My 1965 Ford 3000 gas tractor misfires occasionally. I've had problems with this in the past where simply tightening up the nut on the starter solenoid where the battery lead attaches has fixed things up. After I got it back from the dealer a couple months ago, however, tightening down the battery lead hasn't helped. (They had it because of a hydraulic fluid leak). Got busy looking at things yesterday and found a loose plug wire on the distributor and a loose negative (ground) battery cable (at the battery). Snapped down the wire and cleaned and tighted up the battery cable, but the motor still misfires. I recently replaced the exhaust manifold on this tractor, but the misfiring started before the old manifold broke (snapped where the tailpipe attaches). Anyways, I'm figuring to get the battery out of the way and look at the plugs and wires next weekend (assuming decent weather), but in the meantime: 1. What's the proper torque to put the plugs on with? If I recall correctly aluminum heads should be 11 lbs, cast iron should be 24 - right? I'm guessing this tractor has a cast iron head. 2. What's the best plug for these engines? I know that on 8N's people like to run a hotter plug than the H-10's originally specified (H-12's or the Autolite equivalent) - should I go with a hotter plug on my 3000? It doesn't get run hard very often - generally driveway work, brush-hogging, and hauling stuff from here to there, with some light plow and disc work getting the garden ready in the spring. Also, what gap should be set on the plugs? 3. If a plug wire has gone bad (they're all new last summer, installed by the local New Holland shop) is there an easy way to test it (e.g. continuity test)? I thought of the old "run the engine when it's dark, look for funny electrical glows" trick, but it's a bugger trying to see the wires on these tractors when it's dark. (It's a bugger trying to see 'em when it's light out! Woulda been nice if they'd kept things simple and out in the open). 4. It looks like the battery tray swings out on a hinge after the J-bolt is unhooked. Can the engine be run with the tray pivoted out? (I suppose I'll figure this one out once I get into it). 5. Is there a way to figure out which cylinder is missing? I don't know if it's just one cylinder missing or not, it just sometimes misses a beat then catches and runs OK for a few more seconds, then stumbles, catches, runs OK, etc. 6. I suppose it could be points. Don't know a darn thing about changing points or condensor and have never looked inside a distributor, but I've got a couple old neighbors who might be able to help. Anything I should look for here? 7. Does anyone know of an electronic ignition module for these tractors? I know they're available for 8N's, thought maybe there'd be one available for something a bit newer. Any and all advice and suggestions welcomed. Thanks in advance.
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