After reading this Forum for over a year, it seems to me that a larger number of diagnosis routines than you might expect, involve "jumping" the ignition switch, the resistor, and/or the wire to the coil.It seems to me that we all could use a made-up jumper in our tool boxes. You just need a piece of wire long enough to reach from the back of the dash to the front of the engine, and two alligator clips. I recommend the insulated kind of clips. They are available at Radio Shack and other places, and the wire is too. 16 gauge wire is plenty good enough - 18 is light but OK, and 14 is heavier than you need. Total cost less than a fiver. Any one of us ought to be able to figure out how to install the clips on the wire. Just remember to strip away the insulation from the connection. You can coil this jumper into a little package the size of a penny match box, and stow it away. You can then effectively test the entire ignition switch - resistor - wire - terminals setup in about one minute, by running the jumper from the terminal on top of the coil to the post on the battery that isn't connected to the engine block (use the one whose cable goes to the starter solenoid). If the engine runs with this jumper in place, you can then eliminate one piece of the circuit at a time by moving the clip from one device to the next. Don't run the engine for more than about a minute this way, and be sure to remove the jumper as soon as you are finished testing. Our N tractor engines are much like the engine in my Model T, except the tractor doesn't use the buzz coils. But, we have a saying in the Model T hobby: "Ninety percent of carburetor problems turn out to be ignition problems." So, being pre-equipped to do the simplest tests of the ignition circuit by making a jumper wire, seems to be a good way to spend a few minutes while watching American Idol.
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