8N haunted

It stops suddenly and won't start sometimes for hours. Have tried tapping on carb which seems to help sometimes and most always will start after removing the distributor cap and replacing it. At times it shows weak or non existant spark.

Have eliminated the vapor lock theory from comments received on this board, but we do have 10% alcohol in our fuel in Minnesota.

Found rust in the gas tank and regular sediment in the glass bowl under the tank. Which I had suggested to me could clog the main jet especially if tractor was going over rough ground.

Followed intial advice and replaced:
ignition switch, coil, points, condensor and installed new resistor. Both I and mechanic checked voltage to the coil and from the coil. Seems to be within specs. Points are not pitted nor blue.

Distributor has been checked by two mechanics which is "O.K." Primary wire connection though the side of the distributor has been cleaned and appears o.k.

Implement dealer could find nothing wrong with the ignition, or anything else for that matter. They installed a new inline fuel filter (which doesn't affect power) and sand blasted the inside of the carb bowl as it showed some flaking?

Next series of events was to remove and replace the fuel tank and remove all electric connectors and sodder all connections. Put in new plugs when I had the cover and tank off. Also checked all wires - not many, and they seemed fine.

Tractor ran fine until hit first golpher mound with brush cutter and it killed. Got it started and it ran and killed, ran and killed and then wouldn't start. Tapping carb seem to help keep it running for a while.

Had supper and did excorism routine which included tapping side of carb with no results and then removed and replaced distributor cap and got immediate start up. Put in garage.

Next steps rebuild the carb (which seems to operate fine and was cleaned and adjusted by the implement dealer. New distributor am running out of things to replace????? ?????

Only thing that correlates with the immediate stopping is hitting a golpher mound, rough ground or hitting a jostling bump - all this in 1st gear at 1/2 throttle? Only consolidation is my neighbors 9N does the same thing with her brush hog.

I'm running out of money and patience. Is their something that I'm missing? I am not usually a total failure at fixing mechanical things. This tractor is simple? Is the PTO connected to the governor and then to the electrical system. No I didn' think so!~

Ideas or does somebody want to buy a nearly new tractor that quits occasionaly. My neighbor says its a female tractor and I need to live with it??

Todays weather cool and dry.

Fired old sweetie up and went seeking golpher mounds, big brush, wads of thick grass, steep hills and the thing never missed a beat in 2 hours of mowing. Go figure?

Can't test or retest all of the suggestions until it quits again. It is probably waiting and the haunt may have taken labor day off.

Checked the voltage drop on the resistor between the ignition and the coil as we removed a second resistor that looked suspcious. About 14 volts going into the resistor. Getting between 10 and 11 volts to the coil when its runnning. I suspect that will burn the points. This is a 12 volt conversion.

The only thing new is that I did find that the center contact in the distributor cap was pretty greasy - after I had run it the two hours with no problems.

I have jiggled wires until my fingers are sore and the distributor is clean inside- although some dust and fine grass will work its way in. Can't make it quit today. May try the idea of running it in the dark to look for sparks or jumps, but again its running great, for the moment

The Brush hog will kill it because it is a high torque excercise for the machine and will make everything run hotter. Sounds like a highvoltage/coil thing to me. When the tractor dies is the coil hot to the touch? is the resistor? is the resistor a good match for the coil you installed?

good luck

Kim Hartshorn

Let us know how it runs, Jess

This sure sounds like a wiring problem. Mechanical bump and the engine dies. Sometimes weak or no spark. Time to get it to a nice, quiet idle and start wiggling things like dist body, primary coil leads, especially at the distributor, looking for anything that can cause that puppy to quit. Tug gently on every wire until you find the bad one. It may take a while but you will duplicate the problem and hence solve it.

Take a look at the resistor on the panel real closely. Any chance it's broken and barely held together by wishful thinking? Carefully (!) tap the resistor body to see if it affects the engine.

Bridge the keyswitch with a jumper (be careful now) and go looking for a gopher mound.

Hope this helps.

Don8NAZ

Chuck

Have you checked the distributor shaft for side-play, end-play and cam lobe wear? Is the little clip still in place on the top of the distributor shaft where the rotor goes? Do you have a dust cover in your distributor?

Did you check the insulator where the primary wire stud goes through the distributor base? It may look OK and still be grounding out to the base. I replaced mine with a nylon bushing from the hardware store and have had no further problems with it.

Anecdote: I tried to crank my 52 8N after it had been sitting all summer. I had bought a new coil in the spring. New battery, new keyswitch, new cap, rotor, fresh gas, clean carb...no start. I replaced everything. Finally, I looked in the top of the coil, where the coil wire had been removed for a few weeks. A dirt-dauber had started filling the bottom of the center post with mud. Cleaned it out, instant start.