Ford 800 gas 172 no power after electronic ignition

[Bandit7]

Hey guys we recently changed over 63 ford 800 gas tractor to pertronix electronic ignition with recommended wires cap and plugs. Now tractor doesn’t have any power under load. Put it in gear under a load and it bogs down. Any ideas?

 

[Ultradog MN]

Hey guys we recently changed over 63 ford 800 gas tractor to pertronix electronic ignition with recommended wires cap and plugs. Now tractor doesn’t have any power under load. Put it in gear under a load and it bogs down. Any ideas?

Tell us a little more.
What voltage is your system? Did you convert from the original 6v to 12v when you put the EI in?
How long have you owned the tractor? Did it make good power before you converted? Why did you convert?
Did you have the distributer out of the engine?
No right or wrong answers mind you. We just want some history.
Did you mess with the carburator at all? If not please leave the carb for now.
Those 4 banger Fords will run on 3 cylinders.
Not well mind you but they will start and run.
My guess is you have your spark plug wires crossed , you have one cylinder not getting spark or your timing is way off.

 

[MarkB_MI]

"No power under load" sounds to me like it's missing on one or two cylinders. It's hard to tell when a 172 is missing until you put a load on it. Check to be sure the plug wires are in the correct order and in the proper rotation.

 

[LarrySTN]

If it ran fine before the electronic ignition, my first thoughts, distributor is timing is wrong. You will need a timing light to correct the timing.

 

[Bandit7]

Tell us a little more.
What voltage is your system? Did you convert from the original 6v to 12v when you put the EI in?
How long have you owned the tractor? Did it make good power before you converted? Why did you convert?
Did you have the distributer out of the engine?
No right or wrong answers mind you. We just want some history.
Did you mess with the carburator at all? If not please leave the carb for now.
Those 4 banger Fords will run on 3 cylinders.
Not well mind you but they will start and run.
My guess is you have your spark plug wires crossed , you have one cylinder not getting spark or your timing is way off.

It was converted to 12v. tractor has been in the family for years. Gapped the new plugs to 0.45 and it wouldn’t run had to set them at 0.25. Haven’t had the distributor out or messed with carb

 

[Vito]

I've had those units bad out of the box. Put in a replacement and the problem went away.

Vito

 

[used red MN]

Now tractor doesn’t have any power under load.

It was converted to 12v. tractor has been in the family for years.

Was the tractor for certain running well immediately before the EI was put on? Or has it sat several months and now you have put the EI preparing it for use in the upcoming months? Does it run well for a short bit and then act up? To me that would be a sign or inadequate fuel supply to the carb.

 

[Tramway Guy]

I put a kit in a forklift, and absolutely had to adjust the timing…!

 

[Bandit7]

Was the tractor for certain running well immediately before the EI was put on? Or has it sat several months and now you have put the EI preparing it for use in the upcoming months? Does it run well for a short bit and then act up? To me that would be a sign or inadequate fuel supply to the carb.

It ran fine before, Just wanted to get away from the points

 

[casecollectorsc]

Have had points and condenser in my 930 Case lp tractor for over 15 years...never think about them and always runs fine,

 

[Hayfarmer]

I would suspect timing is off, could happen when you change to ei. I have put a number of these on tractors and vehicles and never had a problem but sometimes I take the distributor off so need to retime. You can get pretty close timing by ear if you don't have light. If still can't get it working right call Pertronics, they can tell you how to test unit and they are good to work iwth.

 

[used red MN]

It ran fine before, Just wanted to get away from the points

Sounds like you need a timing light then. I think you can static time those as well. I am not sure if all of them are susceptible to damage when the key is on and the engine is not running. Static means not running, open the distributor cap and turn the engine until the rotor is half way between the number 3 plug wire terminal on the cap and the number one terminal. Then you place a test light on the lead out of the distributor that goes to the coil….
Turns out to make sure I tell you how to do this correctly I need to know if the 12 volt conversion was completed as negative ground and in addition it would be ideal to know the Pertronix kit number.

 

[john in la]

Was the previous 12 volt conversion done with a ballast resistor between the coil and key.

