Help! What's wrong with the 8N

[AnvilheadTX]

What a frustrating day. Last weekend I hosed off the 8N (to prepare for leaking governor work)and it ran as if maybe the points were wet or something afterword. When I started it today, it still ran sluggish. I repaired the oil leak in the governor and thought all it would take was a little ideling to get her running like normal. When I engaged the PTO in first gear it was real sluggish and bogged down on very light grass. I disengaged the PTO and realized the tractor was sluggish in all gears and when put in 4th (w/o PTO) it stalls with a decent size black cloud spitting out the exhaust. Also, the tractor sounds as if there is popping coming out of the exhaust when the throttle is turned high and there has been a few backfires (never before). At idle, the tractor sounds excellent. I spent the day repalcing the points, condensor and rotor - thinking all I needed was a little tune up. No dice, the light popping, occasional backfore when starting, slugish performance and stalling in 4th contiues.

Any suggestions, my itchy-twitcy fingers are moving towards the carb? Also, I did have a good oil leak out of the govenor and I have been putting a lot of oil in the tractor. Can I have too much oil causing poor performance? When the tractor is at full throttle, the oil pressure shows above 50?

The tractor is a front mounted machine. Also, no blow-by has been noticed and no weird noises can be heard around the block. In low idle, the tractor sounds very good.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Bob]

1. THOROUGHLY dry out the distributor and cap and the base of the coil.

2.) Double check to be sure you didn't muck up the firing order.

<img src = "http://ndtc3500.stellarnet.com/~blweltin/Bob/Firing%20Order.gif">

3.) Make SURE you didn't swap the two throttle rods at the governor.

 

[souNdguy]

Ditto waht bob said.. also ensure that you dind't fill yer gastank with water when washing the tractor.

Are your spark plug cables good.. or old and cracked and holding moisture and arcing to ground thru your feedthru tube?

Pull plugs and 'read' them.

If nothing else helps.. do a comp test.. might have a sticky valve.. though I'm betting on a water/gas or water/ignition problem..

soundguy

Soundguy

 

[Ross Pugh(NC)]

Your second sentence should tell you what your problem is as that is probably what caused it. WATER

 

[Ramrod]

WD40 will displace that water from your distributor cap and wiring, spray it inside and out.

____________________

Ramrod
James 1:19

 

[AnvilheadTX]

Thanks for you advice - I wish this problem was that obvious....I did all those things - however, what I did not do was look at the spark plugs. They are three months old (as are the spark plug wires). However, it has been suggested elsewhere that maybe the fouled.

I will 4x check the firing order. I am sure the governor links are ok (I took some advice and marked them before removing). Regarding gas in the tank, I only hosed her off, I did not dunk it. Plus, I put 5 gallons of good fresh gas in it yesterday (so if there was water would'nt it have diluted?

Distributor caps and coil are all dry - having pulled the distributor to change the points and condensor.

I am still a newbie that is starting to find his way around 8Ns....so any other advice would be appreciated.

 

[A. Bohemian]

You seem confidant everything is dry.

You can probably demonstrate this to yourself by making a calibrated spark tester. Get a known good plug and bend the electrode out to 3/16 inch. Clamp it to a good ground and remove ONE spark line from a plug, connecting it to your test plug.

You should see a nice, bright blue spark on all four lines (only test one at a time, so you don't mess up the firing order, as per above).

All four have a nice, fat, blue spark? Water in the ignition system may not have caused your problem; move on to the next thing.

That would probably be to pull the plug on the bottom of the carb and see if water runs out. Also check the sediment bowl and tank. Remeber, water is heavier than gas and always goes to the bottom of tank, carb, or sediment bowl.

By they way, firing order 1-2-4-3, just in case you goofed (I've done it).

One other thing; you say you were loosing lots of oil. If you ever at any point lost so much oil the pressure dropped, or especially if the motor overheated, all bets are off...

 

[AnvilheadTX]

A Boh. - thanks for your thoughts. The first thing I will do is swap plugs and also perform the spark test you mentioned.

I was loosing oil when the tractor was parked and I was very careful when operating it (refilled and used the tractor sparingly)...I do not think a low oil situation caused this problem...but ya never know.

We drained the carb - just in case - the gas smelt good. The tractor started right up afterward - with the continue problem. We did not fool with the sediment bowl or gas tak, but then again, I was very careful with the amount of water that I used. That is what has me so puzzled, I did not indiscriminately hose down the machine w/o thinking of the consequences - in fact I covered the distribor the best I could.

The only quick check did not do was the spark plugs and as careful as I was, I am sure they got a little wet.

 

[NJ howie]

saturday night my tractor was making a popping sound and just not running wright as i got off i saw blue spark arking off my plug the plug was cracked.she's running much better now.take it out when it starts getting dark look for that blue spark good luck

 

[AnvilheadTX]

Another good thought - I wish I thought of that last evening when I was sitting there at the height of frustration. For as cheap as they are - I am going to replace all the sparkies right off the bat when I get back up to the land and tractor Friday.

 

[A. Bohemian]

...are you anywhere near the greater Austin, TX, area?

 

[AnvilheadTX]

No, I live in Houston and I have some land up in Polk County - East Tx (most of it is covered with pine trees). I am having a blast learning about 8Ns but on days like yesterday I was ready to scream.