1950 Ford 8N Not Starting

Hey Guys,

New to the old Fords and just looking to see if i can get some advice on where to go with my 8N. I got it given to me and it hasnt ran in about 8 years, ran fine when it was put away. Your forums have been helpful as i have been trying to fix it up so i will let you guys know what i have done so far.

Pulled the carb- it was in pretty rough shape so i bought a new carb for it
Drained the oil and put in new oil and filter- running straight 30 weight
Pulled off air filter housing cleaned it all out and put it back together with new oil in the bottom resevoir
Pulled the rad off and flushed it as well as the block and remounted it with fresh coolant
Wasnt getting spark so put in new points, condensor and distributor which fixed my spark issue as well as putting in new plugs- Autolite 437 which i got from you guys
New belt
Pulled off the gas tank and cleaned it out- replaced the sediment bowl assembly and cleaned out all the fuel lines

This is what i have done so far. It has the 12V conversion single wire system on it and i also am using a new battery while trying to get it running.I got everything back together today and am not sure where to go from here, i got it to blow me a few puffs of smoke and sounded like it was trying to start but then didnt get much after that, pulled off the fuel line to the carb and checked the filter and that seemed to be fine, plugs are wet and definatly getting fuel and pulled off each plug and wire and retested for spark which i still had. Now because this is a new carb i wasnt a hundred percent sure on the settings for the idle and power jets so tried a few different configurations and couldnt get anything. From what ive seen my power should be 1-2 counterclockwise truns out and my air about the same? no idea if this is correct so any help on that would be great, not sure if i am flooding the bowl and the motor with the wrong settings or if it is another issue. 2 other concerns i have are there is a squeak coming from the motor and im not sure where or if this has to do why she wont run. its not the belt cause i removed it and still have the issue. Sounds like some people on here say the water pump but it sounds like a bearing to me and is definatly coming from the motor. 2nd is a hole in my exhaust pipe just after it leaves the manifold- not sure if these motors require alot of backpressure and this is messing with things or if it is a non issue. Anwyas any help would be great, thanks!

Kyle,Did the engine have ant oil pressure when cranking it over with the starter? If it never had any oil pressure,don't try to start it untill you get oil pressure.If it has not run in a long time the oil pump will need to be primed.Squeaks from the engine are not good.I hope that you haven't ruined the bearrings.

I don't think the hole in the exhaust is keeping it from firing. Probably will want to get it fixed later on. Prime the pump as Den
advised. Remove the 15/16 bolt on the timing cover. The pressure relief valve is behind it. Don't lose the spring in there. Squirt a
couple of tablespoons of oil in there and replace the spring and bolt.

Do you have compression? Will it blow your thumb off the hole when cranking it

I didnt see it reading any oil pressure on the gauge but also not sure if the gauge is functioning properly.It looks to be a newer uprgraded gauge but like i said not sure what shape it is in.

Yes I do have compression that was the exact first test i did when i got the tractor cause if i didnt have compression i wasnt going to get into a rebuild project right now. Ok thanks so addding oil to the pump housing will hopefully prime it and get my oil pressure moving. Like i said to den i wasnt sure if my oil pressure gauge was working but also didnt know they could become un primed like that.

if you are getting spark in your plugs and your plugs are wet then I would say your plug wires are on wrong or your carb is flooding out. check your firing order first. then close your fuel shut off valve . drain your carb then slowly open your shut off valve and try to immediately start it. on my 8n I never did get any oil pressure till the motor started. good luck

Kyle,To prime the oil pump,I found if best and easier to remove the oil pressure line from the pressure gauge.Hook up a pump up garden sprayer to the line with a piece of vacume hose,or a pump oil can,or even a old time ketchup bottle to the hose fill the bottle/oil can or a quart in the sprayer and get the oil in the line.This fills the oil galleys and pump,hook the line back up ,crank the engine over and check for oil pressure.Oil down the line will lube main/rod bearrings so that they won't be dry at start up.

Thanks for all the pointers guys, i didnt have much time last night but primed my oil pump by removing the 15/16 bolt and adding oil from there. This actually eliminated my motor squeaking noise which i guess means the motor was trying to tell me the oil pump gears were dry. I saw my oil pressure gauge move very slightly after this but still not much. I removed the gauge and tested it with compressed air and the gauge itself seems to be fine. I will go home tonight and check my firing order while also trying to use pinballs solution of turning off fuel nd emptying the bowl and seeing if my carb is flooding out as i still cant get the old girl to start.

when u remove the 15/16" plug to prime the pump, u need to be sure u get the oil thru the hole the plug was in, but also the hole behind that, where the plunger seats. did u do that? if u only get it thru the first hole and not the second, all u do is give the timing gear a shower - but none of that oil goes into the pump.

I have a cheap gear lube pump i used to try and get back in there and i got it in there about an inch and a half or so, not sure if this is getting back to where i need to be or if where the plunger meets the hole is further back, i put about 150 mls in and oil started coming back out of the 15/16 hole.

i can't remember how much further in the second hole is. hopefully u got it thru both, but i'm at a loss to understand why u had oil coming back out the front hole.