Looong again. Sorry!

Posted by ScottyHOMEy on July 31, 2007 at 16:18:23 from (70.105.246.111):

In Reply to: Farmall B questions posted by Dave H (MI) on July 31, 2007 at 13:33:06:

Hiya. Dave!

Two places to look. Spark and fuel/air.

On the spark side, there was a fella whose handle I can't recall, who chimed in about the mag being more reliable than a battery ignition. I took some mild exception. A mag needs the same kind of maintenance a battery distributor does. But this is the point where I acknowledge that a mag will keep you running even if the battery and/or charging system break down.

We've pretty well worked over the right side of your engine, and I'm as confident as I can be from a distance that we've got it squared away. The problems you're sensing now are likely gonna be on the other side.

I remember the one time I had an ignition die on me because the alternator failed. It was a dark and stormy night, so we had lights, wipers, and the defroster blower dragging the battery down to the point where there wasn't enough juice left for the ignition. But as a rule, I don't think the ignition draws enough to kill a battery quickly. With enough time, of course, it will.

I know nothing about alternators like I know about generators, so I'll bow out of the elctrical part of the discussion with just a couple of points (no pun intended). What does your ammeter show when things are running well? Too low or too high (i.e., too far from 6-8 amps of charge) could indicate trouble. What kind of shape is your battery in? Filled properly? I wouldn't do it as an early step, but you might want to have it load tested at some point if your woes start shaping up like they're electrical. Also, I've linked Bob M's page again down below.

Images 6 and 11 would, I think be most similar to the two setups you might have with that alternator. I think they're for Hs and Ms, so there'll be fuses you don't have and the like, but you can probably cobble an image of what's different and possibly make some use of them as you check things out.

One last thought on that part. Is the old girl shedded or left out in the weather? If left out especially, you can't rule out condensation in the distributor.

As for the fuel and air. Do like the others suggested and make sure your carb is snugged up tight. Both the bowl to the body (four screws) and the neck of the carb to the manifold (two bolt or nuts). Also, make sure your manifold is snugged up to the head. In addition to snug bolts, snugged up means good gaskets (in all three places) are a must. A leak above the carb will sap off the vacuum needed to pull fuel through the carb by drawing in air. But a leak at the bowl, even with good vacuum, will also allow too much air into the mixture.

Couldn't hurt to check out and clean up the path of the wet fuel. How's the sediment bowl look? Shut off the fuel at the sediment bowl, pull the fuel line from the carb, then back out the brass elbow that the fuel line fits into. The carb end, under the thread, should have a screen on it -- make sure that screen is good and clean. Blow it out backwards with air, sozzle it around in a cup of gas to let anything loose fall out. Just make sure it isn't clogging. If it is clogged, it wouldn't hurt to go back up to the sediment bowl and clean it and the screen above it, too.

These are the simple things. You may have to go in deeper, but check them first. They're easy.

A last thought. It's always a good idea to shut your fuel off at the sediment bowl when you shut your tractor down. There'll be different opinions on how to do this, and they all have their merits. Some would have you shut the fuel off with the tractor running, leave it running until it starves for fuel and dies, then shut off the switch. (Argument against -- it leaves the fuel bowl empty and allows the gasket between the bowl and the body of the carb to dry out, leading to premature failure. It can also suck dry bits of crud into small orifices, mucking thigs up). Second, kill the engine with the switch and before you go in the house, remember to shut the fuel off. (Better, IMHO, but you're more apt to forget to shut the fuel off, and flood things). I split the difference. I get off the tractor, shut the fuel off at the bowl and immediately reach back and turn off the ignition. (Argument against -- both this and the previous option -- is the risk of leaving the tractor sit so long that the fuel left in the system, especially the bowl and the small passages in the carb, will varnish up. Not a problem in the short term, but very real if the tractor is going to sit for six months.)

I'll be watching and chime in if I can help, but otherwise will sit back and see if my fogged old mind can lern anyting about alternator systems.

Good luck, and Happy Motoring!

• Bob's wiring

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