Ford Tractor will crank but wont stay running

Folks this has been an ongoing issue. 1964 Ford 2000 4 cyl gas tractor. About 2 months ago tractor died while mowing pasture as if out of gas (plenty of gas). I replaced the tank and fuel lines within last 5 years and rebuilt the carb. Thought maybe carb had gotten crud in it so rebuilt carb again but still would crank but not run. Drained/check gas and looked like there might be some sludge or gas residue in it. Also gas flow was sporadic (stop, flow, stop, flow, etc) so I cleaned gas tank, fuel lines and replaced fuel sediment bowl assembly. Put everything back together, got new gas and still doing same thing. I will crank, run for a few seconds to a minute then die. Unhooked fuel line at carburetor sediment bowl and gas continues to flow sporadically (flow 2-4 sec, stop 2-4 sec, flow 2-4 sec, etc)?
Shouldn't the gas flow from tank to carb be constant?
When tractor runs for a minute (+/-) and dies small amount of gas leaks out of bottom of carb (the sintered bronze plug been replaced with small brass bolt with small hole in center). Been that way since Ive owned it and has worked fine up until now?
Any ideas/advise would be appreciated.

Gas cap on or off? Could be a plugged
vent.

did you do a flow check on the tank off or on to make sure you had good gas flow? also is the fuel cap vented? from what you are saying you
have a gas flow problem. did you blow some air in the line back to tank?

(quoted from post at 17:09:55 11/14/20) Gas cap on or off? Could be a plugged
vent.

Click to expand...

I tried with cap on and off. The seal on cap does have some cuts in it so we go ahead and replace it. However shouldnt it work with cap off if the cap was bad?

I had the same issue with ‘73 4000. Turned out to be
inconsistent 12v through ignition switch.

How you fix it?

If your tractor starts and runs until you release the key, typically either your fighting a bad ign switch or a ballast resistor.
Ballast resistor is by~passed while cranking giving voltage to the coil while cranking.
Broken resistor will not allow the voltage to flow through it when it is busted.

need a new ignition switch.as i have experienced that also.so as tractor went to stop just jiggled the switch.as i thought of that also but you are convinced its gas and you saying it does not run out steady so that no good
either. and did not answer what i asked. and yes i cant be the cap if u tryed it off.

If your 2000 is a 1964, it is the four cylinder version that is gravity fed.
Which fuel shut off valve did you use under the tank? Lever type or screw type?
I ask because I've had some trouble with them recently.
Yes, it should flow a steady stream, especially with the gas cap off/loose.
If it doesn't, your problem is in the tank, valve or line to the sediment bowl.

Sorry, thought I did answer questions/comments. Yes it is a vented gas cap but not it best shape so will replace. As for gas flow thats how I figured out gas flow was not consistent. I unhooked fuel line and gas stops, flows, stops, etc. Ill try the blowing air up fuel line tomorrow. Im sure there is proper terminology but gas flows as if milking a cow.

Well mine has a key but a push button start. Ive read a few other links discussing an electricity issue but unless TOTALLY wrong think its still gas flow issue?

The gas dripping from the vent indicates the problem is ignition, not lack of fuel.

The gas dripping is the fuel that was on it's way up inside the intake when the engine stopped. When the engine stopped, the air flow stopped, so gravity brought the unburned fuel back down, pooling in the bottom of the air horn, and dripping out the vent.

Do you have a test light? That is the easiest to monitor. They are cheap.

Connect the test light to the + terminal of the coil and ground the other end to a clean metal surface of the engine.

Start the engine, bring the RPM up, watch the light closely. When the engine quits, and is coasting down, is the light off?

If so, the coil has lost power from the ignition switch.

If the light is still on, move it to the - terminal. Start the engine, the light will blink rapidly, on each time the points open, off when closed.

When it quits, and is coasting down, if the light is steady on, the points have failed to make contact, there is a break in the wire from the coil to the points, or the points base has lost it's ground.

If the light is off, the points are closed up, the condenser is shorted to ground, the wire from the points to the coil is shorted to ground, or the coil is failing.

