WD-45 -- no fuel and no spark

Hey there YTers, it's been awhile! I've been trying to help a relative get their WD-45 (w/ loader) back up and running... Started on it a few weeks ago by pulling the carb. I took the TSX 464 carb apart and have cleaned it up and not much of note inside sans some rust on the drain plug and a bit of gunk on the tip of the main power adjust needle (it's a Type-C with the adjustment in the bottom of the bowl).

But today I went out and worked on the tractor some more and put a known good inline spark tester on plugs #1 and #4 and got NO spark. So something is amiss there (however -- this tractor has sat for 8-10 years without running). In addition, I found out there was no gas coming out of the tank when you'd open the petcock. So I pulled the tank.



This tank paint job makes me suspicious of if this was original or a replacement...



Look at that nice original orange paint underneath the tank though -- the true original WD-45 color?



Anyway -- got the tank off and felt something slosh around inside of it. Took me about 15 minutes to fish this out, I think somebody broke off a measurement stick in the tank years (20? 30?) ago, and it's starting to have the paint slough off and the wood break down and it plugged up the sediment bowl valve and I think it must've been a bit caustic because there's horrible pitting in the zinc casting internals and the stopper valve is rusted and corroded. I have a new one on order from Steiner. Was quite a surprise to me, haha.



Also, as a side bar, working around a loader frame is a pain. Getting the tank off was a bear. Could just raise the hood enough to hit the loader frame to slide the tank out the back and over the bracket where the traction booster and hydraulic quadrant run to.



So anyway... Carb is cleaned out and just needs the gasket put in and back together. Gas tank is in the garage waiting for me to clean it out some more. New sediment bowl and fuel valve assembly is on order.

And then I need to figure out what's up with the electronics system. Where to start? The ignition switch? The coil? Points? Condensor? Easy diagnostics to tell what component may be biting me? The tractor turns over okay on 6V, but doesn't "fire".

Test light or volt meter to coil small terminals. Switch side should light bulb or meter measure battery voltage with switch on, if so do same to other wire which goes to
distributor, run starter the light should blink or meter swing to near zero and back up, if it does't it is a problem with points. On second thougt search for John T'
ignition test procedure as he is the guru on this Leroy

Before going further, pull the plugs, squirt about a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder, let it be soaking while you do the rest of the prep.

Crack the oil drain plugs, engine, trans, and differential, check for water. If water comes out, let it drip until oil comes down.

Most likely the points are just corroded from sitting. Hit them with a point file or scrape them with a knife blade, spray with brake cleaner, blot dry with a piece of clean paper.

When you get the tank back on and some fuel in it, leave the line to the carb disconnected.

Open the fuel valve and get a good flow of gas coming through the line. That will verify gas is coming down, but it will also flush any trash out of the line so it doesn't get in the needle valve in the carb.

Spin the excess oil out of the cylinders before trying to start it.

If you have a good 12v battery, temporary it in to get it started, or use jumper cables. It will spin faster, give a hotter spark, make life easier. Just be careful not to leave the ignition on not running. Once it's running you can shut it off, go back to the 6v, see if it will then start on 6 volts.

As soon as it starts be sure to check for oil pressure. Sometimes they loose prime when sitting.

If it starts and runs well, no coolant or oil leaks, bring the RPM up, see if it's charging. If not, the regulator or cut out contacts may need cleaning, same procedure as cleaning the points.

I will add a little to what Steve's good advise. While checking the oil in the transmission and hydraulics for water, condition, and level don't forget the final drives.
Sometimes they have 60 yr. old oil/sludge in them. And the boot on the shift lever looks like it may have a crack. If they aren't in good condition they can let water
into the transmission. Check for power at the coil, then clean points and set them. With them closed and switch on see if they spark when you pry them open with a
screwdriver. Clean dist. cap.

That's a good point about the coil terminals, since I should see power to the "hot" side all the time and the ground side should flip back and forth as there is a make break. Will look at that and probably clean up some contacts. Hoping to get out there to poke around some more this weekend. Looks like my parts I've ordered won't be in til next week though.

Will check the points and the rotor and the distributor cap for sure. And the usual corrosion spots and verify the ignition switch is good. I did make sure to order a new shift boot with my parts, because the old one is definitely trash (along with a new gas cap, ignition switch, and sediment bowl valve assembly). Thanks everybody; will report back when I've got some more info!