1952 Farmall A

[Marengmech]

Just picked up a 52 Farmall A. 6 Volt positive ground. Worked fine last year, but currently not starting. Does anyone have any info on the ignition systems for these tractors. Previous owner says it lost spark. Thanks in advance

 

[DaveBN]

Well they stopped making the A in 1947 so either you are wrong on the year or the make of your tractor. 6 volt positive ground sounds like an A. Do you have a magneto ignition or distributor? If it has hydraulic lift it's probably a Super A. If you post a picture of the ignition unit we could tell you for sure. In either case you need to clean and adjust your points first. Then let us know what happens.
Dave

 

[Marengmech]

It does not have hydralic lift. Will post pics tommorow

 

[rustred]

Just picked up a 52 Farmall A. 6 Volt positive ground. Worked fine last year, but currently not starting. Does anyone have any info on the ignition systems for these tractors. Previous owner says it lost spark. Thanks in advance

Do u have any experience working on a tractor with points is the first question ? Your description don’t make sense. Who cares what the previous owner says. Does it have spark now or not ???

 

[used red MN]

Just picked up a 52 Farmall A. 6 Volt positive ground. Worked fine last year, but currently not starting. Does anyone have any info on the ignition systems for these tractors. Previous owner says it lost spark. Thanks in advance

Hello Marengmexh, welcome to YT. This item in the link is the coil cover for a magneto, it would be on top of the ignition unit. Magneto coil cover
Coil should be a regular coil about the size of a Red Bull can. Most common IH coil is what I call a bullet coil like this. IH bullet coil
These tractors were offered with either, as asked above which do you have?

 

[560Dennis]

Battery distributor or magneto?
Do spark test
Check on off switch with vom meter .

 

[Marengmech]

Is there a way to check year with serial number?

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

Your Farmall A is a 1940 with a magneto but a modification has been done by adding an external coil to replace the failed one that is usually inside the mag. Others can help you further.
Dennis

 

[Janicholson]

As noted by Dennis, it has a mag with a farmerized coil attached to make it work. The mag, when working as designed makes its own electricity (like a generator) so it needs no power connection to a battery. The mag stopped working at some time in the past and a car coil was bolted on above it. The car coil does need electricity from the battery, so it is wired to a different type of ignition switch than the mag.
The switch for the car coil has 2 terminals, one that connects to the coil, and one from the amp gauge. The switch for the mag is single terminal and when pushed in (off position) grounds the mag shutting off the engine through the grounded switch. (on yours there was a switch attached to the bolt terminal and a push pull wire (choke cable like control) attached at the mag. Inside the mag is a rotor that directs spark to the correct plug in the firing order, and small gears that rotate the rotor. Those gears are timed together with marks, and must be as they are now. (mark them with a permanent marker when the marks are aligned. The points are under the partition found under the cap. They are gapped at .013" when the 4 lobed cam is opening them fully. The Mag coil on yours has been disconnected internally, and the car coil attached to them along with the wire to the condenser. This allows the car coil to use the points of the mag.
A replacement distributor from a more recent A, B, SA, or several other IH engines of that size or 123cid, can be used to replace the defective mag. That would be my choice because it makes the tractor run smoother at lower speeds. If originality is desired, fixing (or having the mag fixed will also work. (do not put power to a repaired mag, battery power will burn it up!! Jim

 

[Marengmech]

Speaking with the previous owner, he installed the external coil because of no spark. He is not sure if he has it hooked up right. I think best thing is to remove external coil and put back to original, and start from there

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

Speaking with the previous owner, he installed the external coil because of no spark. He is not sure if he has it hooked up right. I think best thing is to remove external coil and put back to original, and start from there

Yes, back to original or as @Janicholson suggested, going with distributor ignition and eliminate the farmer fix.

 

[Jim Becker]

As stated, the serial number tag and some amount of the rest of it is 1940. The bell housing is out of a Super A. The engine is from a power unit, 1951 or later.

 

[MM-TX]

Speaking with the previous owner, he installed the external coil because of no spark. He is not sure if he has it hooked up right. I think best thing is to remove external coil and put back to original, and start from there

Welcome to YT. It will be cheaper and in my opinion easier to put a new mag coil, condenser and points back in that mag than to swap out with a distributor you don't have. I prefer a mag on early Farmalls. Both work fine. He probably did the fix because the mag coil went out and he had the coil he used.

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

As stated, the serial number tag and some amount of the rest of it is 1940. The bell housing is out of a Super A. The engine is from a power unit, 1951 or later.

Jim, how could you tell the eng. was a power unit and newer than a 51? Curious mind would like to know. Thanks
Dennis

 

[Jim Becker]

Jim, how could you tell the eng. was a power unit and newer than a 51? Curious mind would like to know. Thanks
Dennis

Flat plate held by 2 cap screws below the magneto is over the mounting place for a fuel pump. Tractors didn't have that part. Therefore, it is from a power unit.

The left side of the block has a vertically oriented lug, barely visible ahead of the air cleaner. I don't believe that showed up until the C-123 block with the larger lower sleeve bore.

 

[Dennis K (WA)]

Flat plate held by 2 cap screws below the magneto is over the mounting place for a fuel pump. Tractors didn't have that part. Therefore, it is from a power unit.

The left side of the block has a vertically oriented lug, barely visible ahead of the air cleaner. I don't believe that showed up until the C-123 block with the larger lower sleeve bore.

Thank you Jim, we can all learn from your expertise on the Farmall tractor line including attachments. Dennis

 

[Marengmech]

Hello,

So I finally got the Farmall A i to my shop. Removed the secondary coil. Ordered new distributor cap, rotor button, coil and points. Took the distributor cap off, and the new one is not the same. Not is the rotor button. So going to try with the old ones. However, I have some questions about connections.

I have a shop manual ordered, be a coupke days before it gets here.

I have 3 wires. One from the condenser, not sure where it hooks to. One from a switch (brown) im assuming is for grounding out the magneto, and this black one that goes from where it's connected to the coil I took off. Can anyone tell me where to hook these up? Thank you

 

[grandpa Love]

Distributor cap and rotor are different in a magneto. As is the coil and condenser. On a correctly working mag this is the only wire you need. It grounds out with a kill switch. The correct condenser is inside the top cover, partly under the coil. If you plan to use the mag you really need to pull it off and work on it on your bench. It's nearly impossible to swap the coil while it's mounted on the tractor. Timing it back is easy. Call or text me, I'm happy to help, Kevin

 

[grandpa Love]

Distributor cap and rotor are different in a magneto. As is the coil and condenser. On a correctly working mag this is the only wire you need. It grounds out with a kill switch. The correct condenser is inside the top cover, partly under the coil. If you plan to use the mag you really need to pull it off and work on it on your bench. It's nearly impossible to swap the coil while it's mounted on the tractor. Timing it back is easy. Call or text me, I'm happy to help, Kevin

I have several distributors ,tested and ready to mount. New coil and plug wires included......... Shipped to you cheaper than a new coil, condenser,cap, rotor......for that magneto

 

[Marengmech]

I have several distributors ,tested and ready to mount. New coil and plug wires included......... Shipped to you cheaper than a new coil, condenser,cap, rotor......for that magneto

Im going to hook everything up today and give it a try, see if I can get spark. If not, I will definitely be reaching out, as my expertise is very limited with this older stuff.