[AT] Troubleshooting no start

[Mike Sloane]

I have only two suggestions, based on your comments and those of others:

1. check to be sure you have the plug wires in the correct order and 
direction in the distributor cap. If not, you can wind up with a good 
spark, plenty of fuel, and the plugs firing on the exhaust stroke 
instead of the compression stroke. (been there, done that)

2. Make sure that the coil is wired with the correct polarity. If it is 
reversed, you will have a spark, but it will be quite weak. If your 
system is positive ground, the wire from the ignition switch should go 
to the (-) terminal on the coil, and the wire to the distributor should 
come from the (+) terminal.

Mike

Dean Vinson wrote:
> Dadgummit.  Today was supposed to be the day I got the M Farmall warmed up
> and changed the oil, but it won't start.  Not so much as a pop, and by now
> I've run the battery down by tweaking various things and then trying to
> start it again.  
> 
> Spark plugs were a bit sooty but I cleaned them all up and put them back in,
> then one at a time took # 3 and 4 back out to watch for a spark while
> cranking the engine.  Both looked okay, spark was there.  I didn't check # 1
> or 2 but don't see why they'd be any different.
> 
> Fuel shutoff valve is on and fuel is getting to the carburetor.  Air cleaner
> is still a gunky mess but the tractor has always started pretty easily
> before (during the month or two I've had it).  I disconnected the air pipe
> from the carb and tried again, just to make sure plenty of air was getting
> there, but it didn't change anything, still not so much as a sputter.
> 
> The tractor last ran a week or two ago.  Since then I've replaced all the
> wiring, so my initial thought was that I'd screwed something up.  But I
> checked and re-checked it, and it all looks okay.  Good spark at the
> generator A terminal when I polarized it.  Lights work and the ammeter shows
> discharge when I turn them on.  Plenty of cranking power (at least a couple
> of hours ago, before I ran it down). Contacts inside the distributor cap are
> somewhat pitted but everything is dry and looks okay, and it ran before, and
> the plugs are sparking.
> 
> Any suggestions on how to troubleshoot this?  I'm at a loss as to what to
> even look for next.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Dean Vinson
> Dayton, Ohio
> www.vinsonfarm.net
> 
> 
> 
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> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
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> 
> 

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
<mikesloane at verizon.net>
Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of
urgency, when constitutional rights seem too extravagant to endure.
-Thurgood Marshall, US Supreme Court Justice (1908-1993)


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