1963. D17 tune up blues.

Lketchem

New User
Here at the Ketchem Cattle Co. We have become very dependant on a 1963. D17.
Always dependable no matter the weather

I finally get the chance for a tune up. Plugs,. Wires,. Cap,. Rotor bug, points set at 0023
Zenith 200 carb soak and rebuild. Starter rebuilt and a new celanoid
All parts assembled and it just won't start. Cranks. Fires. And fails.
Lots of fuel drops out of carb intake if it's a long crank no start.
At my wits end
Manually moving round bales suck.
Anybody have any advice where to start
 
If you chaGED THE condenser put the old one bACK IN. Then do these things.
#1 check that you have a good blue/white spark AT THE CENTER wire of the cap and at all the plug wires that jump a 1/4 inch gap or more.
#2 pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas that will fill a pint jar in less then 2 minutes.
#3 when was the last time you serviced the air cleaner and dumped the mud and water out of it and fill it with fresh oil? #4 pull the air cleaner tube off the carb and try to start it.
Gas dripping out of the carb when your trying to start it say it is flooding or it lack the vacuum needed to pull the gas into the engine.
You might also try this. Hold your hand over the air intake of the carb and try to start it. You should both feel a good suction and get gas on your hand. It might even try to start when you do that
 
was it running before this tune up? cranks , fires and fails sound like u made the problem when you had starter off. are the wires all connected as they were before. this failing is it when u let of the starter?
 
(quoted from post at 13:30:31 01/05/23) Here at the Ketchem Cattle Co. We have become very dependant on a 1963. D17.
Always dependable no matter the weather

I finally get the chance for a tune up. Plugs,. Wires,. Cap,. Rotor bug, points set at 0023
Zenith 200 carb soak and rebuild. Starter rebuilt and a new celanoid
All parts assembled and it just won't start. Cranks. Fires. And fails.
Lots of fuel drops out of carb intake if it's a long crank no start.
At my wits end
Manually moving round bales suck.
Anybody have any advice where to start
Starts and then quits when you let go of the key ?? A 1963 D-17 is what we call a series 3 model. It has a resistor close to the starter solenoid/relay that, when wired correctly, sends 12 volts to the ignition coil for a hotter spark when cranking, and when you quit cranking the current drops back to 6 volts thru the resistor. With the key ON, there should be power to the coil and points. Spark plugs have to be gapped at .025". You cannot just stick them in the engine. They MUST be gapped. Points set at .020" NOT .023". Old condensor is known to be good. It ran before?? So, you've done something wrong.
 
Running through the wires now actually
Retracing steps checking for brittle wires
Suspicious about the ignition
New doesn't mean good.
 
Try this. Run a simple hot wire from the non ground side of the battery to the ignition side of the coil. Ignition side is the side not going to the distributor. Try to start it with it hot wired. If it runs that way you have a wiring problem
 
You probably need to do a spark test before anything else - first from the primary coil wire, then at each of the plug leads. It'll at least start you on the right track.

Did you clean the new points after installing? A lot of new points have an anti-corrosive coating on the contact surfaces that has to be cleaned off, or they won't conduct well (or at all) when closed. For some reason points from Steiner seem to be really bad for this - takes a stroke or two with a points file to clean them (most just need the old dollar bill trick).

As others have noted, it's not uncommon for new condensers to be bad, or go bad very shortly. Sometimes they'll short out and prevent all spark, sometimes it'll still spark, but the bad condenser will cause erratic timing.

Stupid question, but are you sure you've got the plug leads in the right order?
 
I am sure the gap you posted is a fat finger mistake right :) 23 ten thousands is a little thin.
 
Thank you all for your input.
I replaced the new condenser
Set the points wearing my glasses and hit the contacts with 1000 grit paper.
Sputnik fired right up.
Runs really well for her age.
So very glad to have her back.
But I do have one question.
I never noticed the intermittent blue flame out of the exhaust right around dusk . Is this normal looks like we are testing moon shine or something lazy little flame
 
Yes the flames are pretty normal and it happens all the time but you only see them when it is dark or getting dark out
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top