John Deere 60 only running on one cylinder

Dustyfarms

New User
Hi I have a John Deere 60 that I m having trouble with I have put some time into trying to figure it out but having some trouble. What s happening is it s only running on one cylinder I have done a couple of things to try and fix it but still no luck, I have tried cleaning the carburetor and putting it in an ultra sonic cleaner, I have rebuilt the carb too, I installed new points and condenser, tested the coil, installed me cap and rotor, new wires, and still have no luck im not sure what else to look for
 
Change the spark plugs. Depending on how old this 60 is, it might be needing an engine overhaul (from using oil) and the oil gets past the rings and can cause plugs fouling. I know as it happened to me on a 50.
 
Troubleshooting should always be a process of elimination done in an orderly manner from the simple to the more complex. One of the easiest ways was to check spark is get one of those in-line spark checking tools, the plastic observation chamber with a female connection to go on the plug and a male connection to go on the end of the plug wire. That will let you know if you have spark. If that checks out, then pull the wire off of the side that fires and pull the plug on the side that does not and give it a whiff of starting fluid, replace the plug and then see if that side will fire. If it does, your problem is fuel. if it does not you should do a compression check.
 
The most obvious would be a spark plug or due to being
fouled. Points will not make one cyl not fire. U basically
replaced everything else that is probably is not the
cause. Plus do a compression check as if the cyl is not
firing the plug will be wet. You went way over board on
replacing parts. Compression and spark plug would be
the first two things to look at. Also check the spark on
that dead cyl. While its running then u have eliminated
that. And 2 things left to go.
 
And if no compression you have a burnt valve would the first thing , and the head needs to come off. And machine shop work.
 
Ok I ll have to pick up a set of plugs on the way home, and do a compression check, it is a late model tractor with a duplex carb.
 
(quoted from post at 05:34:44 05/30/23) Ok I ll have to pick up a set of plugs on the way home, and do a compression check, it is a late model tractor with a duplex carb.

IF you have spark to the ''missing'' cylinder and it has compression it's VERY likely to be a carburetor issue, a plugged passage so that one cylinder isn't getting gas.
 
When you say you cleaned and rebuilt the carb, did you remove the ball plugs and clean those passages out? That is probably where there is blockage in it.
 
that was the one I have heard that can clog I wasn t able to get it cleaned I am thinking if it is carb that is that, is there a good way to clean behind them I wasn t sure how, we have had problems in the past that where similar, the first time we let a friend use it and it ran rough when it came back and that ended up being plugs, the last time witch I m not sure what it was but it was chugging black smoke and backfiring and it got parked, a couple years ago I decided to work on it to see what it would do, that s when I did the cap, rotor, wires, and plugs and it ran decent for a solid year, then the next year I rebuilt the carb and it ran perfect and when winter came around it started running choppy and to where it s at now.
 
thank you for everyone s help it ended up being the plugs I put new plugs in and it fired right off on both and sounded great
 
good to hear. do i get the cigar, no one else said its the plugs. actually i never smoked. thats what i was sure it was. do the obvious
first. must have been oil fouled. what plugs did it have and what did you put in it?
 

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