Ole Fergy

[Nashty1]

Took apart, painted & reassembled, prodded out radiator, rebuilt starter, cleaned tank , fixed cosmetic's. Got ready to crank, timing good, compression @ 80 on all four got good spark, gas to carb but will not start. gave it a shot of ether & only tried to crank but still wont run, Help if possible, ain't got much hair left . . . .

 

[Janicholson]

Took apart, painted & reassembled, prodded out radiator, rebuilt starter, cleaned tank , fixed cosmetic's. Got ready to crank, timing good, compression @ 80 on all four got good spark, gas to carb but will not start. gave it a shot of ether & only tried to crank but still wont run, Help if possible, ain't got much hair left . . . .

See if you can drain fuel from the bottom of the carb. no flow means no fuel to engine. If fuel, the carb's interior may be very gunked up. Jim

 

[rustred]

You can also remove the spark plugs and squirt some gas into each cylinder maybe 1/2 an ounce , and then it will fire up for about. 2 seconds for ur own satisfaction. Then u know you have to clean the carb. But ya no fuel leaking out of carb means no start.

 

[Nashty1]

See if you can drain fuel from the bottom of the carb. no flow means no fuel to engine. If fuel, the carb's interior may be very gunked up. Jim

Shouldn't it at least try to crank with the ether ? Called myself cleaning carb

 

[rustred]

Shouldn't it at least try to crank with the ether ? Called myself cleaning carb

Sure it will crank over , but starting fluid alone won’t make it start. Also cranking over means the engine turns over with starter engaged. It does not mean a running engine , as many here post it that way.

 

[Nashty1]

Sure it will crank over , but starting fluid alone won’t make it start. Also cranking over means the engine turns over with starter engaged. It does not mean a running engine , as many here post it that way.

While cranking over shouldn't it at least try to run/start on the either tho, it may hit one time but that's all .

 

[rustred]

While cranking over shouldn't it at least try to run/start on the either tho, it may hit one time but that's all .

starting fluid is a starting aid. without gas the engine will not run. that is why i said to add gas to the cylinders. or remove the air intake and have someone with a spray bottle and mist it in while cranking it and it will start. i have dont that also.

 

[used red MN]

Hello Nashty1, welcome to YT! You say “timing good” tell us how you determined this? Was the distributor removed from the motor since it ran last? If it was, are you aware that on a 4 stroke engine the number 1 piston comes to top dead center twice during those 4 strokes? Once at the top of the compression stroke and again at the top of the exhaust stroke. So in other words if you just lined up the flywheel timing marks and threw the distributor in you have a 50/50 chance of it being correct. To do it correctly you need to have the #1 spark plug out and feel for compression. When you feel that then continue to turn the crank until the TDC marks line up. Then place your distributor in with the rotor pointing to the terminal 1 in the cap for the plug wire of the front cylinder.

 

[tomturkey]

But are you getting spark while the starter is cranking over the engine??? Sometimes the starter robs all the battery power and not enough is getting to the ignition(coil). Could be, might be, maybe. Along with what others have said. gobble

 

[jhwis]

Shouldn't it at least try to crank with the ether ? Called myself cleaning carb

Make sure the throttle is open all or most.of the way. If it's mostly closed down she won't fire.

 

[Blackhole49]

starting fluid is a starting aid. without gas the engine will not run. that is why i said to add gas to the cylinders. or remove the air intake and have someone with a spray bottle and mist it in while cranking it and it will start. i have dont that also.

X2 on gas in cylinders. While 80 psi should be enough to get it to run, it's not what I would be looking for to use regularly. my 8n has 95 across the board and will run a 6' mower, but it also uses a qt of oil every 5 hrs.

 

[46m]

My guess timing half off

 

[Nashty1]

Hello Nashty1, welcome to YT! You say “timing good” tell us how you determined this? Was the distributor removed from the motor since it ran last? If it was, are you aware that on a 4 stroke engine the number 1 piston comes to top dead center twice during those 4 strokes? Once at the top of the compression stroke and again at the top of the exhaust stroke. So in other words if you just lined up the flywheel timing marks and threw the distributor in you have a 50/50 chance of it being correct. To do it correctly you need to have the #1 spark plug out and feel for compression. When you feel that then continue to turn the crank until the TDC marks line up. Then place your distributor in with the rotor pointing to the terminal 1 in the cap for the plug wire of the front cylinderThe

 

[used red MN]

You did but you didn’t…?, ..reply but only wrote “The” You can click edit and add whatever you wanted to say. On a phone edit is accessed by the 3 dots to the right of Report at the bottom.

 

[Nashty1]

It's been a while since I've done that type work but I'm confident it's in time & firing when it should, It seems like a gas or lack of type issue, Making me scratch my bald spot . . .

 

[Nashty1]

X2 on gas in cylinders. While 80 psi should be enough to get it to run, it's not what I would be looking for to use regularly. my 8n has 95 across the board and will run a 6' mower, but it also uses a qt of oil every 5 hrs.View attachment 70076

I'm hoping the compression will come up after I get it start & it runs some, It's been in the back corner of the shop at least two years ..

 

[rustred]

It's been a while since I've done that type work but I'm confident it's in time & firing when it should, It seems like a gas or lack of type issue, Making me scratch my bald spot . . .

stop scratching, have u added fuel to the cylinders? thats a pretty quick diagnosis. u should have dont that then replied back to what the outcome was. and problem solved.

 

[Nashty1]

stop scratching, have u added fuel to the cylinders? thats a pretty quick diagnosis. u should have dont that then replied back to what the outcome was. and problem solved.

I'm going to try that tomorrow & check for flow, can't be much more, I drove it in there . . . thanks

 

[Jimmydog]

I'm going to try that tomorrow & check for flow, can't be much more, I drove it in there . . . thanks

Welcome aboard the old people's tractor site as my wife likes to call it. A few things come to mind :

I didn't see where you mentioned model. Critical information!
If yours is like my TO-30 there is a stand-off pipe in the gas tank. If you open the valve on the sediment bowl 1-2 turns, then when the fuel gets too low you can open the valve all the way and it will have a gallon or so reserve fuel to get you home. So, if you look in the tank and it has some gas in it but not much, then you won't have flow just by opening it a turn or two.

Also, that arrangement has screens that plug up, they need to be cleaned.

I don't favor pouring gas directly into the cylinders, especially if you have low compression. Most likely some rings hung up on pistons and will loosen up after reaching operating temperature and cooling a couple of times. Mine did. Like someone else mentioned use a squirt-can to spray the fuel into the carb intake. Less chance of washing the cylinders. If you suspect you've washed the cylinders, try pouring a tablespoon or two of motor oil in the cylinders and spritzing gas in carb. It should bark, if not, then it's some other malfunction.

Finally, WHEN you do get it running, post back on here what the problem turned out to be, most folks on here appreciate the challenges of diagnosing the problem and feel cheated if we don't get vindicated. Or shot down as the case may be.

Good luck, Fergies are great little tractors and easy to work on.

 

[Nashty1]

stop scratching, have u added fuel to the cylinders? thats a pretty quick diagnosis. u should have dont that then replied back to what the outcome was. and problem solved.

I think dist. is a tooth off, noticed the rotor & #1 on cap were off just enough, which would cause my backfire, I do have gas flow & it spit. I beginning to think maybe my son in law or myself had to have removed the dist. when replacing starter? I fixing to make sure .....