My 202 just died, help

[bill50cal]

if you have spark from the coil wire but none at the plugs than here is another test. with the distributer cap off, hold the coil wire close to the roter button, have some one crank it over, you should NOT see any spark to the roter and if so the roter is bad.

 

[Carl in CT]

Managed to round up a condenser locally (paid about $9 too much for it) so I could at least try that today. No dice. I have the parts on order from the JD dealer (cap, rotor, points, condenser, coil and will get new coil/plug wires and plugs too - they make the wires there, no need to order them). I started looking at all of the plug wires and they are horrible. Corroded and connectors all bent up. They look like a monkey made the connections using childrens' scissors and a nut cracker for tools. The guy who I bought this tractor from was not too bright, his wife had to do all the talking, dealing and direction giving when I went to buy it so I think he did the cables (using his kids' scissors and a nut cracker).

Anyway, I have to go to the doctor soon and will be out of commission for a couple of days so I'll just have to wait until I'm up and around and the rest of the parts arrive.

 

[Carl in CT]

It lives, wooohooooooo!!!!! I got the parts yesterday. It was the coil that was bad. I ended up not doing the points because I wanted to see if it was the coil first and it's running great so I'm just going to keep the new points for spares and leave the old ones alone. New cap, rotor and coil/plug wires, I forgot to get new plugs but they aren't that bad. It runs so much smoother now then before it died, those connections were probably bad since the day I bought it last year.

Anyway thanks to all who chimed in with advice and encouragement. Big shout out to my mechanic buddy Leon who spent a good 1/2 hour on the phone with me when he could have charged me $85 for a trip across town to see the tractor. I owe him a burger/pizza and beverage(s) of his choice!

 

[Carl in CT]

Well, this is an old thread but I had a bit of deja vu two weeks ago. Tractor was running OK and I parked it for several weeks. I always have battery issues with it. I charge it or jump it and it starts right up and runs fine. It used to stay charged enough that I could restart it again within a day or two but now it needs to be jumped every time. So the battery is probably just too worn out and won't hold a charge for more than an hour or so. So I may need to see about a new alternator (or generator, whatever it's called).

So, I had the battery all charged up and it cranked but wouldn't start. Tried again the next day while jumping it and still nothing. Tested the coil with a multimeter but I don't know the proper readings for that particular coil. That said the resistance in the center lead was waaaaay over any range that seemed normal (but the resistance between the side terminals on the coil seems right on). Went to advance auto and got a 12 volt coil that was the same size for $27 and voila, she fired right up and is running fine but it needs oil.

So I have three issues:
Why won't the battery charge or even stay charged when it gets hooked up to a charger. Is it just the alternator/generator is there something else?
Why is it eating coils so quickly (2 years but not that many hours)
Where is the darn oil filler - it looks like its near the front of the engine a little ahead of the dipstick on the left side (if you are sitting on the tractor) but I want to be sure before I dump oil in there. I know, shame on me for not changing the oil in two years but I have not put many hours on it at all and it was fresh when I got it.

 

[The kid]

Carl, it sounds like the ignition is not cutting voltage to the coil, thus burning the ignition. That would explain the battery going down too. Disconnect the battery and charge it. Once charged and it stays up, then your going to have to wring out the ignition wiring. The oil filter from a couple of pictures I found on the net is on the left side just below and in front of the the exhaust manifold. It sticks out on the side of the block with a nut that holds the cover on. It is not a screw off type. It is a cartridge inside the canister. Make sure you align the gasket correctly when replacing the filter. That is if the engine is a Continental gas. -kid

 

[Carl in CT]

Hmmmm, ok, so are you saying I basically need to re-wire the entire ignition system? I mean it's not all that complicated I don't think, being as old as it is, but it's not something I really have the time to do if I don't have to. I wonder if the voltage regulator is goofed up or something like that. That would be a quick switch I would think but I don't want to arbitrarily throw parts at it either. I priced out a generator and that's $200 so I definitely don't want to replace that unless I'm pretty sure it's necessary.

As far as the oil, I actually needed to know where the filler tube is. The filter is the cartridge type but it is on the right side just underneath the carb, and it is a Continental Z-134 gas engine. It looked to me that the oil filler tube is on the left side (opposite the filter) and is up near the very front of the engine. I am pretty sure that's where the oil pump is so I am thinking that would make sense to add oil there. Beleive it or not I have the complete shop manual for this tractor with instructions on how to take it apart bolt by bolt and put it back together again, complete with tolerances and specs but I'll be darned if I could find the oil filler labelled anywhere. I just now found an exploded view of the cylinder block and attaching parts and the oil filler tube is labelled and it is what I thought.

So now it's just the battery/coil issues I'd like to resolve. If anyone has any ideas besides the re-wiring of the ignition system I'm all ears. If not, maybe I'll work on that over the winter when my fingers will be freezing off but at least my other outdoor work will ease up.

 

[The kid]

One my Z145 the oil filter is on the right side below the carb. If your sitting on the seat. Canister type with a replaceable element inside. When I say right or left it's from the seat perspective.

 

[Carl in CT]

Yup, if sitting on the seat, the filter is on the right and the oil filler is on the left on mine.

So I added some more oil and of course it's smoking a bit more now and fouling plugs. I know that tired old engine needs work if I am going to expect to run it for years to come. Just not sure I will have the money to spend on some sort of a rebuild or whatever it needs. I know that without an indoor place to work on it and my lack of tractor repair skills I would have to pay someone to do the job. I dunno, I can replace valve seals probably, I have done that on a pickup truck, but I wouldn't want to get into too much more than that I don't think. If I had a barn or garage to work on it and all the right tools, maybe.

I may have to sell it for whatever I can get now in it's current condition and get something smaller without a backhoe. That was my long term plan originally but I admit that I have grown a little attached to this tractor. A strong backhoe is quite a usefull tool that I have used for far more than just digging the drainage ditch I originally bought it for. The only thing I wish I had is a 3 point hitch so I could get a brush mower for it but that backhoe is frame mounted, not an easy removal. I don't even know if I could get a 3 point hitch for the old girl even if I did take the backhoe off.

 

[The kid]

Hmmmm, ok, so are you saying I basically need to re-wire the entire ignition system?

Not at all. You need to check the routing of your existing wiring to see if voltage is being cutoff to the ignition. On older ignition, points will become pitted if voltage is constant . I'm sure there are several diagrams floating around here if you don't have one to show the wiring routing. If you can't find one, I'll help dig one up. -kid

 

[Carl in CT]

Not at all. You need to check the routing of your existing wiring to see if voltage is being cutoff to the ignition. On older ignition, points will become pitted if voltage is constant . I'm sure there are several diagrams floating around here if you don't have one to show the wiring routing. If you can't find one, I'll help dig one up. -kid

OK, I will see what I can find before I ask you to go digging but that's very nice of you to offer. Hopefully I can find it either in my service manual or online. Thanks for all of your help and advice so far, I do appreciate it very much!