Ford 2000 3-cyl gasser losing power with any load on PTO-suggestions needed to fix

DJ54 · Sep 9, 2017

It will be interesting to see what they find. I know mine is pretty cold natured, as far as acceleration, until it warms up a bit. More so than my IH tractors. We had a Ford 4000 gasser at work, used as a highway mower, that was cold natured too, w/Holley carb. Just came to the conclusion, it is the nature of the beast.

tmac196 · Sep 18, 2017

Well, the tractor has been fixed by the local dealership. The source of the problem was a bad coil. Yes, I had replaced the coil early in the process with this new coil:

The problem, as was explained by the mechanic, is that this is an alleged 6V coil which requires an "external resistor" which is stated on the print outside in order to work in a 12V tractor.

I never paid attention to it as this coil was supplied by another dealership's parts man whom I have worked with very successfully for years and whose track record has been stellar getting me proper parts.

Once a "12V" coil was installed, the tractor runs like a top.

Chalk this up as a good learning experience. I'm just glad I've got my tractor back.

Thanks to all for all of the help, suggestions and insight. This thread has dragged on longer than I wanted it too.

shaeff · Sep 18, 2017

Glad to hear you got it fixed, and that it was a relatively easy one! I wouldn't have thought of that, but have taken note for future troubleshooting. Thanks for the update!

rod330 · Sep 19, 2017

Thank you for the follow-up....good to know for future reference.

Soundguy · Sep 19, 2017

Odd one. Back in post 15, when asked if spark was good, it was stated yes.

As for the coil.. 3 cyl fords were supplied with 6v coils and resistor wire in the harness. If the wire is removed, a 12v coil must be used, or a ballast resistor added.

tmac196 · Sep 20, 2017

Soundguy said:
Odd one. Back in post 15, when asked if spark was good, it was stated yes.

As for the coil.. 3 cyl fords were supplied with 6v coils and resistor wire in the harness. If the wire is removed, a 12v coil must be used, or a ballast resistor added.

Yes, we had spark at all three plugs, but, in retrospect, maybe it was a "weak" spark compared to what would be produced by a properly resisted 6V coil. In my ignorance, I wouldn't know the difference.

I wondered where the resistance was hiding. I didn't know if it was in the wire to the dissy or elsewhere. Thanks for the feedback.