points lube

[Tom N MS]

What can I substitute for points cam lube. Don"t have any-don"t want to drive 12 miles to get any..

 

[Bruce (VA)]

40+ years ago, we used Vaseline. Some folks use bearing grease, others use white Lithium grease. If you want to wait a few days, the link is about the cheapest I've found. No one around here carries it (NAPA, Advance, TSC, etc) As a matter of fact, most parts clerks haven't a clue what it is.
Distributor Cam Lube

 

[Tom N MS]

Thanks-have used some of all the above you mentioned..will do it this time too..Thanks

 

[mhb@ufe]

I can remember when a tube of distributor cam lube was in every mechanics tool box.

Mark

 

[Bruce (VA)]

I had a tube in mine for probably 20 years or more; finally used it all up. The last vehicle I had w/ points was my 40 Chevy p/u that I sold 10 years ago. Only points around here now are on the N's.

I still have a piece of chalk in the tool box though. Haven't used that up yet!

 

[Ultradog MN]

I substituted electronic ignition. Haven't had to lube it since. wink

 

[Tom N MS]

Might just do that one day. Don"t use it. Not a show tractor at all. Don"t need it but when I want it to crank I want it to crank. Never has let me down before. Apparently had flooded the plugs. Threw some slightly used Champion 216s in it today and fired it up after cleaning the points.

 

[Anonymous-0]

My 600 has been running for 23 years on the same set of points with no lube.

 

[Tom N MS]

That might just be a record. Ones you get today won"t do that most likely.

 

[Grits]

But electronic retrofit still depends on the points to trigger, doesn't it? So for the same reason as with original ignition, you don't want the cam lobes nor the follower on the points to wear - it would still change the timing, and possibly damage the cam lobes - right? Or do those electronic kits not use the points?

 

[Ultradog MN]

Electronic Ignition replaces the points. EI uses an extremely simple, reliable magnet going past a solid state module which creates the trigger to spark your plugs. No more grease. No more adjusting or filing. No more points. No more worries about worn distributer bushings as your dwell is always exactly right.
Your tractor will start better. Perform better. Have more power and use less fuel. Isn't that amazing. And yet some folks insist that you continue to use points. Because they're good enough and have worked for 60 years.
Best of all though is that girls will like you better if you have EI. They know that your tractor will start better in -20 temperatures and they fall all over them selves for it.

 

[JMOR]

(quoted from post at 22:59:18 12/20/09) Electronic Ignition replaces the points. EI uses an extremely simple, reliable magnet going past a solid state module which creates the trigger to spark your plugs. No more grease. No more adjusting or filing. No more points. No more worries about worn distributer bushings as your dwell is always exactly right.
Your tractor will start better. Perform better. Have more power and use less fuel. Isn't that amazing. And yet some folks insist that you continue to use points. Because they're good enough and have worked for 60 years.
Best of all though is that girls will like you better if you have EI. They know that your tractor will start better in -20 temperatures and they fall all over them selves for it.

Pi$$er ain't it...always a dissenter out there somewhere!
http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=nboard&th=745875

 

[Bruce (VA)]

" No more worries about worn distributer bushings as your dwell is always exactly right. "

Really? If worn bushings aren't a problem for EI, why does at least one EI maker include a plastic magnetic cam sleeve-to-ignitor module gauge in the installation kit and further state that it should be adjusted to 0.030 inch?

Granted, slight bushing wear will affect points performance more than the same amount of wear will affect EI, but lets not get carried away here.

 

[Ultradog MN]

Well who would put a 6V EI in anyway?
Of course you would convert to 12V as a matter of course.
Then, as Professor Pangloss often mentioned, "You'd have the best of all possible worlds".

 

[Ultradog MN]

Ok.
But how bout the girls?

 

[Grits]

Well, I have a homespun electronic ignition that still uses the points, but they only switch 5mA dc (non-inductive) as a signal to the IC module I built - so they will last until the rubbing block is gone with no degradation of the points themselves. No arcs, sparks, condensers...

