Ford 9n won't run

[Fitz9n]

Alright,

So bought me a 9n 2 weeks ago. Thing fired right
up and ran great with no problems what so ever.
Owner had put a new carb, coil, plugs and wires on
it. I fired it up pretty much every day for a
week doing different things with it, but last week
the power wire that goes to the coil had a short
in it (under the battery where it wasn"t
noticeable)and ended up grounding out and fried
the coil. So I replaced the coil (and power wire)
and condenser and now it won"t run at all. I have
spark (nice blue spark)as I have tested every
plug, even replaced the plugs, but it still won"t
run.

Any suggestions appreciated as I have no clue what
is going on.

 

[HCooke]

Takes 3 things to run, spark, fuel, and compression. Doubt that it lost compression overnight, so check for fuel flow thru the carb. Remove the pipe plug on the bottom of the carb and see if fuel flows in a steady stream thru the carb for at least two min. Catch it in a clean container to throw back into the tank.

Report back.

 

[howdy1960]

Remembered to open full shut off valve 2 turns? BTDT!

 

[Fitz9n]

Fuel valve is open, tried half open and full open. Nice steady flow of fuel when removing drain plug. Even tried spraying starting fluid in inlet of carb and still nothing. plenty of vacuum from inlet of carb as well.

if I crank on it long enough, fuel will come out of the carb inlet, but my understanding is this can be normal if you crank on it long enough with an updraft carb.

thanks for the reply's guys. I am at a loss so I am reaching. Nothing about this makes since, I lose spark and know why, replace those parts and now something else is causing the problem??? I do know stranger things have happened though lol.

 

[HCooke]

"if I crank on it long enough, fuel will come out of the carb inlet"

Will happen if you use too much choke. May have flooded situation and fouled plugs. Remove plugs and burn off excess gas with propane torch and replace.

 

[Fitz9n]

well that's what I thought, that it was flooded, but when i pulled the plugs they weren't wet. I went ahead and changed the plugs anyway though.

So lets say it's getting fuel to the carb, but not to the cylinders, what would cause that? I know no compression would cause it, but it has plenty of compression and like you said it wouldn't loss it overnight.

 

[JMOR]

Not supposed to have liquid fuel in cylinder! Just vapor.

 

[HCooke]

OK. Try removing the air cleaner tube and use a light spritz of carb cleaner or starter fluid in the throat of the carb.

 

[Fitz9n]

I did try that, still nothing.

 

[Fitz9n]

I am almost wondering if it is a timing issue. Although I didn't do anything with the timing when I replaced the coil, is it possible that is what is causing this. Since I wasn't having a fuel problem when the coil died, I don't see how it is a fuel problem now.

 

[old]

Only way it could be timing is if you got the wrong plug wire on the wrong plug so the firing order would be incorrect. If you pulled the distributor off to do points the only way it fits in the correct way due to the off set tang. Now if you did do points did you set them at 0.015 as should be done with a front mount distributor or did you set them at 0.025 which would then mess with timing and be wrong

 

[JMOR]

Should have never gone in there messing, since h3!! will freeze over before shorting the coil input power to ground will in any way whatsoever damage the coil. Something you did during that replacement misadventure needs to be discovered & rectified. Sorry.

 

[Roger in Iowa]

How does shorting the wire out going to the coil fry the coil? I don't think so. Put your old coil back on.

 

[HCooke]

If you have good spark it cannot be a coil problem. Make sure all ries go to the right hole 1,2,4,3.

 

[Fitz9n]

it shorted out, got so hot it swelled and cracked the case. I tested it before I bought a new one. It didn't have power at the end that sits in the distributor.

 

[Fitz9n]

plug wires haven't been taken off since it was running, but I did verify.

 

[Fitz9n]

the coil got so hot it swelled the outside case
and cracked it. I tested the coil and it didn't
have any power at the end that went in the
distributor.

I haven't "gone in and messed with anything". This
is my first tractor, but motors are not new to me
at all.

Like I said I am reaching here because the coil
died, I replaced, I have good spark, but it won't
run.

