UpdateDistributor carbon tracking problem 1010 Deere

To anybody who read my former post in regard to my 1010 Deere quitting due to carbon tracking on the rotor. I finally figured it out, and I really feel like an idiot.

Here's the deal. This 1010 Deere crawler was in a fire around 8 years ago. The original distributor melted. I got a used one at a nearby tractor junkyard. It came off another 1010 Deere and had the correct number on the ID tag. So, I've been using this crawler for 8 years this way - with this distributor. I rebuilt the engine at the time and renewed all the obvious.
This is a crawler that gets used ad hoc. Just once in awhile, but rarely run hard for long. This past week is the first time this crawler has run all day, every day and hard. I'm building some roads and moving a lot of dirt and rock. This is the first time I've had any igntion problems with this thing.
The former post gives more detail, but I was really baffled by the new rotors shorting out due to carbon tracking. Well, after changing points, condensor, cap, many rotors, coil, plugs, checking wires, etc. . . . I finally pulled the distribor out and brought it into the shop.
Guess what? The cam has six lobes on it - and keep in mind the 1010 has a four cylinder engine. After looking real close, I also found that the Delco serial # tag was not original. The original rivets were gone and some small screws held the plate on. So, ends up this distributor originally came off a Deere 4010 with a six-cylinder engine. For some reason, sombody put a 1010 ID tag on it, along with a four-cylinder cap and rotor. So, when the points opened to cause spark, the rotor was not in line with the poles and it took an extreme high voltage to jump the gap.
I've come across some weird problems in the past - but this really had me going. Considering it's been running pretty good all these years - it was not something suspected.
I found an old Delco-magneto conversion laying in my junkheap. Came off an old Case or IH. Has the same basic distribtor with a four-cylinder cam. But, it's real rusty. Been laying in my scrap-heap for 30 years. Well . . . spent the afternoon getting it apart, cleaning up that rusty cam, and put it into my six-cylinder distributor. Yeah the cam doesn't look too great but I suspect it will be fine. Rusty and pitted as it is, the rotor still fits snug and the points-cam isn't too bad.

The last photo shows the rotor at time of spark - pointing exactly where it should be. Big improvement.

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J, thats wild, howd it even run. mEl

J, thats wild, howd it even run. mEl

Glad you found your trouble, you have to wonder why someone would pull that stunt on changing the tag.
You should sleep better tonight having the stumped factor gone.

wow, thats an odd one!!!! i was thinking maybe the dist shaft got bent somehow to throw it off. would an i-h delco distributor work on that crawler? i may have an old delco unit out of an m that the brass gear on the bottom got chewed off, but the shaft and dist body is still good. i'll have to dig around in my junk box....opps treasure chest to see where its at if you need one.

congratulations "j" that was some detective work! I'm putting you in for a big raise!

That is amazing! Greg

I doubt that even Gus at the Model Garage could have solved that one.. Godd work!

That explains everthing,but how in the world did it run with those six lobes????????????????????????////

This is one of the most interesting topics I've seen in a while.

Maybe someone replaced a worn out shaft and put in the wrong one.

Your persistance paid off! thanks for posting what you found.

Thanks for the follow up.

I also want to thank you for the follow up. I wish that more people would post how they solved the problem. I bet that you made a little saw dust in the brain on that one. )

So the junked 1010 would have had your problem.. is that a fair statement.?

Yes, and maybe that's how it wound up in the junk yard? Maybe some guy tried to fix it, got disgusted, and gave up - maybe even accused the problem on being a Deere 1010? 1010s and 2010s do get cursed about, a lot.

I've been running this thing for years like this. I've always timed it with a timing light hooked to #1 cylinder. So, I'm going to assume that some other cylinders were always out of time?
Seems with the six-cylinder cam, there's no way all four cylinders can fire when they are supposed to. It did run and sound pretty good, but never really "purred" like my IH, Case, Ford, or Cletrac gas tractors. Never had much power either. So, I'm curious to see how it sounds today once I get this distributor back on.

This has to be maybe the 2nd stupidest problem (or thing I missed) in my life. That is, unless I include my first wacky wife that I married, when I was young, naive, and drank a lot of beer.

#1 was a Royal Enfield 500 cc twin Meteor Minor motorcycle that I rebuilt in 1965. It ran like crap for 30 years. Then, one day when I was "older and wiser", I pulled it all apart. Found out the cams were swapped. The intake cam was under the exhaust valves, and the exhaust cam was under the intake valves. Not the sort of thing you'd notice during a routine rebuild since the crankcase has to be split to access the cams.

Its a good thing you figured it out.The dozer probably works better too.