Ford 8N having trouble starting -- many troubleshooting steps take -- suggestions?

[sd455dan]

That picture of your distributor cap sure looks like it has a crack near the center coil connection- and possibly a little carbon tracking, if it is cracked I would change that as soon as your kit shows up. I know of no way to do a short term fix for a cracked cap.

 

[PorkChopsMmm]

Thanks sd455dan. I definitely plan on switching everything out for the new parts whenever they get here. I am just desperate to plow our own snow again.

I failed to mention my next steps -- I am charging the battery and plan on giving it another go here in an hour or two. If it starts the first thing I will do is measure the voltage to see if it is getting charge.

 

[94BULLITT]

If the thing is not charging and the battery dies it will not run. You need power to run the ignition system.

 

[Soundguy]

well.. the ignition doesn't run off fairy dust and magic.. it runs on electrons.

at 10.x v a 12v battery is EXTREMELY discharged.

start her with your truck battery and check the charge system.. my guess is it is NON OP as if the alt worked.. it would have tried to keep the battery up , using up to it's full amp potential.

No I haven't. Looking back I should have done some checking when I first for it running. I never thought the battery could be low because it started right up the quickest it ever has. If I get it started again I will check.

But I guess a bigger question is if the 8n doesn't get enough juice from the battery/alternator it dies? If it shouldn't turn off, even if the battery/alternator are weak then I have a different problem.

 

[MasseyWV]

at 10.x v a 12v battery is EXTREMELY discharged.

Yep, dead as a doornail.

 

[Soundguy]

Yep, dead as a doornail.

10.5v is about 7% charge looking at the 2nd (discharge) chart.

http://scubaengineer.com/documents/lead_acid_battery_charging_graphs.pdf

 

[MasseyWV]

10.5v is about 7% charge looking at the 2nd (discharge) chart.

http://scubaengineer.com/documents/lead_acid_battery_charging_graphs.pdf

Yep, assuming a discharge rate of C/5, which sounds about right. A discharge rate of C/3 would be slightly more, around 22%, but still quite discharged.

 

[Soundguy]

yeah.. we don't know his batteries capacity.. but it's a guess. we know ignition current will be no more thna 4a ideally. etc..

 

[mehig]

If you bring that old cap in the house and let it get warm and dry out it will work for about 15 minutes out in the cold before it stops. Little micro cracks that can hardly be seen are the problem...I'll bet. Good Luck

 

[94BULLITT]

A battery needs to sit 2-3 hours after it has been charged to let the surface charge go away and then check the state of charge. With a Volt meter and or Hydrometer.
This is for lead acid batteries.
Volts Specific Gravity
12.65 100% 1.265
12.4 75% 1.225
12.2 50% 1.190
12.0 25% 1.555
11.8 00% 1.120