 

[old]

Good spark as in jumps a 1/4 inch gap or more??? If the coil got that hot then you may have fried the points also since both work as a unit and with one the other does nothing. As for the coil I would check the wiring real good since it sounds like it did not go bad because of a short but by way of over voltage going to it

 

[Den N Ms]

Is it 6 volt or 12 volt? does it have the oem resister or none ?

 

[Fitz9n]

(quoted from post at 20:07:26 07/29/13) Good spark as in jumps a 1/4 inch gap or more??? If the coil got that hot then you may have fried the points also since both work as a unit and with one the other does nothing. As for the coil I would check the wiring real good since it sounds like it did not go bad because of a short but by way of over voltage going to it

I haven't checked to see if it will jump more than a 1/4" gap. I had wondered if it messed the points up, but since it still had spark I "assumed" they were fine. Is that not the case?

Points are new to me.

 

[Fitz9n]

It is 12v with no resister (factory or addtional)

I ran a new 14 gauge wire since the one that was on it had the bare spot. Plus I added a fuse so that won't happen again.

 

[Roger in Iowa]

Shorting the wire between the battery and the coil will not cause the coil to get hot. You have a short between the coil and points or at the points. Or if the key switch is on for a long time with the tractor not running and the points closed (direct short), yes that can overheat the coil.

 

[Fitz9n]

(quoted from post at 21:25:51 07/29/13) Shorting the wire between the battery and the coil will not cause the coil to get hot. You have a short between the coil and points or at the points. Or if the key switch is on for a long time with the tractor not running and the points closed (direct short), yes that can overheat the coil.

Although I don't think I left the key on that long That sounds like what is happened more than anything. I will replace the points tonight and see what happens.

Thanks for all your guys replies, You have shed some light on the situation

 

[HCooke]

With 12 volts and a true 12 volt square coil you
still need the original ballast resistor or you will
continue to burn up coils!

Trust me. It's the law. Dell's law.
Link to see picture of OEM resistor.

 

[old]

Points can in fact sort of work but if the spark is a yellow looking and will not jump at least a 1/4 inch gap the spark is not good enough to make and engine run

 

[Den N Ms]

As H cook said, you need the OEM resister and a true 12 volt coil ,not a 6 volt!Or it's fry city.

 

[Fitz9n]

Okay, just now read the last couple posts.

So I got home pulled it apart, even though I had blue spark the points looked pretty toasty. Replaced the points and it fired right up, made it around the yard and died. Now no spark at all!!!!

So could not using then oem resistor cause it to burn the points again and that fast? I do Still have power through the coil so I don't think the coil is bad.

It's dark now so I will pull it back apart again tomorrow when I get home from work. Man, for as simple as these are it sure has been a headache.....

 

[Charner MS]

I assume you had the dist. off. If so, you could had knocked the timing off. Check the screw on the side of the dist. and if it is loose that could be you problem with the timing. A long handle screwdriver and a light tap will move the slotted screw to advance or retard the timing. Good luck.

 

[36 Coupe]

Shorting the power wire would not hurt the coil.Dont throw the oil coil out,its good to have a spare.The resistor may be open now.

 

[Fitz9n]

Update:

So a mechanic buddy of mine came over. We put new firewall resister, voltage reducer resister, another new coil, another new set of points and another new condenser. Basically everything is new on the ignition system. I even ran some new power wires that I didn't like. Still NO SPARK!!

So my buddy called a buddy of his who is a tractor mechanic, so he came over, checked everything and he is stumped. We are now to the point we think the distributor is shorting out somehow even though we can't physically see anything. He is going to bring a good distributor by tomorrow so we can see if that is causing the problem.

Wow, this has been fun

 

[Eriklane]

I had the exact same failure once as my coil wire hit the exh manifold and burned to it, boom-tractor died...new coil and wire fixed it.
Sounds like u have weak spark. You obv. have fuel, and nothing else was touched. Try also cleaning your sparkies now, as they're fouled. Then charge the battery and retry, or get a new hot one.