My new-to-me '41 H will not start. I bought it this past summer and drove it home. It would not idle, which I traced down to a bad manifold gasket and faulty idle air adjustment. Upon fixing that and cleaning lots of oily grime off the side of the engine (leaky valve cover) I noticed the head gasket was leaking from the manifold side. I pulled the head & installed a new head gasket. I would like to think I did a careful job--I chased all the threads w/ tap & die, and very meticulous numbering all parts & replacing to their exact location, etc. It holds water well with no sign of leakage into the engine.
It came with Autolite 388's and suppression wires, but I installed new Autolite 3116's, and new copper plug wires because I also installed a magneto. The magneto on it throws good 1/4 inch long blue sparks when bench tested and spun by hand. I have verified the timing--it "clicks" just past the 1st of the timing marks with the magneto. I have bright blue sparks at the plugs when tested outside the engine.
After no luck with that I reinstalled the distributor. It also sparks bright and blue.
I could get the tractor to cough a little once with the magneto installed and the tractor on full choke, jumping directly to the starter with a 12V battery to spin it fast. I have had no luck since then--all I am doing now is killing batteries and wasting time. The tractor has step-head pistons in it (3 7/16 bore) but is otherwise stock. I have tried spraying starting fluid in the cylinders and in the carb--no luck either way. I have even tried reversing plug wires (2-3, 1-4) in the off chance it is 180 degrees out of time. Nothing. Compression is very good, as is vacuum. On choke, it pulls a lot of fuel which comes spilling back out of the carb as soon as I stop cranking. However, the plugs do not seem wet, which is odd. Even so, I think it should cough with the starting fluid.
I'll add that it is about 16F here, which makes standing around staring at a non-running tractor all the less fun. Single digits are forecast for next week. Groundhog got it wrong this year.
I'll happily provide any additional details if requested. Any insight on what to check or try next would be appreciated. Sorry to have gone on so long, but I am completely stumped.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Dave41A.
It came with Autolite 388's and suppression wires, but I installed new Autolite 3116's, and new copper plug wires because I also installed a magneto. The magneto on it throws good 1/4 inch long blue sparks when bench tested and spun by hand. I have verified the timing--it "clicks" just past the 1st of the timing marks with the magneto. I have bright blue sparks at the plugs when tested outside the engine.
After no luck with that I reinstalled the distributor. It also sparks bright and blue.
I could get the tractor to cough a little once with the magneto installed and the tractor on full choke, jumping directly to the starter with a 12V battery to spin it fast. I have had no luck since then--all I am doing now is killing batteries and wasting time. The tractor has step-head pistons in it (3 7/16 bore) but is otherwise stock. I have tried spraying starting fluid in the cylinders and in the carb--no luck either way. I have even tried reversing plug wires (2-3, 1-4) in the off chance it is 180 degrees out of time. Nothing. Compression is very good, as is vacuum. On choke, it pulls a lot of fuel which comes spilling back out of the carb as soon as I stop cranking. However, the plugs do not seem wet, which is odd. Even so, I think it should cough with the starting fluid.
I'll add that it is about 16F here, which makes standing around staring at a non-running tractor all the less fun. Single digits are forecast for next week. Groundhog got it wrong this year.
I'll happily provide any additional details if requested. Any insight on what to check or try next would be appreciated. Sorry to have gone on so long, but I am completely stumped.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Dave41A.