Something else to check, feel the temperature of the coil can. It should be approximately the same temperature as the surrounding engine components. If it is exceptionally hotter, uncomfortable to hold, the coil is failing or it has the wrong coil.

The final test though, is determining if the spark is actually making it to the plugs. You can use a neon spark tester, or pull one of the wires back so you can see the spark. Test it the same way, observe if there is, or is not spark when it fails.

If the ignition tests good, then go back to the carb and fuel supply.

The intermittent fuel flow is concerning.

Is there an inline filter? If so, remove it. Gravity systems don't like inline filters. Is the fuel line routed properly, no kinks, away from the exhaust manifold heat, down hill all the way?

Do you get a continuous flow from the line if you remove it from the carb? There is sometimes a small screen in the inlet fitting of the carb, it may be clogged. A final test, remove the drain plug from the carb. Temporarily replace it with a barb fitting and a length of clear vinyl tubing. Loop the open end of the tubing up to a point above the carb. Watch the fuel level in the tube. If it stays in a normal range, about 1/2-3/4" below the top of the bowl, then you know the level is staying where it should.

Hope this helps, all I can think of at the moment. Let us know...

the gas should be flowing as if you drank 6 beers! no stopping.

Dont know if this added to problem or helped. I cleaned the tank with denatured alcohol. Poured 3 gallons in, shook it up and drained. Did that twice. Then poured 1 gallon in and let it sit up overnight. Drained the next day and dried. Hooked everything up with 2 gallons of new gas but same problems as previously listed. However when I looked in tank with flashlight looks like there are bubbles under the paint/tank liner?

fuel flow will not stop unless there is a restriction,clean everything from the line to to bowl. Then
the tank.Fix the flow, and then look at throwing parts at it if you need to.

Folks I appreciate it. Ill get after checking fuel line to sediment bowl tomorrow. Also start looking into the electrical stuff to. Hoping my attempt at cleaning tank didnt damage tank liner need a new tank? Anyway will see which way it goes.
Thanks

If it had some sort of tank liner put into the tank good chance the alcohol has messed it up and it where your problem is

I once had a to30 Ferguson do that I
unscrewed the sediment bowl assembly out
of the tank after inspection of the bowl
assembly shut off it had some small
chunks of whitish looking clear solid
kinda reminded you of chunks of clear
silicone cleaned it all out and all was
good

I have the screw in sediment bowl version. When I replaced the tank 4-6 years ago tried to use the bolt on valve in center of tank but could never get it to seal right. So put plug back in, sealed it and used the screw-in sediment bowl valve mounted to side. Dont know if this plays a factor in issue but gas cap looks like its gone bad and think seal around sending unit is bad to (leaks air/gas).

Ok so disconnected fuel line from fuel sediment bowl to
Carb. Hooked a short fuel line to sediment bowl so as to blow air into/clear line. Flow still seems to be a trickle?

[img:0ab56a5aaa][/img:0ab56a5aaa]

Sorry trying to include short 8-10 sec video of gas flow but wont upload?

Ok, dummy name calling can start anytime now. So been thinking with tractor for like a week. Could not figure out my gas flow issue. So had my son (he got better eyes) come take a look watching the fuel valve from inside the tank thru gas cap opening. Blew air through line and he said he didnt see any debri or floaties. However he did say the gas line was below the fuel valve gas tube but above the bottom of fuel screen. So I added 2-3 more gallons of gas and after charging up battery (drained it trying to start engine) FINALLY got tractor to crank and run. I know there is a auxiliary hole in bottom of valve below screen but guessing bottom line did not have enough gas in tank for gas to flow through main tube? That has not been an issue in past but evidently now it is. I do plan on getting batter and alternator checked to make sure power/charge is still good. Hopefully my jackasseries are over and Ive found the problem.

Tried again today to get tractor to start/run but only got 20-30 sec out of it once, tried a few more times and only started/run for 10-20 sec before dying. I put the test light on the pos terminal of coil, turned key and light came on constant. I then put it to the neg terminal of coil and light was also on constant. When I left it on neg terminal of coil and hit starter button engine turned over but light just dimmed a little/ never "blinked" just stayed on.
Should neg terminal of coil always have power or just when running? is there a way to test the coil? The points? the condenser?