1964 Ford 2000 intermittent spark

[Jedeye1]

Good day. Been fighting this one for a few weeks now. Bought this tractor a few mo ago locally. Brought it home, changed fluids, filter, flushed rad, new coolant, greased, replaced petcock, and replaced battery. Basic things to do for a new to me tractor. Always started right up (12v conversation), no choke needed. Ran it all around prior to putting in in service. Never missed a beat. Took it out to the property, and while using the brush hog after several hours of steady use it suddenly shut down- like the key was shut off. Never overheated. No sputtering, didnt act like a fuel issue, just shut off and wouldn't restart. Cranks all day long. Wouldn't start. Checked cap and rotor, points, etc. All looked good. Pulled plug and checked for spark. None. Checked for rubbed wires or anything obvious. Nothing noted. Coil + wire comes right from ign switch and is in tact. Finally got it to start and died right away. Walked away for 30 min, came back and more of the same. Might pop off for a few sec, then dies. After some back and forth I was able to get it to run long enough to load it and bring it home. Checked fuel system, have fuel to carb and know carb is sending fuel. Pulled intake hose just to ensure I didn't have something funky going on with the intake system. Still no start/no spark. Tested coil, had batt voltage @ +, primary was 4.9 ohms, secondary was all over the place. 8k,9k,9.5k. Checked and still had no spark. Replaced coil thinking secondary was shorted. Same result. Cranks, no fire. Checked and still no spark. Can get It to start at random and run for a few minutes, then die. Kept #4 on the spark tester to keep an eye on it and when it does fire, spark is solid, when it dies and only cranks, no spark. Cap and rotor were old but looked good. Replaced cap, rotor, plugs and wires just to update and to cross them off the list. Same problem. Tested stud coming out of distributor and the only time I have continuity is when points are closed, otherwise it seems to be insulated from housing. Checked for continuity from stud to condenser wire under cap. Everything checks the box. What am I missing here? Struggling on this one.

 

[DaveBN]

Did you clean and gap the points? Check for side to side and up and down movement of the distributor shaft.
Does the coil get to hot to touch? Are you positive or negative ground and is the coil wired correctly + and - ?
Possibly a bad condenser.
My initial thoughts.
Dave

 

[used red MN]

Have you checked to see if gas is flowing out of the carb drain plug? The parts diagram shows the fuel sediment bowl bolts to the carb. Is the screen in place in the top of the sediment bowl? I think there may be a possibility something is blocking the fuel between the sediment bowl and the float needle valve.

 

[wore out]

Good day. Been fighting this one for a few weeks now. Bought this tractor a few mo ago locally. Brought it home, changed fluids, filter, flushed rad, new coolant, greased, replaced petcock, and replaced battery. Basic things to do for a new to me tractor. Always started right up (12v conversation), no choke needed. Ran it all around prior to putting in in service. Never missed a beat. Took it out to the property, and while using the brush hog after several hours of steady use it suddenly shut down- like the key was shut off. Never overheated. No sputtering, didnt act like a fuel issue, just shut off and wouldn't restart. Cranks all day long. Wouldn't start. Checked cap and rotor, points, etc. All looked good. Pulled plug and checked for spark. None. Checked for rubbed wires or anything obvious. Nothing noted. Coil + wire comes right from ign switch and is in tact. Finally got it to start and died right away. Walked away for 30 min, came back and more of the same. Might pop off for a few sec, then dies. After some back and forth I was able to get it to run long enough to load it and bring it home. Checked fuel system, have fuel to carb and know carb is sending fuel. Pulled intake hose just to ensure I didn't have something funky going on with the intake system. Still no start/no spark. Tested coil, had batt voltage @ +, primary was 4.9 ohms, secondary was all over the place. 8k,9k,9.5k. Checked and still had no spark. Replaced coil thinking secondary was shorted. Same result. Cranks, no fire. Checked and still no spark. Can get It to start at random and run for a few minutes, then die. Kept #4 on the spark tester to keep an eye on it and when it does fire, spark is solid, when it dies and only cranks, no spark. Cap and rotor were old but looked good. Replaced cap, rotor, plugs and wires just to update and to cross them off the list. Same problem. Tested stud coming out of distributor and the only time I have continuity is when points are closed, otherwise it seems to be insulated from housing. Checked for continuity from stud to condenser wire under cap. Everything checks the box. What am I missing here? Struggling on this one.

A LONG read and If you replaced the breaker points i missed it.

Breaker points are the #1 cause of "intermittent spark".

Time for new QUALITY breaker points.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

New coil have 3 ohms resistance? You were on the right path with those readings being so high but best make sure the new one is the right coil

It could be bad condenser and points as well as suggested above that’s what’s next

Our 64 actually has a bad distributor the the shaft has plenty of wiggle you could see the cap move when it ran
(I actually put a cap on it that was the right one for the distributor tag the previous owner had a goofy shaped one of all things). I timed it with a light and the window on the right side it helped for awhile. We put a ei kit in it and it’s ran for another 4 years. I suppose I should get around to rebuilding that I feel like this winter it would be a good time to go through it completely and put bushings in. Runs like a top though with that kit but it isn’t right.

 

[Janicholson]

A faulty ignition switch has been know to cause no spark. When a test light is placed on the terminal from the key, watch for it to quit when the engine stops. Jim

 

[Jedeye1]

Have you checked to see if gas is flowing out of the carb drain plug? The parts diagram shows the fuel sediment bowl bolts to the carb. Is the screen in place in the top of the sediment bowl? I think there may be a possibility something is blocking the fuel between the sediment bowl and the float needle valve.

Yes. Gas is flowing. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Jedeye1]

Have a new set of points coming today. Manual shows .024-.025 for setting points gap, but thats on 6v. Is it ok to run that on a 12v conversation? Thanks for everyones input. Amazing tallent in this club.

 

[Jedeye1]

Did you clean and gap the points? Check for side to side and up and down movement of the distributor shaft.
Does the coil get to hot to touch? Are you positive or negative ground and is the coil wired correctly + and - ?
Possibly a bad condenser.
My initial thoughts.
Dave

Yes, pionts gap cleaned nad still wouldnt fire. Coil is/was never hot to the touch and coil wiring matches schematic. Neg ground circuit (12v conversation). Installing new points today so time will tell!

 

[Jim.ME]

Have a new set of points coming today. Manual shows .024-.025 for setting points gap, but thats on 6v. Is it ok to run that on a 12v conversation? Thanks for everyones input. Amazing tallent in this club.

The gap does not need to change with the voltage change.

 

[wore out]

Have a new set of points coming today. Manual shows .024-.025 for setting points gap, but thats on 6v. Is it ok to run that on a 12v conversation? Thanks for everyones input. Amazing tallent in this club.

Point gap doesn't change whether 6 or 12 Volts.

 

[Jedeye1]

new points solved the riddle. Huge thanks to everyone.