Massey Harris Pony issue.

[papabear]

Hi everyone.
Well,I just took posession of a Massey Harris Pony and it is having some issues that I need help with.
I can go out right now and turn on the key,press the starter button and the tractor will immedietly start and run for about four or five seconds than abruptly shut down. After it shuts down I go to hit the start button and all I get is one second of a very weak starter and than try again and all I get is clicking. I let the tractor sit for an hour or two,come back and the cycle will repeat..start,run for five seconds,shut off,acts as if battery is dead,rinse and repeat.
I put the battery tender on and within a half hour the light went from red to green indicating that the battery is fully charged.
Does anyone have any clue as to what may be going on?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions as to what may be the issue.

 

[dave1949]

Sounds like a carburetor float issue. Runs 4-5 secs., that would drain the float bowl. Or, sediment blocking the fuel lines somewhere such that it can't keep up with the engine but enough seeps through to re-fill the float bowl while it sits for half an hour.

Not sure the no-crank is related. It could be a second problem

 

[murphy1244]

Hi everyone.
Well,I just took posession of a Massey Harris Pony and it is having some issues that I need help with.
I can go out right now and turn on the key,press the starter button and the tractor will immedietly start and run for about four or five seconds than abruptly shut down. After it shuts down I go to hit the start button and all I get is one second of a very weak starter and than try again and all I get is clicking. I let the tractor sit for an hour or two,come back and the cycle will repeat..start,run for five seconds,shut off,acts as if battery is dead,rinse and repeat.
I put the battery tender on and within a half hour the light went from red to green indicating that the battery is fully charged.
Does anyone have any clue as to what may be going on?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions as to what may be the issue.

What all has been done to it?

 

[Soundguy]

what does a meter on the battery say when you try to restart it. is the battery truly dead?

will choke keep her running once started?

might have a very bad fuel obstruction not letting carb bowl fill up.

can yo keep her running with starter fluid sprayed into carb?

 

[Lava Rancher]

No juice to start? No juice for spark? Or the two are unrelated.

 

[papabear]

Thank you to everyone who has read or commented on my thread,I truly appreciate it.
Got it running yesterday finally but only with the choke pulled completly out will it stay running. Push the choke in and it will die so my guess is the carb needs a thorough cleaning and possibly a rebuild.
Battery I am not sure on. I don't have a tester to test it but the charge was great enough to get it to start.
The previous owner had the engine rebuilt about five years ago during the resto. He gave me the paperwork from the shop that did the work when I picked up the tractor.
Like I stated,this is a five year old restoration and as of now the machine has seen maybe five hours of use since than so I know I will run into some issues due to lack of use.
My wife works with a lady whos husband is a tractor mechanic and owns several vintage tractors,he will be coming over to take a look at what this thing needs to get in perfect running shape.
Again,thank you everyone!

 

[Jerry/MT]

Thank you to everyone who has read or commented on my thread,I truly appreciate it.
Got it running yesterday finally but only with the choke pulled completly out will it stay running. Push the choke in and it will die so my guess is the carb needs a thorough cleaning and possibly a rebuild.
Battery I am not sure on. I don't have a tester to test it but the charge was great enough to get it to start.
The previous owner had the engine rebuilt about five years ago during the resto. He gave me the paperwork from the shop that did the work when I picked up the tractor.
Like I stated,this is a five year old restoration and as of now the machine has seen maybe five hours of use since than so I know I will run into some issues due to lack of use.
My wife works with a lady whos husband is a tractor mechanic and owns several vintage tractors,he will be coming over to take a look at what this thing needs to get in perfect running shape.
Again,thank you everyone!

Before you fiddle with the carb, make sure that you don't have some air leaks around the carb's metering system. The usual culprits are, throttle shaft air leakage, loose carb to manifold connection or shot gasket, crack or rust hole in the intake manifold, or a shot manifold to cylinder head gasket. Spray starting fluid around these areas with the engine running (CAREFUL THIS STUFF IS FLAMABLE!) and if you hear the engine speed up, you've found your leak. if this checks ok, then check the spark to make sure you have a FAT, BLUISH-WHITE SPARK, the color of lightning. if you do, then check the micture settings on the carb to make sure they are correct. verify that you have adequate fuel flow to the carb (continuous stream at the fuel connection or better yet, if your carb has a fuel bowl drain, a a continuous gush of fuel from the bowl drain). if all that checks out, consider removing the carb.
Do some diagnostics. Don't jump to a conclusion about what the problem might be.

 

[papabear]

Before you fiddle with the carb, make sure that you don't have some air leaks around the carb's metering system. The usual culprits are, throttle shaft air leakage, loose carb to manifold connection or shot gasket, crack or rust hole in the intake manifold, or a shot manifold to cylinder head gasket. Spray starting fluid around these areas with the engine running (CAREFUL THIS STUFF IS FLAMABLE!) and if you hear the engine speed up, you've found your leak. if this checks ok, then check the spark to make sure you have a FAT, BLUISH-WHITE SPARK, the color of lightning. if you do, then check the micture settings on the carb to make sure they are correct. verify that you have adequate fuel flow to the carb (continuous stream at the fuel connection or better yet, if your carb has a fuel bowl drain, a a continuous gush of fuel from the bowl drain). if all that checks out, consider removing the carb.
Do some diagnostics. Don't jump to a conclusion about what the problem might be.

Thank you sir for the great advice!
I will mention this to the mechanic and let him sort this out.
I would love to do this myself but I am physically unable(15 year old daughter will be main driver of our "toy") so I unfortunetly need the help of someone capeable. Bought the tractor for our daughter to use in parades,shows,etc.

 

[Soundguy]

might be fun to teach the 15yr old to rebuild the carb? good learning exp if she's going to be feeding and careing for it.