So you rely on the tractor to get girls, eh? Keep that "points lube" handy! ;-)

 

[forddoc]

only in "sota

 

[Anonymous-0]

Your tractor wont perform better,it wont use less fuel,it wont have more power.You have been suckered by ad writers.Plugs fire at 10000 volts thats it. you really beleive the more complete combustion bull ,Once the fuel charge lights off it gonna burn,If its 6 v it wont start when the cold cripples the battery.

 

[Hobo,NC]

You are back to fighting naysayers who repeat what they have read ,,, it makes you a guru if you repeat it enuff,,,, It goes to show you they do not understand it nor have ever had any hands on experience,,, I spec they still believe in the tooth fairy...

If a man can afford some of the better things in life theirs no reason not to upgrade to EI,,, EI has been around for over 35 years as standard equipment it does not have to prove anything..

points have been around forever and still some can not make'em work,,, you can not base judgments on backyard bob's failure...

WARNING :shock: all I know I read on the Internet,,, do it enuff and you can become a guru also,,, not responsible for damages,,, I read it and just pass it along,,, proceed with caution

 

[Ultradog MN]

So you're another one of those who prefers antiquated technology over the modern stuff?
Tell me Coupe, how hard is it to find a tube type radio these days? I assume you have a few. Likeing the old stuff as you do. Can you still get them at Wal Mart or Best Buy? Personally I haven't looked as all my radios are solid state.
Just like my ignition.

 

[Ultradog MN]

23 years?? Care to correct that?
You must have hit the wrong keys and mistyped.
Especially as the last time this came up you said it was 12 years or something like that.
The only way a set of points could last 23 years is if the tractor was never run.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Actually theres a good demand for radio and Tv tubes.Some tubes have brought me over 100 bucks in the past.I have the first ac power radio that RCA produced.I have some solid state radios but real radios glow in the dark.I do well fixing tube type auto radios too.My favorite short wave radio is a Hallicrafter S 38.I wont be suckered into replacing my 3.00 points with a 150 buck solid state ignition that has 5 bucks worth of parts.My tractors over 50 years old, does all the work I need and didnt cost 30000 bucks.You can make a solid state ignition with a transistor and a diode, cost under 1.00.Did it in the 50s on a 38 Dodge.My flint lock rifle will drop any big game we have here just as well as a 300 mangle em.Why do you use an old tractor?My 100 year old wood burning cook stove will cook my breakfast and make a stew for dinner even when the power fails.Ive had the same wife for 52 years.

 

[JMOR]

Hey, fellas, old $h!t is neat...AND... new $h!t is neat! Each in it's own way. Live & let live. :lol:

 

[Bruce (VA)]

" .....nor have ever had any hands on experience,..."

Yep, spoken by a man who has years of experience working on both points & EI & who can fix both when they break. But, for those of us philistines who can keep points running & have to pay real mechanics to work on the EI stuff, life is simpler to stick w/ what we know.

Like many folks around here (you as well, I'm sure) I learned to set points & troubleshot ignition problems in the early 60's. By the time I was driving, you either had it figured out or you walked.

When the cars & trucks around here fail, I take them to real mechanics to fix. I don't have the tools or expertise to do it & don't plan on learning it. When the tractors break, I fix them because, most of the time, I have the tools & knowledge.....and when I don't, somebody around here does!

 

[Bruce (VA)]

"You'd have the best of all possible worlds".

According to JFK, that would be a Harvard education & a Yale degree, wouldn't it?

 

[gahorN]

http://www.acdelco.com/html/pi_vehcare_lub.htm

 

[Anonymous-0]

My tractor plows the garden ,drills post holes,saws firewood and hauls it home.rakes and bales 1000 of hay.I found the papers on the points and condenser new 23 years ago,My john Deere has had 2 sets of points and condenser and 2 coils replaced in the magneto in 43 years.I check the gaps when the spring work starts,The Ford hauls out logs for my sawmill.I also plow gardens for neighbors.

 

[Ultradog MN]

It's from Candide.