1952 8n backfire will not start

[ehrigranch]

Any help will be greatly appreciated. 1952 ford 8n,converted to 12 volt years ago. Was running like a top, bump starter button once and off you go. Left at ranch after planting food plots last year to do some more shredding at a later time. Rats ate on wiring, through radiator hoses and all spark plug wires leaving only boots at distributor cap, plugs, and coil.
Replaced wiring that was damaged ( did not replace entire wiring harness although have one in hand and ready to replace all harness). Replaced cap, rotor, points gapped correctly, condenser, plug wires,
12 volt coil, coil wire to cap. Tractor only will backfire once and then nothing. Distributor has not been removed and timing has not been changed or adjusted. Firing order is 1,2,4,3 counterclockwise on distributor and #1 toward motor.
If anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Mike Groom]

You might want to check your exhaust pipe and muffler for a nest,had a similar thing happen on mine and after I took the exhaust off at the flange it started right up,the muffler on back was plugged solid!

 

[ehrigranch]

Thank you Mike.

I had thought about that but we only ran a wire up the exhaust pipe. I will remove at manifold joint , turn it over and let you know how it turns out.

Thank you again for the reply.

 

[Tom N MS]

Anxious to hear back from you about what u find-What about the air breather intake tube? Have u tried cranking it with the tube disconnected-it could be plugged by rats or dirt daubers.

 

[Charner (MS)]

Maybe a stuck intake valve. Take off plug wire one and try it. If you get a backfire, replace one and go to two. Once it quits backfiring you have located the stuck valve.
Remove the plug and with a go light you can see what valve is doing. Some valve lubricate could solve your problem.

 

[ehrigranch]

Removed donut clamp and disconnected the exhaust pipe from exhaust manifold. Turned on gas at sediment bowl, key on, and turned her over. Backfired and shot flame out of exhaust manifold. Made every dog in earshot bark except our 9 month old 80lb. Catahoula pup !!
Disconnected the air intake from carb. Fired off again.... Same result.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Usually pretty good at any mechanic work from mechanical to electrical on tractors to trucks from gas to diesel, only thing I do not touch is automatic transmissions, but this one's got me perplexed. Have taken care of all the usual gremlins.

Do not like to throw parts, $, and pray when doing any work. Diagnose, fix and keep it simple .

Next step I am going to take is to drain tank, remove hood, rip out all existing repaired wiring and all of the existing harness, rewire harness, check all connections again, may replace all plug and coil wires again, remove and replace condenser and points again with another new set I have. Make sure all connections are clean.

Really do not want to pull the distributor since it hasn't been taken out or adjusted since it was running great.
If either of you or anyone else would suggest pulling the distributor first and going through it...... I'll try that first.

Again, thank you in advance for any information or help in this issue.

Have a great day.

 

[ehrigranch]

Removed donut clamp and disconnected the exhaust pipe from exhaust manifold. Turned on gas at sediment bowl, key on, and turned her over. Backfired and shot flame out of exhaust manifold. Made every dog in earshot bark except our 9 month old 80lb. Catahoula pup !!
Disconnected the air intake from carb. Fired off again.... Same result.
Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Usually pretty good at any mechanic work from mechanical to electrical on tractors to trucks from gas to diesel, only thing I do not touch is automatic transmissions, but this one's got me perplexed. Have taken care of all the usual gremlins.

Do not like to throw parts, $, and pray when doing any work. Diagnose, fix and keep it simple .

Next step I am going to take is to drain tank, remove hood, rip out all existing repaired wiring and all of the existing harness, rewire harness, check all connections again, may replace all plug and coil wires again, remove and replace condenser and points again with another new set I have. Make sure all connections are clean.

Really do not want to pull the distributor since it hasn't been taken out or adjusted since it was running great.
If either of you or anyone else would suggest pulling the distributor first and going through it...... I'll try that first.

Again, thank you in advance for any information or help in this issue.

Have a great day.

 

[ehrigranch]

Thank you. Will try and get back with you.

Would a stuck valve keep the tractor from running at all or just have a backfire when it is running?

It backfires once while trying to start and then not trying to start.

Wait a few seconds, and then again, will backfire once and then nothing again.

 

[R Geiger]

Before I did alot more work, I would check for stuck or sticky valves.