About to give up (Farmall Regular)

[jd2cyl1943]

So the good ole Regular has reached the point of completely baffling me. The three main things are as follow:

1. The magneto is sparking irregularly. it will fire 1-3-nothing-2, or 1-nothing-nothing-4, or nothing-3-4-nothing, Etc. What in the world would cause it to fire like this in a completely random way that has no pattern or logical reason?

2. When we put our hand over the top of the muffler and noted that there are three puffs, and then an odd suction. we looked at the valves and none of them appear stuck. What the heck is going on here and how can I fix it?

3. When cranking the engine, it suddenly got ridiculously stiff, to the point I can barely turn it over. it has this weird rubbery squeak, and this odd bounce back after coming over number 1 compression. It also has this "gritty" feeling that it didn't have before. What would be causing this and how do I remedy it?

I'd really appreciate if you could help me fix these 'cause I'm about to the point of throwing up my hands and giving up.

 

[rustred]

Number one , always check compression on any engine you have no clue about. Have u had the dist cap off the mag and checked the carbon contacts,? Have cleaned and gapped the points. Is it timed correctly ? Did u lube the cylinders ?’is the oil changed ?
And if all that is correct and getting fuel , just give it a pull.

 

[Russ from MN]

rusted made some good suggestions. If I'm not busy one day next week maybe I could take a look at it with you. It sounds like some debris got into a combustion chamber. I don't see your general location on ZeeMap, you could put it on there, just not on exact location.

 

[jd2cyl1943]

rusted made some good suggestions. If I'm not busy one day next week maybe I could take a look at it with you. It sounds like some debris got into a combustion chamber. I don't see your general location on ZeeMap, you could put it on there, just not on exact location.

I live in Northern Township, past Northern school.

 

[teddy52food]

So the good ole Regular has reached the point of completely baffling me. The three main things are as follow:

1. The magneto is sparking irregularly. it will fire 1-3-nothing-2, or 1-nothing-nothing-4, or nothing-3-4-nothing, Etc. What in the world would cause it to fire like this in a completely random way that has no pattern or logical reason?

2. When we put our hand over the top of the muffler and noted that there are three puffs, and then an odd suction. we looked at the valves and none of them appear stuck. What the heck is going on here and how can I fix it?

3. When cranking the engine, it suddenly got ridiculously stiff, to the point I can barely turn it over. it has this weird rubbery squeak, and this odd bounce back after coming over number 1 compression. It also has this "gritty" feeling that it didn't have before. What would be causing this and how do I remedy it?

I'd really appreciate if you could help me fix these 'cause I'm about to the point of throwing up my hands and giving up.

 

[teddy52food]

If you need help on that mag, I do them as a hobby. i am in mid Mn. near Freeport. I think I know what is wrong with it.

 

[jd2cyl1943]

If you need help on that mag, I do them as a hobby. i am in mid Mn. near Freeport. I think I know what is wrong with it.

I've rebuilt a few as well, but this one has me puzzled. What do you think the problem is? I'd like to try to fix it myself first, as the best way to learn is to try

 

[teddy52food]

I've rebuilt a few as well, but this one has me puzzled. What do you think the problem is? I'd like to try to fix it myself first, as the best way to learn is to try

Spring on the moveable point is weak or the points are dirty.

 

[rustred]

I've rebuilt a few as well, but this one has me puzzled. What do you think the problem is? I'd like to try to fix it myself first, as the best way to learn is to try

U missed my point , I gave you info on what to check, there is nothing hard about a mag. And they are pretty trouble free.

 

[jd2cyl1943]

U missed my point , I gave you info on what to check, there is nothing hard about a mag. And they are pretty trouble free.

I'm trying. It's just that I'm trying to solve three problems at once

 

[rustred]

I have had mags that spark and the tractor starts after sitting 30-40 years outside , but that is rare. You need to at least do the obvious and clean the points. And check the gap. Kinda funny u ask after u get the info.

 

[rustred]

I'm trying. It's just that I'm trying to solve three problems at once

As what 3 problems ?

 

[Russ from MN]

I live in Northern Township, past Northern school.

We're close! We rode the motorcycles to Leonard today for lunch, so we went right up Irvine!

 

[rustred]

As what 3 problems ?

I replied to ur 3 problems , but u did not reply to me as to what u have done.

 

[jd2cyl1943]

I have had mags that spark and the tractor starts after sitting 30-40 years outside , but that is rare. You need to at least do the obvious and clean the points. And check the gap. Kinda funny u ask after u get the info.

I went through that magneto top to bottom. The only thing that isn't new are the points. I tried to replace them but they were the wrong size as the gaps widest point was way to small

 

[jd2cyl1943]

I've also lubed the cylinders, changed the plugs, rebuilt the carb, cleaned out the loose carbon in the combustion chamber, retimed the mag to the engine, checked and lubed the rocker arms and valves, cleaned the fuel tank and lines out, replaced the plug wires, and changed the oil.

 

[rustred]

You do not need new points to make an engine run. Long as the contacts are clean , or even use a point file if they are corroded. Plus gapped correctly. From memory .013 . Not easy to find new points also. Not following what u are saying about the gap.

 

[rustred]

You do not need new points to make an engine run. Long as the contacts are clean , or even use a point file if they are corroded. Plus gapped correctly. From memory .013 . Not easy to find new points also. Not following what u are saying about the gap.

So you are saying u replaced the coil, the carbon contacts , dist cap and everything else except the points. Maybe tell us what u have replaced is a lot more help than saying everything.

 

[rustred]

I've also lubed the cylinders, changed the plugs, rebuilt the carb, cleaned out the loose carbon in the combustion chamber, retimed the mag to the engine, checked and lubed the rocker arms and valves, cleaned the fuel tank and lines out, replaced the plug wires, and changed the oil.

did you check the compression ? very first thing to do as soon as the plugs come out. i actually think u cleaned the carb , not rebuilt it. there is nothing in the carbs, other than the float. is that good ? sounds like u had the head off if you cleaned the combustion chamber ? have u checked it so that the plug is firing at tdc on compression ? when turning it over slow with the crank and the plug grounded it should spark at the same time your feeling the piston come to tdc.

 

[jd2cyl1943]

So you are saying u replaced the coil, the carbon contacts , dist cap and everything else except the points. Maybe tell us what u have replaced is a lot more help than saying everything.

Okay, so I replaced the coil, condenser, distributor cap, distributor rotor, carbon contacts, and all gaskets