[Farmall] Fw: Farmall M hard to start

[Jim Becker]

Does the tractor have a magneto?  The symptoms sound a lot like a 
malfunctioning impulse coupling.  There should be a good, solid click from 
the magneto with each 1/2 revolution while cranking.  If not, the coupling 
is the problem.
Jim Becker

-----Original Message----- 
From: Dan Glass
Sent: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 10:46 AM
To: Farmall/IHC mailing list
Subject: Re: [Farmall] Fw: Farmall M hard to start

Here is a long shot.  I had a farmall 400 that did that.  It turned out
the push rods were sticking. When you pulled it it spun fast enough to
get it to start, I guess it sort of pounder the push rods loose.  If you
stopped it and didn't let it cool too much it would start with the
starter.  Let it set for a day or so and you had to pull start it
again.  I pulled the valve cover and squirted marvel mystery oil down
the tubes a few times and it seemed to clean them out.  Of course, the
right way would be to pull them out and clean the push rods and the bores.

On 8/3/2011 10:49 AM, William Ransom wrote:
> Last year, I bought a battery and starter for the Farmall M. I found out 
> seven of the cam followers were stuck, and I got them unstuck. I also 
> filed the points and replaced the condenser, rotor, distributor cap, and 
> spark plug wires. I also replaced the negative battery cable. I still 
> couldn't get it to start until it was pulled with another tractor and then 
> coast-started. The M didn't run very long the first few times it was 
> started last year, but after it had been coast-started, I was able to 
> start it with the starter. At first, the M stalled immediately after it 
> was started, but after the carburetor was taken apart and cleaned out, it 
> would run longer. When I tried to start the M with the starter this year, 
> I couldn't get it to start. I thought the battery might just be weak, so I 
> tried charging it. I still couldn't get it to start with the starter until 
> I had coast-started it. After I coast-started the M this year, I was able 
> to start it with the starter once, and I ba!
ck!
>   ed it up the hill to its usual parking space. However, it didn't seem to 
> be running very well then; the engine kept speeding up and slowing down 
> over and over again. After that, I took the carburetor apart and cleaned 
> it out. I blew out the passages in the carburetor with an air compressor 
> and then put the carburetor back together with new gaskets. After that, I 
> tried to start the M with the starter again, and it still wouldn't start. 
> The day before yesterday, I coast-started the M again. It seemed to be 
> running all right, but when I went to back up, I accidentally ran over a 
> fence post with the left back wheel. Backing over the fence post tipped 
> and shook the tractor enough that the exhaust pipe came out of the 
> manifold. The hole in the manifold appears to be threaded, so I think the 
> exhaust pipe was supposed to screw into it, but there are no threads on 
> the exhaust pipe and it can easily be pulled out of the manifold. The 
> tractor was still running with the exhaust pipe!
  ou!
>   t of the manifold, but it didn't sound very good. I stopped the engine 
> and waited for the muffler to cool off enough I could handle it and put 
> the exhaust pipe back in the manifold. After that, I tried to start it 
> with the starter. The starter did seem to be cranking the engine fast 
> enough, and the engine fired a few times (it seemed to be trying to start 
> twice), but I couldn't get it to actually run. Do you have any idea what 
> would cause this problem (not starting with the starter even though it can 
> be coast-started) and what I could do about it? When I crank the engine 
> with the starter, gas comes out the drip hole in the carburetor.
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