Points striker wear?

[William Eccles - Jardine]

Are there any of you finding that the points striker [part that rubs on the cam] is wearing out rather quickly / wearing down causing the 20 thousands gap to close down; or is it just my IHC Farmall BN. The cam is /has been polished by hand [I found it had been rough /back several years ago] polished it then. I only have about 60 hours on since the last time I had to adjust the points { replaced the internal bushings and basically re built the distributer last summer with new bushings and "gaskets" } cleaning and lubricating all moving parts.
Any suggestions or thoughts or directions would be appreciated.
Hopefully this adjustment to day will get me through the winter since I use the tractor to pull the trailer with the 45 inch walk behind blower on it, around the neighbourhood to do lanes for others.
Thank you.

 

[MeanGene1]

Might be time to replace the cam, it may be damaged too much to save

 

[rrlund]

I had a real problem with that in the Mallory distributor on my Oliver 1550. It'd slowly start acting like it was starving for gas. Open the points a little more and it would clear right up. I changed it to electronic ignition and that took care of it.

 

[MeanGene1]

Yep, points quality has really gone down too. A Pertronix might be in order, they are good for extending the live of well-worn stuff

 

[47fivewindow]

I agree new points are not as good as they were. The old bakelite rubbing blocks wore more slowly. A dab of white grease under the block helps. I was in a parts store a year or so ago and asked for points lube. They looked at me as though i wanted unicorn bait.

 

[William Eccles - Jardine]

Ok I'll ad a small squirt of white grease to the back of the rubbing block.
In the sprig will look into the shaft and the cam piece.
Thank you again.
Wm.

 

[DERM]

I work in a antique and custom car dealership, the old guy who teaches about point ignition and carburetors. I have had good luck using dielectric grease on points thinking it wont cause any film inside the cap

 

[rustred]

years ago new points came with a tiny tiny capsule of grease. just used a toothpick to put a small amount behind the rubbing block.

 

[Ray,IN]

Are there any of you finding that the points striker [part that rubs on the cam] is wearing out rather quickly / wearing down causing the 20 thousands gap to close down; or is it just my IHC Farmall BN. The cam is /has been polished by hand [I found it had been rough /back several years ago] polished it then. I only have about 60 hours on since the last time I had to adjust the points { replaced the internal bushings and basically re built the distributer last summer with new bushings and "gaskets" } cleaning and lubricating all moving parts.
Any suggestions or thoughts or directions would be appreciated.
Hopefully this adjustment to day will get me through the winter since I use the tractor to pull the trailer with the 45 inch walk behind blower on it, around the neighbourhood to do lanes for others.
Thank you.

That is called the follower block and should have had the included high temperature grease applied to the back side of it when installed. I've never seen a follower block wear out, but it is the reason points must be re-adjusted occasionally and a dab more grease applied. Too much grease can foul the points.

 

[maqbill]

Just went through the points on the b,, O'Reilly claimed they had plugs and points, but one size fits most, doesn't!. They did have a file that was perfect for dressing the points. I also sanded the tarnish off the coil lead and condenser. And just for the heck of it, I sanded the laquore off the spring on the points, and that old mag gave me a 1/2 blue spark that'll literally knock you on your butt! I should have thought of that 40 years ago!

 

[mite-help]

Ok I'll ad a small squirt of white grease to the back of the rubbing block.
In the sprig will look into the shaft and the cam piece.
Thank you again.
Wm.

i can't remember the brand, but one mfg. put a small capsule of grease in box with points. friend of mine said to take it with a glass of water before you began to steady nerves LOL

 

[rustred]

i can't remember the brand, but one mfg. put a small capsule of grease in box with points. friend of mine said to take it with a glass of water before you began to steady nerves LOL

used to be blue streak ,they also had good points , ecklin not as good.

 

[Harold Hubbard]

Leigh my Farmall’s, it helped a lot to polish the cam. I used crocus cloth, just cut a strip the width of the cam and pull it back and forth while slowly progressing around the cam. Clean everything up afterward.

 

[Gambles]

My brother has a 1970 F600 with the 390. Or perhaps the 391. He isn’t the original owner and I remember putting a lot of parts in it to get it reliable. One of the problems he had was not being able to keep the dwell setting once the points were replaced. The distributor cam was worn out, obviously from the previous owner not putting lube on the distributor cam. I put a Pertronix unit on it and we’ve never had a problem since. That must’ve been over 20 years ago. There is a hill next to the town where we took grain to and we could barely maintain speed in 2nd gear loaded with grain with ignition points. With the Pertronix unit installed, you could increase speed in 3rd gear with a load of grain.
At the time, I remember you could get the Pertronix unit on sale for $60.

 

[William Eccles - Jardine]

Thank you all for all the input to the subject of the points striker / block wear.
This input has given me a grand view of the subject at hand and the various solutions to the difficulty I am facing with the points.
Thank you again, I will take all statments in to consideration and act with the information as a basis there in.
Thank you again.
Wm.

 

[old_bc]

Are there any of you finding that the points striker [part that rubs on the cam] is wearing out rather quickly / wearing down causing the 20 thousands gap to close down; or is it just my IHC Farmall BN. The cam is /has been polished by hand [I found it had been rough /back several years ago] polished it then. I only have about 60 hours on since the last time I had to adjust the points { replaced the internal bushings and basically re built the distributer last summer with new bushings and "gaskets" } cleaning and lubricating all moving parts.
Any suggestions or thoughts or directions would be appreciated.
Hopefully this adjustment to day will get me through the winter since I use the tractor to pull the trailer with the 45 inch walk behind blower on it, around the neighbourhood to do lanes for others.
Thank you.

You need some distributor cam grease.

Distributor cam grease is a special high-temperature, high-film-strength lubricant, often silicone-based or containing Molybdenum disulfide (Moly), used on the lobes of an ignition distributor's cam and the rubbing block of the contact points to reduce friction, prevent wear, and ensure smooth, long-lasting operation. It's designed to stick and not melt or spin off from heat and centrifugal force, with reapplication recommended every few thousand miles for points-style ignitions.

 

[Brownie450]

Filko used to make good ignition parts. Can't remember
if they included a capsule of high temp grease or not.
IH used to have good quality points/ condensers in the
'50s & '60s. they seemed to last a long time.
Jim

 

[William Eccles - Jardine]

Thank you I will contact IHC dealer as well as look on line.

 

[DoubleR]

I haven't had your problem but i just broke the spring on my points on my IH C. It was the third time that's happened to me in the last 6-7 years and I only use the tractor for plow days and tractor drives and such, maybe 20 hrs a year. I can't see what I could be doing wrong to cause this problem. I'm looking for a place I can get better quality points. These all came from Steiner.

 

[MeanGene1]

Sorry, but I'm afraid that your "polished by hand" points cam is probably toast as a result, and causing the quick wear. The Pertronix fix is good for that, eliminates the cam. Another one like Gambles, we had a C800 mechanic's truck with a 391 with a wobbly distributor shaft (AKA worn out) that made it impossible to keep it going with points, but it ran for another 5 years with a Pertronix