9n stalling?

[Farmer_Adam]

I am posting this for a friend, any help would be appreciated. Here is the question he sent me.

I have a 38-39 Ford 9N (front mounted distributor), over the last year it has developed a bad cough…..when I engage the clutch it will try to stall and under a load (going up a hill) it will repeat the cough. I have replaced the points, condenser, s. plugs, rewired the circuits, (I had to bypass the resistor between the ignition switch and the coil) cleaned the grounds, it has a good spark, cleaned the carb…several times, setting the timing maybe an issue as the instructions are a bit imprecise.
The compression is 125, 120,100,125 psi, I haven’t checked the valve clearances lately but it was good a few years ago.

It sounds like a carb issue. Maybe the float is sticking or the needle valve is clogged. Not sure. Could it be a governor problem?

 

[Dell (WA)]

Adam.......have yer friend check his 4-nipple dizzy firing order; 1,2,4,3 CCW. Many times neubie shadetree mechanics swap sparkies 3&4. These N-Engines are sooooo gooood they will start and run on just 2-cylinders but won't have enny power.

Yes, it could well be a governor problem. Have yer friend set the throttle 1/4 and grab the carb to governor rod (it won't byte) and try to "jazz" the engine. Does it "fight" the hand increase??? It should.

Tell yer friend to keep his itchy-twitchy fingers off'n them handy-dandy carb tweek'ums. Carbs don't suddenly go bad. ...but... given his complaint, have him adjust the down-pointing mainjet 1/4-turn CCW. (more gas and richer mixture, too lean can cause koff's)

Them compression numbers are almost braggin' numbers except fer #3. That could be a burned exhaust valve, not clearance issue.

CAUTION: on by-passing the "infamous ballast resistor" can burn-out the $40 squarecan ignition coil. Having to by-pass the ballast resistor generally means weak sparkies caused by weaksister ignition switch. $15 (cheap)

And as a reminder, there is a N-Board dedicated to specifically the flathead N-Tractor with loads of active knowledgeable members. ......Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister