Ford 600 Distributor Question

Sbeck920

New User
Hi all, Im having a no start condition on a recently acquired
Ford 600. Im fairly new to tractors and am trying to
diagnose and fix the issue. Im not getting any spark at the
plugs. Ive replaced the plugs, cable and coil. Im thinking
the issue might be in the distributor. I opened it up tonight
to do a visual inspection on it and there appears to be some
red fabric/insulation inside of it. Im doing some research
and cant find anything online or in the manual about this.



Does anyone know what this could be, or is it some type of
foreign object that made its way passed the dust over?

cvphoto140344.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 19:11:16 11/10/22) Hi all, Im having a no start condition on a recently acquired
Ford 600. Im fairly new to tractors and am trying to
diagnose and fix the issue. Im not getting any spark at the
plugs. Ive replaced the plugs, cable and coil. Im thinking
the issue might be in the distributor. I opened it up tonight
to do a visual inspection on it and there appears to be some
red fabric/insulation inside of it. Im doing some research
and cant find anything online or in the manual about this
First, stop throwing parts at it. If I had a dollar for every good coil replaced .....
Majority of no spark in a points ignition system, is, well the points. They must be clean, no corrosion, in good condition, opening and closing correctly. After all that they must have continuity through them when closed. That last statement is one of the biggest problems.

Cant really tell by your pic, but the contacts almost look non existent. Could be an optical illusion. Read up on cleaning points, replacing points, gapping points, etc.

The red fabric is a wiper. Common, though not on all points. Helps keep your points cam and points rubbing block clean and lubricated.
 
Thanks! Was really confused about the wiper. Ill keep
reading up on it. The tractor has been sitting for a good
year. When I popped the coil wire off to just check it out it
broke which is why I replaced it, and the coil was completely
corroded where the wire connects. Im really trying to not
throw parts at it, but when the wire came apart in my hands
I was really hoping that was the culprit.
 
Yeah the clip is present. Im looking at the picture again
and it does look like the contact point is broken. Im going
to open it back up tomorrow when the sun comes out. I
completely missed that when I was trying to find out what
the wiper was.
 
Most likely problem is the points are dirty or need to be replaced due to the fact it sat a longtime
 
Have never seen a point setup quite like the ones shown but the wick is supposed to keep a little lubricant on the cam.
 
It's been ages since I saw points with a wiper. Looks like whoever put them in forgot to grease the block since there's no discoloration.
 
I am surprised these guys do not know the origin of the felt wiper on the points. That set of points are the Standard brand ..Blue Streak.. units. They were and still are the higher quality line of Standard Ignition Products. However when the points were installed the wick is supposed to be bent the other direction away from the points contacts to avoid any lube from the wick misting onto the contacts. Also
a BB sized spot of grease smeared around the distributor cam is all the lube needed. In the link is an example of a new set of Blue Streak points, not sure what they fit that just popped up in my search.

Now to address your problem. What you need is an automotive test light. Ground the test light lead to something and then turn on the key. Now check if you have power at the wire on the coil that is NOT going to the distributor. This is checking two things, one that the coil is being powered and secondly that the test light lead is grounding properly to light the test light. Next in the position shown in the picture with the points closed probing the terminal on the points the condenser connects to there should be no power. But I suspect you are going to find there is power. This means your points are not making proper contact. So you have to rectify this by filing, sandpaper or whatever means it takes to get them to contact properly. Then you should set the gap, not a Ford guy so I do not know the gap spec. This may also mean you have to go as far as replacing the points. Then when you get to that point you should be able to pry with a screwdriver between the distributor cam and the points rub block and when the points are open the test light will light. And when they are are closed it should not light. That shows you the points have proper continuity and are giving the coil the momentary ground it needs to function. One thing I should add is try to minimize the amount of time you have the key on and the points are closed this can heat up the ignition coil which is not good for it.
Blue Streak example point set
 
Sbeck920 , From what I can see from your picture The red wire from the coil to the distributor is disconnected from the points where the condenser wire is hooked . Is it hooked to the points?
 
As I said not a Ford guy but I think it is coming up from
the bottom and in the terminal from that direction you
cannot see. I put an a red line to it. You are right it
does not hurt for it to be checked.

cvphoto140418.jpg
 
Looks to me that the plate the points are mounted on should be taken off and cleaned up along with the inside of the distrutor where plate sits on. You have to have a good clean ground.
 
(quoted from post at 15:04:56 11/12/22) And while you're in there turn the dist shaft and see if the advance mechanism is free.
....turn the dist shaft..." Unless he removes the distributor so as to disconnect its drive from the camshaft gear, he will not be turning the distributor shaft.
 

Well the points were definitely the problem. I was able to get spark out of the plugs and fire her up... For about a minute.

Also to address one other point, in the picture. Yes, the coil wire was attached to the points, it is hard to see in the picture but one of the previous owners put a crimped ring connector around the bolt, in the picture as pointed out above you can see some of the blue plastic connector leading up to the terminal.

Now on to the next issue, it looks to be something in the fuel/air mixture. I'm guessing the carb is good and messed up from sitting for so long. I just hope I can get this thing moving before winter, it'd be great to have to help clean up this Michigan snow (if it ever comes).

Thanks all for the help with the points/distributor issue! I'm pretty new to all of this, but that wiper/wick really had me scratching my head.
 
Pull the carb drain plug and see if you get some water or such out and or rusty gas. Next turn on the gas valve with the drain plug out and make sure you get a good steady flow of gas that will fill a point jar in less then 2 minutes. And yes do catch the gas to look for water/dirt etc. in it
 

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