international 4000 swather

Was running for about 4 hours cutting oats, all of a sudden shuts off, starts for a bit and shuts off. I pulled gas line off the fuel pump and fair flow of gas, so i chase into town, get back in about an hours or so and put a new in line filter and gas hose, starts right up and run another four hours no problems. Last round before i have to take the kids into church and it starts to sputter, but then straightens out. Come back two hours later, it fires right up and i cut for about an hour, I stop to adjust a chain for a minute, but leave the motor running, just before i climb back on it shuts off quick. Cranks, but won't start back up, good gas flow to fuel pump. I will check in the morning if it has spark. It has an ignition box similiar to the ford pickups form the mid 80s. Anyone familiar with these, could the heat from the engine cause them to cut off? Thanks for any help or information.

Sound like coil or condenser or whatever it's got electronic ignition ,however electronic ignition normally don't restart if bad they are bad not intermittent.

This is a recollection from some years back. Bear with me.

Ford pickups and medium duty (and maybe others) had an ignition module on the fender well. They are sorted out by colors as I remember - you might have a blue one for instance. I thought the coding was a little odd because it wasn't really a different color. Maybe it was a tag or something. I can't recall.

I only dealt with these once but it sounds like it may be it. I had a school bus that was fine as long as you were moving. When the weather warmed up and you did repeated stops it would just stall. You could crank all you wanted. When you opened the hood and it cooled down a bit it would start right up. Apparently the module was breaking down internally and heat made it quit. It caused bizzare things to happen. I only knew what it was when I mentioned it to an old guy who happened to have had the same thing happen.

From my experience it could have even been the field or way you were cutting. If a breeze was blowing on the module and it didn't get too hot it would be fine. The module wasn't expensive as I recall. Unplug it and take it in to Napa and they can fix you up.

Those Ford modules were heat sensitive. I've seen the goo melt and run out of the back side!

The color code was referenced by the plastic grommet where the wires enter the case. The color determined the internal function and the connector plug configurations.

Thanks Steve! It's nice to know the foggy memory was actually real. As I recall that '87 Ford bus was a blue module, maybe? I hated to mention that in case I was totally off base. It sounds like some far fetched story.

It fixed her right up, I'll tell you that. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what could cause all of those symptoms. The heat was doing it. I have a backup spare module out in the shed somewhere. I wasn't going to do that hunting game again! I haven't driven bus in many years. Maybe that needs to go.

Instant quits are usually (not always) electrical related. Sputtering is fuel related.

Ford had two suppliers for those modules, If the modules were made in the U.S., they were made to fail at Ford's request (m ore parts sales). If you can find a module made by Ford's alternate supplier in Japan, the module will last forever. The Japanese supplier refused to make them to fail. If you need a new module, tell the parts person that you want a module made in Japan.

All the IH 4000 swathers I have ever known of , had the AMC 232 , 6 cylinder gas engine, same as the AMC cars had . And I will second the idea that this is a coil problem. Just seems that these old swathers don't like to sit and wait all year for a few days running , and when they do run, it is usually a very hot day. Cool failure is common, and you need to have the engin timing set right also. Just my experience, Bruce

From personal experience i can tell you a Ford module of that vintage can be very intermittent. I was working on a Pinto and it would die on the owner. By the time I got there it would start and run normal and keep going for several days then it would die again. It kept it up until I changed the module and it never quit again.

I had a 4000 that I run for 7 years. It quit me with 30 minutes of swathing left to do. New coil, new ignition module,and other things I don't remember. Finally got it started and home. 2 days later it would not start again. Had the local mechanic come out and I updated him with what had taken place with the machine. He looked at me and said, "clean the ground connections and it will run." After that I cleaned them every spring when I was ready to use it and never had a problem again. I think I have an ignition module that is used but I think it is still good. Costly mistake on my part.
Bud

Yes, it has the amc, but the box looks similiar to the mid 80's ford pickups i use to have. Thanks for the help and information.

Yes, it was the ignition box, i robbed one off the other 4000 and it runs perfect. The other 4000 had the original box and this box was twice the weight of the aftermarket one that failed. Thanks for the help and information.

Grounds are good, turned out to be the ignition box, we are up and rolling, thanks for the information.

Interesting information, i will see if the better one is still available, thanks.