Ford 5000 Gas won't start

[zilla24]

Struggling with our gas 1969 Ford 5000 to get it started. It ran when was parked about 2 years ago. It turns over and sputters a little but will not run. I went through the carb completely and have set everything to factory spec as a starting point. I do know the fuel pump is working fine. I checked for spark and seem to have that at the plugs, it looks weaker on the front two (closest to radiator) cylinders but my test may just not have had a great ground. Im going to try a new set and see if that helps, Autolite 405.

Any suggestions on other things to try or other common failure modes? I am not much of a Ford guy, this was my dad's tractor and hasn't seen much use the last few years, would it have points that need to be cleaned or is this electronic ignition? My super H likes a good point cleaning after it has set for awhile.

 

[Fordfarmer]

Struggling with our gas 1969 Ford 5000 to get it started. It ran when was parked about 2 years ago. It turns over and sputters a little but will not run. I went through the carb completely and have set everything to factory spec as a starting point. I do know the fuel pump is working fine. I checked for spark and seem to have that at the plugs, it looks weaker on the front two (closest to radiator) cylinders but my test may just not have had a great ground. Im going to try a new set and see if that helps, Autolite 405.

Any suggestions on other things to try or other common failure modes? I am not much of a Ford guy, this was my dad's tractor and hasn't seen much use the last few years, would it have points that need to be cleaned or is this electronic ignition? My super H likes a good point cleaning after it has set for awhile.

It has points. But if you have good spark, no need to clean them.
Does it have fresh gas? 2 year old gas would make any engine hard to start.

 

[zilla24]

Gas is definitely not the best, I did add 2 gallons of fresh which means I have 3 gallons of sour now. lol.

I'll double check the points as precautionary, thanks for advising on that.

 

[RobCons]

Since it has been sitting that long check the air inlet while your verfying the points condition. Birds and varmints can build nest blocking up the air inlet.

 

[zilla24]

Went ahead and checked and dressed up the points, they were actually pretty clean to start. Going back through a spark check on the plugs revealed weak spark on #2 and nothing on #1. #1 wire has a break internally, a continuity check revealed high resistance.

Just ordered a tune-up kit (plugs, condenser, rotor) and plug wires, I'll report back when parts arrive and are installed.

 

[showcrop]

Are you getting gas tro the plugs? You need a very rich mixture to start when cold.

 

[zilla24]

Little update after parts arrival..

First I replaced the plugs and wires, to my surprise I still didn't have spark. I went ahead and replaced the points and condenser and now have spark. Not sure what happened, its possible I damaged the points or moved something when attempting to clean them up. The dust cover was so old and brittle it shattered into a million pieces and will need to be replaced, but at least there is spark again at the plugs.

I recall years ago this tractor to be a hard starter, dad had a little access port in the rubber intake and would often give it a quick shot of starter fluid to help it get going. It was a mowing tactor and I don't think ever used in the winter. In his spirit I gave it a quick shot of starter fluid and was able to get it to run for about 10 seconds or so. I couldn't get the choke/throttle combo tweaked just right and it quickly died out. At this point the battery is too weak to effectively turn it over, I'll let it charge awhile and report back, hopefully I can get it going on its own power.

I didn't measure the fuel pressure but it is pumping fuel at the carb when the tractor turns over. Is the hard/reluctant starting a common trait of these Ford larger gas engines? My Farmall H and John Deere 2cylinders fire right off after a crank or so and they have 6v systems.

 

[showcrop]

Condensers being sold today are known to be of poor quality and not last long

 

[sotxbill]

Sadly, gas tractor engines today are fighting a whole lot of problems.

First off,,, the points no longer have the tungston layer on them the keeps them clean and resistant to burning and carbon deposits. Most of the points today will actually get a very very fine layer of corrosion on them so that they DO NOT ALLOW SPARK... so that means every time it sits for a couple of weeks in humid weather, you have to pull a dollar bill out of your wallet and pull it through the closed points to simply wipe off the layer of white stuff. ITs very difficult to find american made points anymore. But most times in a case of no spark, I clean the points and all is good. Last pair of blue streak points I ordered 3 months ago, were.... made in china. So I dont know if they will last or give me trouble.

Second, as some have said, the newer condensers are actually worse than the old condensers. And many are bad out of the box. Many of the new multimeters now will measure capacitance or mfd's so you can actually test the condensers now. ALWAYS keep your old condensers unless you know that they have failed.

Thirdly the epa "external_link gas" will turn into goop and glue your carb shut and you get a tractor that will run off start fluid but no longer let gas through the carb... Alcohol in this gas........ collects moisture, dissolves buildups then lets them settle and SOLITIFY in your carb and stops up the passages/jets in the carb eventually. And unless its a newer designed carb or high pressure injector system. New carbs have changed the venturi vs jet size to make it more difficult for the goo to scab-over the larger jet sizes, or in the case of lawn mowers, a spring loaded needle is jam into the main jet to shut if off, but also keep the jet from gluing shut. SO.. your need to run a gas tractor more often to keep the gas from solidifing, or turn off the fuel cock and run the carb dry each time you stop it, or ditch the alcohol and buy the very expensive "no alcohol" gas, or try the magic elixer additives that claim to work.. So far I have not had any luck with additves on my antique motorcycle collections. ymmv

In your case, it sounds now that your carb is about half glued shut and need a good cleaning. The dust cover may have parts down in the distribitor and now foul up your centrifugal advance, so try to get as much out of the distrib as possible. And some times it best to run your tractor in the dark, to see if there are any high voltage flashes tracking across the dist cap or jumping out the the plug wires. I have on three occasions solve weird problems my simply running it at night and seeing a fantastic light show of high voltage arcing.

 

[zilla24]

Just put the freshly charged battery in and bumped the starter, fired right up!

I’ll have to do my part this winter to keep it running once in awhile, I’d rather not repeat this process any sooner than needed.