John deere b starting problem

[Elinter]

Went to start my John Deere B yesterday to get ready for a tractor pull and for the first time since I got it, It would not start. Backfired occasionally only. Ran great last time which was about 2 weeks ago. gas flow seems fine. spark plugs changed and same thing happened. Am I right in suspecting the magneto? thanks for your help guys.

 

[Patsdeere]

Did you check for spark? If not I would check there first. Mags do occasionally need a little light oil in them. I have had it where there is no spark and I added oil and poof spark re appeared.

 

[Erik B]

I had a similar problem with my late B after I set the start timing to its correct spot. Starting became super difficult, and sounded like it wasn"t going to half the time, with backfires here and there, etc. Took forever.

I found an old post here about setting the carb screws to the factory starting point: 1.5 turns out for the idle, and 1 turn out for the load screws. After doing that, the B starts so fast I can barely recognize it, and I haven"t even had it warmed up enough yet to fine-tune the adjustment.

The guy I bought it from had idle set 3.5 turns out, and load only half a turn out.

Don"t know if this will help, but you might want to check your carb screws. The starting problem sounds familiar.

 

[Resting Relics 1]

Elinter,
File, then set the points and I'll bet she starts. Points get carboned over then there is no spark.
John

 

[Elinter]

thanks all swaped out the magneto,, works fine now. Need to tune it a little now.