8N starts well, then dies after a minute or so

Hello Tractor friends,

I've recently purchased and 1952 8N with an aftermarket loader on front. The old gentleman who sold it to me said he brought it back to life (painted, fixed hydraulics, etc.)

After using it very moderately for about 2 weeks, it developed a problem that it still has - it starts and runs really well for a few minutes and then dies suddenly and won't start for ten minutes or so.

- The gas tank is full
- I checked the setting bowl and it was full of junk but is now clean
- I check the fuel filter just upstream from the carb and it was nasty but is now clean.
- The carb is clean and shiny now that I cleaned it out.

It behaves almost exactly the same after I took everything apart upstream of the carb... I have no ideas anymore. Thoughts?
 
There is a fine screen inside the carburetor inlet elbow. Many people miss cleaning that when it was the original problem.
 
" dies suddenly and won't start for ten minutes or so."

Dies suddenly I would first suspect electrical problem. Stumbles and dies suspect fuel.

Check your ignition switch by jumpering or bypassing it.
 
Thanks everyone.

Here is a brief update. I checked the fuel system again and opened up the bottom of the carb - initially a good flow of fuel, but then it went down to a trickle. So, fuel IS the issue I believe. I checked the in-line carb fuel filter and also the copper mesh under the fuel tank and found nothing suspicious. On a whim, I opened up the fuel valve (at the settling bowl) two or three MORE turns than the 2 it asks for. Voila! It started running very nicely.

So, my new question is, why do I have to have the valve so far open? This seems to imply a blockage somewhere... but I've looked through the fuel system from the carb outlet (at the bottom) to the copper mesh filter (below the gas tank) and didn't find anything obvious.

Any thoughts on what might cause this?
 
This may be to simple. Mine had a problem like that. I disconnect fuel line from carburetor and blew air back up into gas tank, it had a little back pressure at first. This seemed to clear the junk in the tank and ran great. Cleaned the tank better and never had another problem. Follow the other guys info first though.
 

Wow. For some reason I never thought of that... Thanks for the tip Stephen. I'm going to check out the spark distance too. Will let you know how things go.

CM
 
That fuel valve is a two stage, one for main fuel, one for reserve. By opening it just a small amount you are drawing fuel from above the bottom of the tank. When that runs out (working in the field) you can open the valve more and draw right from the bottom of the tank, enough to make it home or to the fuel supply. Your tank fuel pickup is plugged but the "reserve" portion of it is not. Blowing back into the fuel tank may clear this plug. If not, you remove the valve and manually clean it or replace it.
 

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