No Spark...Puzzled

[Wayne Fleury]

Was warming up the 52 8n I noticed was not
charging. Shut off, turned back on, No Spark???? I
am going to take the 48 8n up north to our cabin
this summer so I thought I would make the 52
reliable. So, had alt checked out, ok. Replaced -
wire harness, ignition, distributor, coil,
carburator, diode. (carb was really bad). Is wired
12v and is wired correctly according to every
diagram I have seen. Everything clean, bright, and
tight. Flywheel set at 4 deg, spark plugs 1,2,4,3
ccw on dist, rotor pointing to front head bolt and
no 1 plug wire in right location. (also replaced
spark plug wires), I know I did not have any spark
before I replaced everything, but with everything
I could think of replaced I should. Diode wired
correctly. I have tried just about everything I
can think of. I have power to and from coil??? My
48 is VERY relieable and wanted to make the 52 the
same. Any suggestions would be helpfull....Thanks
 

[Wayne Fleury]

Forgot to mention...points - plugs set at .025.
 

[souNdguy]

power to and from the coil.. and no spark.

check points gap at .025.. so far sounds like points not making contact.. could be conductor strip from feedthru insulator to points is open.. or points are burnt / not making contact.

post back
 

[Bruce (VA)]

Do you have battery voltage across the points when they are open? Verify the gap on the points at .025. Then, dress the points by running a piece of card stock or brown paper bag through them. New points sometimes have an anti-corrosive dielectric coating on them & old points can corrode or pick up grease from a dirty feeler gauge or excessive cam lubricant. (I always spray my feeler guage blade off w/ contact cleaner.) Make sure you have voltage across the points, as in past the insulator on the side of the distributor. That is a very common failure point on sidemounts, along w/ the attached copper strip. It's hard to find a short there because it is usually an intermittent . So 'wiggle' the insulator & the copper strip a bit when you are doing your checking. If you find the short there, the Master Parts catalog lists everything you need on page 154. You can make the strip and you could also make the insulators as well. But, somethings are just easier & in the long run cheaper to buy. Get the strip, 12209, screw 350032-S, 12233 bushing & 12234 insulator & just replace it all. If you just replaced the rotor & lost spark, put the old one back in. Insure that the rotor fits firmly on the shaft & that the little clip is there. Make sure the distributor cap is not cracked & doesn't have carbon tracks. Check continuity on the secondary coil wire. Make sure it is firmly seated in both the cap & the coil. In fact, replace it temporarily w/ a plug wire. Next, remove the secondary coil wire from the center of the distributor cap, turn the key on & crank the engine while holding the end of the wire 1/4" from a rust & paint free spot on the engine. You should see & hear a nice blue/white spark. If not, you have a bad coil or condenser. Just put the old condenser back in to eliminate that as a possibility.



Post back w/ results; I'll be interested in what the problem was.
75 Tips

 

[ZANE]

Take the distributor cap off. Turn the engine till the points are open. Take the high tension/voltage wire from the center of the distributor cap and hold it close to the engine etc. Using an insulated handle screwdriver make contact between the to ignition points. Should be spark there and at the high tension to engine.

If no spark, remove the wire from the stud connection at the side of the distributor and Then strike the wire to the stud and with the points open if there is a spark you have a short circuit either at that stud insulation on the side of the distributor or with the points or condenser or the flat copper conductor that attaches to the stud and points.

Zane
 

[jvickerd]

POINT GAP ON FRONT MOUNT THAT HAVE IN MY 9-N AND 8-N ARE 0.015" POINT GAP AND PLUGS AT 0.025"
 

[JMOR]

[old]

Hot wire it. As in run a wire from the ignition side of the battery to the ignition side of the coil. If it starts and has spark your problem is from the coil back to the battery if it does not run then the problem is forward of the coil. You said it ran then you shut it off and then would not restart. To me that says bad ignition switch or some such easy but odd thing
 

[Wayne Fleury]

Thanks for the quick reply's. Will be working on them today. What gets me is it was running fine, turned key off, then on and no spark???? Everything electrical has been replaced with new and yet same problem. (parts were ordered from here). I have no problems working on the 48n, but this one is driving me crazy. Only paid #600 for it so I guess you get what you pay for. (it has a Sherman LOW aux trans and plow snow with a Dearborn front dozer blade. A very useful tractor for me)
 

[old]

Problem is with replacing all sorts of parts before doing the trouble shooting and knowing where the problem is you can add more problems so instead of going forward you go back wards. ALWAYS trouble shoot first parts when you know which part you need NEVER the other way around