[Farmall] Farmall starting---finally

[ebony51 at frontiernet.net]

Well, I finally go the a started tonight.  I appreciate all the advice.  What eventually I found most helpful was John T. Nordhoff"s "Troubleshooting a Battery Powered External Coil Type Ignition Sysem" that he posts on the Farmall Forum on "Yesterday's Tractors."

What was wrong.  Well, it still could have been several things.  The point were pretty bad.  The existing internal condensor was bad, and the previous owner had put one on externally.  So I put on new points and a new condensor (which is fun to put into the magneto).

The distributor gear had a chip in it so there was lots of play in the rotor clockwise and counterclockwise.  So I replaced that.  

I had the coil checked and it showed good.  I had the ballast resister checked and it showed 1.5 ohms.

So late this afternoon I started down Nordhoff's checklist.  Now under 2a of his list, is says I should get on the ciols high input side "around 6 volts on a 12 volt sytem that used a 6 volt coil plus an external Ballast Resister" with the ignition switch turned.  I get 12.69 volts so I do not know what is going one.  Does the ballast resister reduce the voltage or just the ohms?

Anyway, when I got to 5a, my test light did not come on.  I went and double checked the points to see if they were opening.  They seemed to be and I double checked the gap, which I set at .020 (sorry for previous misstatements about this).  Still no light.  I took off the lead wire to the points at the points (thank goodness I did not have to take the condenser out again...it is a real paint to get in and out).  I noticed a little gap of wire where the wire goes into the connector.  I put some electric tape over it and then put the wire back on...trying to keep it away from any metal.

I ran the starter again, and the test light flashed.

So, I put the distributor gear cover back on, along with the rotor and the rotor cap.  I ran the starter and low and beyond, for the first time in a month plus, the engine started.  Now it sounded a bit funny, but I thought it might be the results of the adjusting with the carb.  I worked with that a bit but not change.  About the time I was going to check the ignition sequence. the radiator hose broke, and I shut the tractor off. 

Now the firing order was off.  I thought it was right, but when I checked what was on the engine, I had it wrong.  I don't know if have the firing off cause the engine to overhead and the hose break (it is not a pressure system) or it is simply co-incidental.

Anyway, I do the more hose and clamps and will replace the hose tomorrow.   Do I have to take the bolts out that fasten the fan housing to the engine to get the hose on???

I hope tomorrow night I can report complete success

Thanks for all the advice and help.

Larry Hardesty