ford 800

I have a ford 800 that will not stay running. I
replaced the carb. with a new zenith carb. It will
run for a little bit then cuts off like its
starving for gas. I tried ajusting the only screw
on the carb. But it doesn't make a difference. I
replaced the fuel filter in the tank and that didn
t help. What am i doing wrong...Can anyone help me
with this????

Check for a steady uninterrupted flow of fuel to the carb. When it stops do you have spark?

I have an 801 that would vapor lock after I had worked it awhile but if you are not working yours hard that is not likely what it is. Float sticking not likely either in a new carb. Sounds like a fuel shortage and not a lack of spark but I run out of ideas pretty quick if it isn't simple.

Check the Fuel cap... make sure there is Vente and open, Larry

How long does it run before dying?

Does it stop as if someone shut the ignition switch off?

If 15 minutes or more and the answer to question 2 is yes, replace the ignition switch.

Never address possible carburetor issues unless/until you are certain that the ignition is spot on.

Dean

I've gotta ask. Is there an inline filter on it? It's not supposed to have one. If it does,take it off,throw it as far as you or somebody more athletic can throw it and splice the line back together,or make a new line.

So you spent $200 plus on a new carb before you did any trouble shooting??? ALWAYS trouble shoot then parts never the other way around.
#1 run it till it dies. Right then check for a good blue/white spark that jumps a 1/4 inch gap at the coil wire and ALL 4 plug wires. DO NOT wait so much as 5 minutes to do so. Next pull the carb drain plug and make sure you have a good steady flow of gas. Let it flow a few minutes, catch it to make sure it does not have water dirt etc in it. Then post back what you find. I bet your loosing spark

I believe I will keep the in-line filters on my old tractors! I think the one on my WD 45 is 20 yrs old. Can leave the fuel on for a month and won't leak a bit. Without the filter the fine rust will come through and cause the needle valve to leak. Vic

Yours might work with an inline filter, but some tractors just will not run with them installed. I had a Farmall 300 utility that would seem like it was running out of gas. (in fact it was) took the inline filter off & problem solved. Just my thoughts, you can leave yours on as long as you want, but it just might be his problem as rrlund has said. Keith

(quoted from post at 18:09:09 04/15/13) How long does it run before dying?

Does it stop as if someone shut the ignition switch off?

If 15 minutes or more and the answer to question 2 is yes, replace the ignition switch.

Never address possible carburetor issues unless/until you are certain that the ignition is spot on.

Dean

Click to expand...

In addition to the above,if there is an inline filter installed,get rid of it.
Hopeing you didn't get rid of the original M/S carb.Clean it,rebuild it,reinstall it.

Hey I"ve check the spark and plenty of wire there . Soon as the engine shut off I can restart it by pulling the choke and it will run for 2 or 3 mins and then it shuts down again. There"s no inline filter and I replaced the fuel filter shut off in the tank.. The only thing left is the fuel bowl and that looks clean with no rust or trash. I jumped the on and off switch so that shouldn"t be a problem.. The Old carb. used to flood real easy and gas would run out. I never have seen this new one flood yet.. How many setting does this new carb have ? How many screw turns out should it be set at.. Thanks for any help I can get.

No rust or trash .. The take has been clean and new gas.. How can I adjust this new carb. Could the setting be off from the factory.. How many screw turn out should the carb. be set at...?

Thanks for your help..
Nelson

You said clean and rebild the old carb.. Why ? Is the new Carb junk ?

First - Check your entire ignition system five times. If you don't have an in line spark check tool get one. Check every cyl. Check ignition switch and circuit to the coil (paying special attention to the connection from the coil through the dist housing to the points). Clean and gap plugs. Check points condenser and distributor timing.

Second - clean the entire fuel system again and verify fuel flow rate at carb

Third - If it were me I would do a compression check just to see how healthy or un healthy an engine I am dealing with. (I would do this during step 1 while I already had the plugs out)

With that said here is my experience with carbs.

I installed a zenith replacement carb on a JD last year due to physical damage to the MS carb and it worked very well once adjusted. The adjusting took some time and a good ear. There should be a power jet adjustment and an idle adjust on the carb. The adjustment process was time consuming and frustrating to get the carb to work with the tractor through all power ranges. But it worked well in the end. If at all possible rebuild your original carb if there is no physical damage to the components. Zenith makes a good carb but it is most likely not adjusted to your tractor out of the box. The manual that came with the cab should give you base line adjustments on for the carb but you will have to tune from there.

Did you replace the carb due to flooding? Flooding is very common on these tractors and is why Ford included a fuel shut off on the tank. The old carb might have only needed a needle valve, seat and float adjustment.

-Paul

Not to hi jack your thread but could someone tell me what exactly is "vapor lock"?

when the gasoline change to vapor in the fuel line. When it turns to vapor in the line between the tank and carb it starves for fuel.

Probably not but probably not needed.

Dean

(quoted from post at 06:50:30 04/16/13) You said clean and rebild the old carb.. Why ? Is the new Carb junk ?

Click to expand...

No,the Zenith isn't junk,it was used as original equipment by many makers. Your tractor was made with a M/S carb.that was setup for that engine. In other words jet size,ventury size,inlet size and throat size all optimized for that engine for it's full RPM range provided fuel flow to the carb.is good,ignition is right and the engine is in reasonable shape.

Thanks for the infomation.. The tractor has a new distruber with new points and condencer, New coil and all new electrical wiring. Does anyone have any paper work on how to tune this carb. in to the propure settings ??

Well in theory a carb should have 2 adjustment screws. #1 is close to the top and is for idle. Turn it out from bottom 1-1/2 turns and leave it. The other one is the main jet and you adjust it for max power and no black smoke.

A couple of years ago somebody posted with identical problems on a hundred series Ford. Said he'd been having fits with it for a few years,was driving him nuts. I told him the same thing,he did it and thought it was some kind of miracle. That was the problem,plain and simple.

(quoted from post at 07:28:35 04/16/13) Not to hi jack your thread but could someone tell me what exactly is "vapor lock"?

Click to expand...

Vapor lock is a very rare condition where fuel will boil in the fuel line so that there is no liquid fuel making it to the carb. It happens at a lower temperature with ethanol gas than with 100% petroleum gas. It takes very hard work as in full throttle work on a hot day for an extended period of time for it to happen. The gas needs to be boiling in the tank, which used to happen to my uncle with his 800 Ford when chopping corn for hours. It takes an extended time to get the fuel that hot. It is almost always an imaginary condition brought up just because people hear of it.