Re: 8n ford wont start

Posted by Gerald on February 08, 1999 at 20:27:32:

In Reply to: 8n ford wont start posted by Dan Stine on February 07, 1999 at 17:35:18:

A couple of fundamental things. With that new starter did you replace the starter cables, with skinny ones for modern cars? They need to be fat, 1 gauge, 2 gauge as the minimin size. 4 or 6 won't leave any ignition voltage from the starter voltage drop.

Does the choke really pull the choke plate ALL the way closed? Half choking will make it hard to start. An updraft carburetor needs REAL choking to get the fuel to go uphill to the cylinders.

A lot of the 8N wiring is inside a piece of pipe over the engine. Have you checked to see that the ignition and plug wires are not frayed or cracked inside that pipe? I bought an 8N a couple decades ago and all its wires were bad that way, though it would run when pulled for starting. A wiring harness kit from CT and new battery cables fixed it up so it started fine in cold Iowa weather.

You can check on coil and condenser quality by cranking it (make real sure its NOT in gear if you do it from standing on the ground) while holding a plug wire about a half inch from ground. The spark should be relatively fat and blue in color. If its thin an yellow even though that long, the condenser needs replacing. If its thin, yellow and shorter the coil is suspect too. Occasionally a new condenser will prove to be bad or ill suited for the coil in use.

I don't remember whether the 8N had a ballast resistor or a switch to remove it from the circuit on starting. If there is one and no provisions on the starting switch for shorting it out, a 6 volt automotive relay can be added to accomplish that.

The Ford made in '47 was not an 8N. It was a 2N. The 8 of 8N is the last digit of the first year of manufacture. 2N began in '42 and 9N in '39. There's very little difference in engines until the side distributor 8N came out in '51 or '2.

Gerald

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