8n not running right. intermittent issue

[Soundguy]

i much prefer the red tigers though..

 

[rsallen]

Oops ya lost me there Soundguy. Red tigers? Another Ford generation of the 8n?

Hey, da ya happen to know how that engine knock worked out?

 

[LD1]

Oops ya lost me there Soundguy. Red tigers? Another Ford generation of the 8n?

Hey, da ya happen to know how that engine knock worked out?

red tigers are 600/800 series engines

 

[Soundguy]

Oops ya lost me there Soundguy. Red tigers? Another Ford generation of the 8n?

Hey, da ya happen to know how that engine knock worked out?

red tigers were fords upgrade ohv engine replacing the poorly breathing flat head on the N series.

4 cyl jobs in 134 172 and 192 gas or lp on some. 144 or 172 diesel.

 

[LD1]

just talked to him. It is definataly electrical. Put the timing light on it and when it craps out, timing light drops out for a few seconds and goes haywire.

So now on to playing with a jumper wire and jumpering ignition switch and terminal block, etc and see where the issue is.

 

[LD1]

Well, it is sounding like an ignition switch. Just talked to him again, he said the terminal block isnt used. When we re-wired it after the rebuild, the hot wire coming off the key switch is going to the same post on that terminal block as the coil wire. So basically were are just using a stud on that block for a connector.

And he did say that at one point, while doing a wiggle test of wiring, when playing with the key switch that the issue started again. But wasnt sure if that caused it, or coincidence.

If it aint the ignition switch, it has to be a connection at the distributor or something. But he said he wiggled the crap out of the wire at the distributor and couldnt get it to act up. And everything there is clean and tight. So my money is on the ignition switch. Some bad contacts in there or something cause to my knowledge the switch hasnt been replaced in the 20+ years he has owned it.

Worst part is, the carb has been apart and cleaned umpteen times and a rebuild kit the last time:mur:

 

[Soundguy]

clean carb now.

I always say to check spark first as it is the easiest.. and your hands don't smell like gas afterwards.

 

[David Wayne]

"update" its not the switch. LD has been posting for me. I jumped the wires together & let it run while replacing the switch & it acted up.
Now I will look deeper into the distributor. The wiring harness was replaced when we rebuild the tractor but at this point I wont rule anything out. Guess I will
run a separate wire straight from the battery to the coil.

 

[Cbrown9064]

"update" its not the switch. LD has been posting for me. I jumped the wires together & let it run while replacing the switch & it acted up.
Now I will look deeper into the distributor. The wiring harness was replaced when we rebuild the tractor but at this point I wont rule anything out. Guess I will
run a separate wire straight from the battery to the coil.

Yes, jumper right from battery to coil. That will eliminate most of the tractor wiring. Also check wire from coil to distributor. Check the little copper strip from inside dizzy to points...

 

[Soundguy]

i agree. just jumping switch wires only tells you about 10% of the ckt. I'd run a hot right to coil primary. that gives you 90% of the picture.

 

[Soundguy]

red tigers are 600/800 series engines

( naa as well as all the series from 55-64 ) 700, 900, 501, 601, 701, 801, 901, 2000-4000 4 cyl.

 

[firstfruitsfarm]

Have you checked for wobble in the distributor shaft?

 

[LD1]

Latest update. I went over there today and I think we got it figured out.

We replaced the switch, and did away with the terminal block. The block has a resistor in it. Not sure what it is used for, or if we should have been using it, but it wasn't being used. We were only using the block as a means to connect multiple wires.

The way it "was" wired had the load wire coming off the ammeter, the Genny wire, and a one side of the switch on one terminal. The one not hooked to the resistor. Then one of the resistor studs was used to connect the other side of the switch to the coil and lights.

The way it is wired now, the Genny wire and one side of the switch are hooked to the load terminal of the ammeter. And the other side of the switch goes to the lights and coil still, but without using the terminal block for the connection.

Ran the tractor for a good 20 minutes without missing a beat. Before it would have acted up 5-6 times in that span.

So not sure if the switch was failing, or if one of the studs on the terminal block was grounding out on the back side?? But it works for now.

 

[Soundguy]

side mount dizzy don't use resistors

propper wireing for a net reading center 0 ammeter are as follows

bat wire from vreg to one side of ammeter, other side of ammeter to battery stud on solenoid.

wire from vreg side of ammeter to key switch, from there to coil.

wire from vreg side of ammeter to lamp switch, from there to lamps.

IE.. all charge and electrical loads on same side of ammeter. other side of ammeter ONLY has charge to battery.

And yeah.. if your rewire cured it. likely was a bad connection in the wireing.. which is why i reccomend testing with a straight hotwire from bat to coil to sniff out bad connections

 

[LD1]

In a nutshell, that's how its wired now.
Only difference is the lights are wired after the key, so they can't be left on by mistake.

So one side of ammeter goes straight to bat. Other side is the vreg(Genny) feed, and the switch. Other side of the switch is lights and coil.

Prior to all of this, we could have swore it was a fuel issue. Especially with putting a new wire harness on it when it was rebuilt. But putting a riming light on it like someone else suggested told us it was ignition for sure.

I sure do appreciate everyone's help and patients.

 

[8N Ren]

Good stuff. I love it when I fix something on the 8N, fire it up and she runs perfect.

 

[Soundguy]

wireing lamps off key leads to key failure.

 

[rsallen]

Yep,
Better to run the headlamps/switching through a relay if operated off the key.
The ignition block isn't designed for the kind of amperage the headlamps draw.

 

[Soundguy]

I like to source headlamp power off the same side of the ammeter as the key power and charge lead. this keeps it all net on the meter. correct wire size for addition of lamp load should be figured in too.

 

[CosperTractor]

Engine overheating!!
Use compressed air and blow out the radiator fins.
Hot engine will cause the fuel to vaporlock.
Donald