9N TroubleShoot

[Scott J J]

I've been working on a 1942 9N. Rebuilt carburetor, replaced spark plugs,new gas,changed oil,etc. Tractor turns over but does not fire.Should I turn my attention to the coil. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Happy Fathers Day. Scott

 

[Bruce (VA)]

6v or 12v? It could make a difference in troubleshooting.

I've found that about 75% of all "no spark" problems w/ a frontmount N are as a result of misaligned parts or wires & not parts failures.

First, check for continuity inside the distributor w/ a meter or test light. It is very easy to ground the tip of the condenser wire to the body of the distributor when you replaced the points. Also, make sure the condenser wire does not go through the same opening in the distributor that the coil pig tail does. The condenser wire goes the opening on the top right. Verify the point gap, .015 on all four lobes. Points do slip closed! Make sure you have the star washers under the screws on the points.

Next, with the distributor still off the tractor, install the coil. Look at the pigtail on the coil; is it touching the brass screw inside of the distributor? Don’t trust your eyes; test for continuity from the top of the coil to the points. If you do not have continuity, stretch the pigtail a bit until you do. (some people would rather put a small washer under the brass screw) Look at the little tab opposite of the pigtail; bend it a bit also to insure that it will contact the distributor cap. At this point, I just put the distributor, coil & cap all back on the tractor as a unit (it helps to loosen the fan belt). The reason I do this is because it is real easy to get the cap or coil mis-aligned trying to put it back together one piece at a time & the result is something gets broken or you get a ‘no spark’ problem.

There is no way to test the coil unless you have some very old testing equipment; it either works or it doesn't.

Post back w/ results & any other questions.
50 Tips

 

[Huzig]

Check the resistor on the back of the instrument panel.