8n no spark

[david brodhead]

My neighbor has a front mount 8n.His motor quit running after it had been running Ok previous day. After checking things out he discovered no spark at plugs.His wire going to distrib. is hot. Any ideas where he should look?

 

[Jim in Western MI]

Could be a few gremlin things, but points would be first to check..., unless he inadvertently left the ignition switch on, then it could be coil.

 

[Dell (WA)]

David.......would it surprize you to learn the wire to the top of the squarecan dizzy should NOT be HOT? Iff'n the wire is HOT, that generally means the POINTS are CLOSED and drawing MAX CURRENT. It takes about 1-hr to melt the insulative tar in the squarecan coil, but it don't take long to melt the points rubbing block. And iff'n the rubbing block melts, guess what??? the points are permanently closed. Remember, you only gitt sparkies when the points OPEN. Ittza LAW. Electro-magnetic Law.

Remind yer neighbor, ittza 2-bolt, 15-min job to remove the weird 4-nipple frontmount dizzy and change and adjust the points (0.015") on the kitchen table. Just un-snapple the capple and letter dangle. Installation is a reversal of the removal ...except... finger start the 2-bolts and then install the rotor. Rotate the rotor until the OFF-SET tang drops into the camshaft OFF-SET slot. Now tighten yer 2-bolts and re-snapple yer capple. Simple, eh? ........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister

 

[david brodhead]

I think I mislead you guys.When I said the wire to the Distrib was hot i meant there was current to the coil terminal.I did not mean there was a hot [temp] wire.

 

[Bruce (VA)]

" there was current to the coil terminal."
That's helpful, but not nearly enough info to narrow the problem down.

Was the key left on?

Is the tractor 6v or 12v?

You should have battery voltage w/ the points open & about half that w/ them closed. What do you have?
50 Tips

 

[Jim in Western MI]

Changed the points yet? I figured you meant you had power to the coil when the switch was on. You could have a bad coil, especially if you left the switch "on" for a while; you could have a bad condenser, but that's rare; you most likely have points problems. You might get it to run temporarily by adjusting the ones you have and cleaning them with a slip of paper from a brown paper sack, or they might be just goners. Either way, you're going to need new points unless one of the other, more-rare, problems has arisen. What have you done since the original post?

 

[36 Coupe]

It should be called voltage to the coil terminal.Points run hot and can get an oxide coating that insulates them.There isnt a piece of brown paper or dollar bill that wil clean the oxide off.A simple test is this.Watch the ammeter when the engine is cranking.The meter will flick back and forth if the points are opening and closing.Steady 4 amp discharge says shorted wire in distributor or broken point spring.No discharge you havent turned the key on,ignition switch shot. open ignition resistor on front mount distributor or most common ,Clean the points with a pocket knife.No meters or test lights needed.You can use the most popular method.Replace the entire ignition system or convert it to 12v or the famous 100 buck epoxy turd .This will double your horse power and cut gas usage in half.Now if you want more power the 400 buck dual exhaust will help.