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

[PorkChopsMmm]

Why don't you leave your charger on while you are cranking it over

For the last few days it was stuck either in the middle of or on the side of our dirt road (well, snow covered dirt road). I just got it towed back to the house yesterday. A lot of these tests I mentioned above were with jumper cables hooked up to tractor from my buddies truck. We are receiving freezing rain right now which may extend until tomorrow -- so I will try these tips hopefully tomorrow night.

 

[PorkChopsMmm]

still i see a few problems.

a 12v car battery that goes dead that fast trying to start is just that.. a DEAD battery. I suspect you are not charging it up nearly enough..a nd / or the tractor charge system is not operating.

Agreed. I am charging it up now but I may just exchange it at Walmart after I run some tests tomorrow night.

so far you have said it has spark, yet you said it won't pop on start fluid.

that's a mutually exclusive evennt.

if it does not pop on start fluid.. then it doens't have spark.

I sprayed quite a bit of starter fluid in the carb and tried to get it to turn over -- no dice. Putting gas directly in the spark plug hole got it to fire a little but not much. I was able to get one spark plug out on the side of the road and hold it close to the engine block while holding the starter button down. I saw sparks.

...without those the coil can overheat and or the points can burn.

I am afraid of this. I don't know much about the distributor and coil -- only what I have read. If I undo the two bolts holding it on can I take it off the tractor and bring it in the house for pictures?

post back

Will do!

P.S. When trying to start the amp meter was jumping back and forth from 0 to -5 -- which if I read correctly is a good sign because it means the points are working?

 

[DHB]

I had the same problem with my 49 8n in would stop on its own then after a bit I could start it again . The problem was in the carburetor the needle valve for the float would stick and no fuel could get into the carburetor so it would stall . I had to take the carburetor apart and clean it , worked great after that.

 

[PorkChopsMmm]

DHB -- Thank you for the info. I will spray some carb cleaner in there tonight and see if I can get it to start. Cleaning the carb is a whole lot easier, to me, than digging into the distributor or points.

I found this diagram -- when I unscrew the main/power mixture and idle mixture screws are there any chances of springs, etc. popping out? I will be doing this outside and don't want to lose anything. Thanks again for all of the help, I will post back tonight with results.

 

[Soundguy]

yes.. 2 bolts removes the distribuitor to bring inside.

and yes.. a bouncing ammeter upon start is correct.

 

[Soundguy]

there are tension springs onthe needles themselves.. but nothing lives in the holes except the needles and their seats.

DHB -- Thank you for the info. I will spray some carb cleaner in there tonight and see if I can get it to start. Cleaning the carb is a whole lot easier, to me, than digging into the distributor or points.

I found this diagram -- when I unscrew the main/power mixture and idle mixture screws are there any chances of springs, etc. popping out? I will be doing this outside and don't want to lose anything. Thanks again for all of the help, I will post back tonight with results.

 

[DHB]

Be carefull when you seperate the top from the bottom that you don't ruin the gasket. clean and blow air threw all the jets.

 

[PorkChopsMmm]

OK, here are some updates. In summary -- I don't think it is the carb or fuel line. They were basically "clean" when I took them apart and I couldn't find any gunk. I still cleaned them up with carb cleaner, blew air through the jets, etc. It all seemed to check out.

Prior to removing the carb I made sure the ignition was off and cranked the engine -- fuel started fast pouring out of the carb (air intake pipe off). I turned the ignition on and sprayed starter fluid directly into the carb -- did not even try to turn over. Never even heard a single "combustion" of the starter fluid.

I have a few thoughts about what it could be...

- Spark plugs? If my spark plugs have some moisture resting on the indent around the top of the plugs... could that limit spark?
- Could my starter "button" be causing the problem? In the 12V conversion the prior owner switched to a push button start. It has worked fine so far and to try and eliminate the "button" I touch a metal object to the terminals of the push button (yellow wires in the pictures below) and there was no change in how the engine tried to turn over.
- Could my key switch be the issue? I reseated the key, checked the wires, etc. (black wires in the picture below). Do these fail often? Is there a way to test or bypass this switch (purely for the sake of testing and would be immediately hooked back up)?

Carb while being shot with carb cleaner and prior to removal. Wow, the flash makes the tractor look horrible!

While spraying the inside of the carb with starter fluid. When trying to start, and stopping the cranking, gas poured out of the air inlet.

Starter button, located under the amp meter. I believe this is a location for the light switch?

Ignition switch with the black wires, starter button with the yellow.

I believe this is the rectifier you all have talked about?

Pulling carb off of the tractor, even gently, resulted in a ripped gasket. This is where you can start to see things look clean.

I tested the air holes -- air easily blew through all of them.

Floats looked good -- not filled with fluid or damaged.

This looked clean and the flap moved easily.

Fuel filter looked clean. Some minor sand/rust particles but that was after shaking it vigorously. Fuel flowed easily through this prior to removal.

Thanks again for all of your continued help!

 

[94BULLITT]

OK, here are some updates. In summary -- I don't think it is the carb or fuel line. They were basically "clean" when I took them apart and I couldn't find any gunk. I still cleaned them up with carb cleaner, blew air through the jets, etc. It all seemed to check out.

Prior to removing the carb I made sure the ignition was off and cranked the engine -- fuel started fast pouring out of the carb (air intake pipe off). I turned the ignition on and sprayed starter fluid directly into the carb -- did not even try to turn over. Never even heard a single "combustion" of the starter fluid.

I have a few thoughts about what it could be...

- Spark plugs? If my spark plugs have some moisture resting on the indent around the top of the plugs... could that limit spark?
- Could my starter "button" be causing the problem? In the 12V conversion the prior owner switched to a push button start. It has worked fine so far and to try and eliminate the "button" I touch a metal object to the terminals of the push button (yellow wires in the pictures below) and there was no change in how the engine tried to turn over.
- Could my key switch be the issue? I reseated the key, checked the wires, etc. (black wires in the picture below). Do these fail often? Is there a way to test or bypass this switch (purely for the sake of testing and would be immediately hooked back up)?

Carb while being shot with carb cleaner and prior to removal. Wow, the flash makes the tractor look horrible!

While spraying the inside of the carb with starter fluid. When trying to start, and stopping the cranking, gas poured out of the air inlet.

Starter button, located under the amp meter. I believe this is a location for the light switch?

Ignition switch with the black wires, starter button with the yellow.

I believe this is the rectifier you all have talked about?

Pulling carb off of the tractor, even gently, resulted in a ripped gasket. This is where you can start to see things look clean.

I tested the air holes -- air easily blew through all of them.

Floats looked good -- not filled with fluid or damaged.

This looked clean and the flap moved easily.

Fuel filter looked clean. Some minor sand/rust particles but that was after shaking it vigorously. Fuel flowed easily through this prior to removal.

Thanks again for all of your continued help!

If the motor is turning over the starter button is fine. The moisture you are talking about on the plugs will not hurt anything. That picture is of the resistor not a rectifier.

1. Are you sure you have spark?

2. Does the tractor original style fuel shut off in the tank? If so all that it is probably stopped up (in the tank) with crud like you have in the filter.

3. Has the tractor been sitting for a along period?

4. Does it have good compression on all cylinders?

 

[murphy1244]

If the motor is turning over the starter button is fine. The moisture you are talking about on the plugs will not hurt anything. That picture is of the resistor not a rectifier.

1. Are you sure you have spark?

2. Does the tractor original style fuel shut off in the tank? If so all that it is probably stopped up (in the tank) with crud like you have in the filter.

3. Has the tractor been sitting for a along period?

4. Does it have good compression on all cylinders?

And those connections look awful.