Ford 8N Tractor 1952

[Dan Duebber]

Ford 8 N Tractor is our everyday work tractor around the barn. I have had the same trouble for about two years now and I am now totally out of ideas on how to fix it. Tractor runs for 10 to 15 minutes.....then quits. It will restart immediately if I "kick start it" but will not restart using the starter motor. I have replaced the following: Ignition switch, volt. reg., wiring harness, both battery cables, starter and solenoid, all wires to the dist. + ignition wires, I also installed a rebuilt generator. I have replaced the points and condensor numerous times and the distributor is a factory replacement. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I thought I finally had it by replacing so many new parts .........but it's doing the exact same thing again.

 

[old]

Fuel tank vent might be clogged and if so it will cause that problem. Take off the gas cap the next time it does that and see if that helps. Also could be a clogged fuel line letting just enough gas to the carb to run for 10-15 minutes then it starves for fuel
Hobby farm

 

[Ken Crisman]

Hi , you didn't say if you've changed the coil or checked the resistor or treminal block . Have you taken the plug out of the carb bottom to see if you have water or junk in it ? Make sure all & every electrical connection is clean & brite . Smear some dielectric grease on all connections . Are you sure you're getting spark & you have current thru the ignition switch . HTH ! Don't give up , someone will help ya find your problem soon . You also could try the ntractor & add the word club site for help . Good luck & God bless .

 

[rocketman1946]

Had a similer problem with my Fergie TO30 - acted exactly like yours - mine was (I think) a fuel problem - although I removed and cleaned the sediment bowl AND the shutoff/fuel feed that goes up in the tank, replaced most of the same parts you did, what fixed mine was opening the gas shutoff all the way, allowing the reserve system to feed the carb. also ... hasn't given me a problem in the last couple of months now.

 

[RAB]

Instead of changing more and more things (ultimate change is the tractor!), first find if it fails due to spark or fuel. Check for spark (strong and blue), and then for a continuous full fuel feed (for at least a minute) from the carb drain. Then investigate the system (ignition or fuel) which is at fault and leave the other one alone. Saves money, saves time and saves wasted effort. Also gets the fault found and eliminated.
Diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis every time. If your doctor worked the same way as you, you would be all spare parts by now!!
RAB

 

[mowr]

'Old' gives good advice concerning the fuel tank vent. If the gas cap has been replaced with one intended for a modern car, it won't be vented and will cause this problem. Your tractor requires a fully vented cap; no pressure, no vacuum. If you don't have the proper cap, New Holland may be able to send you one free. Check the archives on this forum for details about that.

 

[Bob]

Ken,

"Late" 8N's don't have a ballast resistor, and, since it's a "round-can coil" style, if it HAS been converted to 12-Volts, it's better to run a "real" 12-Volt round-can coil than to mess with resistors.

If it's still 6-Volts, I would advise running a jumper wire from the battery right to the switch side of the coil, to bypass the ignition switch, and any connections that may be "poor".

 

[Anonymous-0]

Try looking at the fuel shut off valve "screen"
inside the tank... the engine may be demanding more than the flow rate will allow and consequently runout of fuel, especially at greater than idle rpm's.

I changed my fuel shutoff valve last week on the tank and it was clogged solid for the first inch and then clear after that, so when i had alot of fuel in it , it was fine but otherwise it used up what it needed and then starved out and stalled. Hope this hepls.

 

[tg in VA]

Some of those "N" series Fords had a fuse behind the dash. A friend of mine had a similar problem with a 9N and replacing the fuse fixed it.

 

[Dan Duebber]

Thank you. I will look for that. I'm fairly certain that the 52 does not have that setup...
but I will CERTAINLY check. Thank you.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

Thank you. I would not have known about that. I think that the cap is the originalas it is loose and does not have a tight seal.
Thank you, again.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

First of all..You are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. After two years of frustration and several forum sumissions I finally decided that I would replace all of the items that are impacted by the electrical system as I have tried the "carb flow drain plug", color and intensity of the spark, etc. I can't count the number of times that I started to diagnose in the field where it died last, replacing condensors, ignt. switches, coils, etc. and usually the tractor restarted and I got it back to the barn only to find that the next time I used it...it did the same thing.
I'm not some 16 year old kid, as I have worked on vehicles for 40 years with some success. This is just throughly frustrating that a system so basic has me totally stumped. Your input is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

Hi,
Thank you for the response. I run the tractor with the shutoff at the sediment bowl open fully. Is there another fuel screen inside the gas tank? What is so odd is that it won't start by the starter motor but starts immediately if I kick start it. You have to have fuel for that. This is why I have concentrated on the electrical system rather than the fuel supply. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. THANK YOU.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

Ken,
Thank you for the reply. I replaced the coil twice. The system is 6 volt and I do not believe that the 1952 model had a resistor block. I DID replace the fiber block that is a junction for connecting several of the wires going to the ignt. switch and to the regulator. Thank you for your input.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

Old,
Thank you. The more that I receive input from you, I'm beginning to think that my problem may be fuel related and not electrical. The reason that I stayed with the electrical for so long was that once the engine restarted, it RAN so I didn't feel that fuel supply was the issue. Perhaps I'm wrong, and have been wrong all along. I know with winter coming I better figure this out fast. How do you access the inside of the fuel tank?
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Dan Duebber]

Jim,
Hello,
I'm beginning to think that you and the other forum member are on to the correct solution. How do I access the inner screed inside the tank? The screen at the float bowl has been cleaned or replaced at least a dozen times. I was not aware that there is a screen inside the tank. I have an Allis Chalmers WD45 that has had the same problem that you describe but the engine never stopped running, it just had no power to pull a load. When I unscrewed the float bowl shut off at the bottom of the gas tank the clog was obvious. Thank you, again.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[old]

Well for the most part you can't get into it. On the 8N the tank vent is on the top some place behind the gas cap. Some times you can use a screw driver etc. to get to it and clean around it. You also may want to remove the sediment bowl assembly and make sure the screen on it is clean and also that the sreen in it is good and clean. Some time you can also hook compressed air to the fuel line and blow back into the tank and clear the vent if its not clogged to badly
Hobby farm

 

[RAB]

I would suggest that when you try to restart with the starter motor, you will be short of a spark. that would probably lead me to think I have a low voltage somewhere or in other words a high resistance contact somewhere in the wiring. You probably need to find it. It should not be too difficult provided you use a meter and not just try wriggling every connection in an atttempt to get it restarted rather than searching for the fault. Alternatively it could be something on the fuel sidejust blocking a jet and falling away. That's why I say diagnosis, diagnosis, diagnosis.

RAB

 

[Bob]

Unless it's been "farmerized".

 

[Bob]

Here you are ("STOLEN" from Ken N Tex)...

<img src = "http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v41/Kenntx/3_Fuel_Filters.jpg">

 

[Dan Duebber]

NOW........I understand. Thank you. A picture really is worth a thousand words. Thank you.
Best,
Dan Duebber

 

[Tradititonal Farmer]

Its an N Model Ford they love constant attention and need to be worked on often.