Ford.860

[J.Mc]

Need a little help. I have an 860 that I just can't get to run right. Long story short is I let my dad borrow the tractor last year to put gravel in his driveway (it has a bucket). After letting it set a while, he couldn't get it started so he had a friend come take a look at it. After adjusting and cleaning the points, it started but was really rough. I brought it home on the trailer and left it until now. Found out the clip that holds the rotor tight on the distributed was missing. Replaced that, the rotor, and the dust cover. Starts right up, but is popping and running rough. Almost seems out of time. Could it be the points again? Or is there something I should be looking at that I'm missing.

 

[Ultradog MN]

As easy as it is to get at the points on
those that is the first place I would go.
New points aren't too expensive. Gap them
correctly and go from thete.
DO NOT buy new points from some place like
tractor supply or fleet farm
Get a set from Napa. The cheap ones are not
worth your time.
I'm sure someone here can chime in with a
Napa part # and point gap for you. I don't
have it.

 

[old]

As ultra say. Gap for the point is the same as for the plugs at 0.025. Also make sure the firing order is correct seen many people mess that up. Firing order is 1,2,4,3 and the #1 cylinder if by the radiator. Also check the air cleaner and make sure it is not full or water and mud because if it is that can cause odd problems

 

[souNdguy]

check points gap, plugs, and ask dad if he turned the dizzy.

if no.. check to see if he tweaked carb and made it lean.

as a check, tug on choke see if some choke helps it smooth out.

 

[J.Mc]

Thanks for the guidance. I'll pick up a new set of points after work and talk to pops to make sure they didn't do anything they forgot to mention.

 

[jeffkoh]

Replace the condenser also while you are in the dist.

 

[MarkB_MI]

If they lost the rotor clip, there's no telling what else they messed up. Check to make sure all the spark plug wires are in order.

 

[J.Mc]

Well, turns out other "adjustments" were made. After talking to dad the other day it turns out that after they cleaned the points it started to run really rough because they didn't know about the rotor clip missing. They tried to adjust the distributor thinking that maybe it had loosened up a bit and moved, and they also tried tweaking the carb (good call soundguy). I have it running good at idle, but when I get it moving under load, it still pops a little like timing is still off a little. Not been a good week for me, so haven't had a chance to mess with it anymore. Gonna try this coming week if weather is decent. Question is.. should I try to tweak the distributor left and right a little? Or could the weights possibly be stuck and not working properly. I'm still kinda new to the tractor thing, and I have more tractors than knowledge! :shock: .... 8n and an NAA also