the points and gap them. See if that does it.

thank you both for the comments. I put in new plugs and after a lot of cranking, they are still dry. I replaced the cap and the rotor, no help. There seems to be a good spark at the points, and the spark is enough at the plugs to make me wish I had done a better job of not grounding myself to the wire! The rotor is turning, the choke works as does the accelerator. I am quite frankly stumped. I have taken the carb completely apart and cleaned it, I have not checked compression, but it sucks my palm into the carb quite nicely. I even tried spraying starting fluid up the carb with absolutely no results. I have been driving this tractor for 5 years now and have kept it up well. It just sputtered and died. I also replaced the condenser.

sounds like a timing issue
you said it was running fine then it just sputtered n died and won't restart
you have good spark should eliminate a bad condenser
the rotor spins but is it in the correct spot
IIRC there's a pin that holds the gear in place on the dist shaft
if it shears it will knock out the timing but still offer enough holding force to turn the rotor
next guess will be the cam shaft timing gear
but I don't know if that motor has a chain or is strait gear to gear set up
could be a stretched chain has jumped
or the shear key on either gear could be sheared
if the dist timing is off
1 check dist holding bolt is tight and the dist has only moved
next will be the gear on the bottom of dist
if neither then I would say its going to be deeper in at the timing gears

Just reminds me of the time I could not get my Farmall H to start.... brother came by, I showed him .... he asked if I had set my own points??? I said well yes, of course. He said here give me screwdriver.... a minute later old H started right up, and I have not touched those points for years now.

Post over at the 9/2/8 N forum on this site. They will get you going. I will say you need to diagnose your problem before you start throwing parts at it. Be sure to say if it is 6V or 12V and front mount distributor or side mount in your post.

Hold your hand over the throat of the carburetor to check for suction while a helper makes an attempt to start the engine. Also Bring No1 piston to TDC on the compression stroke, then see where your rotor is pointing. Should be pointing at the No1 plug tower. Hal