No Spark Farmall C

[Charliespride]

Hello, trying to get dads ol farmall going. No spark though. Tractor never would show a positive reading on Amp meter but has ol dead battery in it to complete circuit.

Anyways, I put new points, condenser, rotor and cap in it. The distributor shaft bushing/s are fairly worn but I see the flat Bakelite plate that sits under the rotor keep shaft fairly rigid. I do remember Dad had points set pretty wide and after he passed away in 04' I couldn't get it going and once I seen the gap I thought geez pop it's not much wonder she wouldn't start with that much play in shaft and I reset points to some where I think it was .16"-.020". Once I realized how sloppy the shaft was I then realized why he had then set so wide. Haha. That was 10yrs ago and never did get it runningbut now I want to hook her up to the discs to work a small plot of land beside our house.

So yesterday determined as I was I went to driveshed to get her running. But no spark. Hooked the 6volt battery charger up to battery leads and pulled on/off switch and sure enough I have power to points. I thought if I took a small tuning screwdriver and open the points a bit I might see a spark jump but nothin. Hmmm

So here I am looking to the smarter folks out there in hopes they can lead me in right direction to hear her breathe life once again.

Yes I drained fuel tank and cleaned sight glass and put a few gallons of fresh hi test in in and I am indeed getting plugs wet by hand cranking.

Thanks all in advance for any and all help. Ernie

 

[tractorguy2]

Points may be dirty and need cleaned. Find some thin cardboard insert the cardboard between the contacts, pinch the contacts
together and pull the cardboard out.

 

[old]

That tells me the point need to be cleaned or replaced since they have sat closed most likely and corroded

 

[Janicholson]

If cleaning has no joy attached, getting a rebuilt distributor may be the answer. There is a limit to bad bushings, and it causes radical timing issues if it runs at all. Jim

 

[clint s]

He said above the points are new, but I would still clean them. How dead is the battery, maybe not enough juice through the charger.

 

[gene bender]

I have found that points even though they are new but havent been used for a time that removing them and shinning them up on a powered wire brush on a motor will get them firing again. Just had a similar problem rcently no fire but after removing and getting good shine they fired rite up third time in the last yr found same problem sand paper and cardboard didnt work. Now i just remove the dist take to the shop shine up and presto get fire.

 

[old]

New as in 10 or so years ago so that says corroded. Point that have sat that long are not going to be in good shape

 

[Charliespride]

(quoted from post at 22:00:50 07/17/15) Points may be dirty and need cleaned. Find some thin cardboard insert the cardboard between the contacts, pinch the contacts
together and pull the cardboard out.

Thanks fellas. I forgot to mention that I did indeed drag a few times on each side of movable and fixed parts of points, some 180 grit sandpaper

Yes the tractor has sat for 11yrs.

How big of a job is it to replace the distributor shaft bushing/s ??

I do remember for some reason dad could never seem to figure out why the C would never show a charge on amp meter and therefor the battery was always dead. Yesterday I pulled the band off the generator and noticed it was well oiled yet so was the Armature and hopefully I did what was right and sprayed it a few different times with contact cleaner and hit it with compressed air. Think most likely dad had oiled the hinges on brush keepers (at least I thought it looked like the brushes )

 

[Charliespride]

Heading back down to farm tomorrow night and hoped to get this ol girl running again and wanted
to double check again with you fellas. I'll run some finer sandpaper across both sides of points in
hopes that'll give me some fire.

If by chance it doesn't , what should I be looking for next?? Or do you feel that with power to the
points and no spark now it should be dirty contacts Only at points. How do I know of the new
condenser is working ??

Thanks again. Ernie

 

[Charliespride]

I forgot to ask, being the 6V battery never was getting a charge in the years I remember Dad running it, what purpose does it serve having it in the circuit because I know unfortunately it's been neglected and not charged in past 11yrs and hate to spend another $100 for a new one only to show the Ammeter show discharge. Yes another dilemma to solve.

 

[Charliespride]

(quoted from post at 22:15:02 07/17/15) If cleaning has no joy attached, getting a rebuilt distributor may be the answer. There is a limit to bad bushings, and it causes radical timing issues if it runs at all. Jim

Thanks Jim, where's a good place to go about looking for a rebuilt distributor ?? Are they costly ??

Does the lower portion of shaft have a bushing that holds it in place laterally ?

 

[Janicholson]

This site has several options from new to rebuilt. Finding someone to rebuild it locally might be researched. Jim

 

[Charliespride]

Thanks Jim, I'm still a bit confused as to what gets rebuilt with the distributor ?? Are there bearings or bushings between engine block and dist shaft ??

Are these bearings fastened to the shaft that come out all in one piece when shaft is pulled ?? Sorry for sounding like a dunce but it's good to know before I we jump into unknown waters.

Thank you. Ernie