If so did you connect the wire that goes to coil positive ahead of the ballast so it can get full 12 volts.

If that is not the problem I would check the plug wires are in the correct order/location on the distributor cap.

 

[MarkB_MI]

Have you checked to be sure it's firing on all four cylinders? To do this, you need to get an insulated spark plug wire puller. Loosen up the spark plug boots, then run the engine at idle. One by one, pull off each plug wire and listen to the idle speed. It should drop each time you pull a plug wire, the speed back up when you put the wire back on. The difference will be very slight, but noticeable. Any cylinder that doesn't drop the rpm when you pull its plug wire is missing. If two cylinders are missing, chances are their plug wires are swapped at the distributor.

I find it interesting that your tractor wouldn't run with the plugs gapped to .045. It should have at least run poorly. To me, that's another indication it's missing on a couple of cylinders. (I have no idea why you decided to gap the plugs so wide, but that's besides the point.)

Spark plug wire boot puller

 

[Bandit7]

Have you checked to be sure it's firing on all four cylinders? To do this, you need to get an insulated spark plug wire puller. Loosen up the spark plug boots, then run the engine at idle. One by one, pull off each plug wire and listen to the idle speed. It should drop each time you pull a plug wire, the speed back up when you put the wire back on. The difference will be very slight, but noticeable. Any cylinder that doesn't drop the rpm when you pull its plug wire is missing. If two cylinders are missing, chances are their plug wires are swapped at the distributor.

I find it interesting that your tractor wouldn't run with the plugs gapped to .045. It should have at least run poorly. To me, that's another indication it's missing on a couple of cylinders. (I have no idea why you decided to gap the plugs so wide, but that's besides the point.)

Spark plug wire boot puller

Well researching said gap them 0.40-0.50 for optimum performance so we just tried it maybe the source was wrong. I’ll check this thank you

 

[MarkB_MI]

Well researching said gap them 0.40-0.50 for optimum performance so we just tried it maybe the source was wrong. I’ll check this thank you

A 45 thousandths plug gap might be appropriate for a modern high-energy electronic ignition, but that's not what you have. Although the Pertronix unit replaces the points and condenser, the rest of the system is still 1950s technology. Even if you use Pertronix's proprietary coil and plug wires, I don't believe they're substantially different from the original equipment; you still don't have a system that was designed to fire across an .045 inch plug gap. But I think you already figured that out. Good luck.

 

[Bandit7]

Was the previous 12 volt conversion done with a ballast resistor between the coil and key.

If so did you connect the wire that goes to coil positive ahead of the ballast so it can get full 12 volts.

If that is not the problem I would check the plug wires are in the correct order/location on the distributor cap

 

[Bandit7]

We unhooked it but it has I guess a factory one behind the steering column. Solenoid key switch and all of that runs to it, Can you explain more I’m thinking something to do with this is the issue. Thanks

 

[Jim.ME]

The wiring diagram in the Ford Service Manual for the 800 series tractors shows a junction block in the area you mention, no resistor is shown in the OEM 6-volt system. The ballast resistor you unhooked (likely near the coil) would have been added for a 12-volt conversion and should be the only one.

The recommendation .045 to .050 sounds like too much to me in this case. The manual gives the sparkplug gap as .025" to .028". I think most installing EI maintain the original plug gap recommendation.

 

[Texasmark]

Hey guys we recently changed over 63 ford 800 gas tractor to pertronix electronic ignition with recommended wires cap and plugs. Now tractor doesn’t have any power under load. Put it in gear under a load and it bogs down. Any ideas?

Where did you set your timing? If you removed your spark advance weights in your changeover, you shot yourself in the foot.

You can't compare Capacitor Discharge operating systems to points and coil systems. They are different animals and you can't use the same specs on your spark plugs. The Petronix doesn't do anything but ensure that your "points" function flawlessly...no hit and miss on opening and closing. Nothing else changes. I agree with Jim, on the 0.028 inch spark plug gap. I put their systems on 2 Ford tractors (of mine) before I converted to all diesels.