1951 8n electrical issue.

[wolc123]

This tractor quit on me in mid-October 2019. I am the second owner and it has 2000 hours on it (800 from me since I bought it from the widow of the original owner in 1988). I pushed it into the corner of the barn and have tinkered with it a few times since then. Yesterday, with the help of my cousin, we finally got it going again. I filed the points, and replaced the condenser, coil, and distributer cap with new parts. I tried replacing the rotor, but the new one did not fit properly because it appears that the distributer shaft had worn and dropped down a bit. That wear was likely due to a lack of maintenance on my part. The IT manual says that the distributer should be oiled every 10 hours and I have probably only done it 5 or 6 times during the time I have had that tractor. We also made a slight adjustment to the timing and it purrs like a kitten right now. Hopefully, I can keep that old distributer oiled properly and get a few more years out of it (new ones are $122 on-line).

I will say that, while this tractor has been quite dependable, service is a pain compared to the other tractors I have or did have (John Deere M & 4120, Allis Chalmers C & D-14, Farmall cub, and Ford 2000). Removing the hood is a bear (you got to take the gas tank with it). I did it a few times myself, but it was a lot easier with my cousin helping yesterday. It has the side mount distributer, but we needed to take off the hood to change the coil. To change the oil filter, it is necessary to remove the gas line and rotate the sediment bulb 90 degrees, so the oil filter cover clears it when you lift it off. I use this tractor for moving firewood (with a 3-point carryall) in the winter but fortunately it has been mostly too warm for the woodstove so far, so having it down has not been an issue.

 

[Soundguy]

you shouldn't have to remove the gas line or tap to get the oil filter cover off.. I have at times removed the bolts from the filder housing and let it be moveable slightly however.

also should not need to remov ethe hood to do the coil, unless the fasteners were stuck or rounded off and you had to drill them or something.

On the rotor.. the there is a spring clip that is probably stuck int he old rotor that came off with it instead of staying on the shaft.. and that's why a new rotor didn't fit... or the prev owner lost the clip and dummied up the orotr to fit, using epoxy, or sometimes, a piece of masking tape laid in there to take up the slack.. but without the clip or something to take the slack.. it will not work.

PS.. filed point;s won't last you. you have removed the hard surface coating on them.

 

[wolc123]

The fix did not last long (less than 10 minutes). I drove the tractor from the barn up to the house (maybe 200 yards), and it started running very rough. I nursed it back into the barn before it quit firing completely. It sounded like it was only hitting on a couple of cylinders. The root cause of the electrical failure was a worn out distributor shaft or gear (from lack of maintenance over 70 years). I don't know if 10 drops of oil every 10 hours, per the IT manual, is really necessary but a few drops every hundred hours when I changed the oil was surely not enough.

The $ 122 distributor came with new points, condenser, cap, and rotor (now I have "extra" new spare ones of those). It did not have the internal dust cover like the OEM one. When installing, I attempted to aim the flat for the rotor in the same direction as the one I removed (Working by myself this time, I was not able crank the engine by hand and aim the rotor at the # 1 cylinder at top dead center). It took me quite a few attempts to get the gear on the right tooth. On a couple of my earlier tries, the tractor started, but ran rough with no power. It purred like a kitten again after I got the gear on the right tooth, and has good power also. I like the new distributor a lot better, because the internal dust cover on the OEM was a pain, and the side clips, and oil port were tougher to access than those on the replacement (from Stiener tractors).

Hopefully, I will get a few more years out of this old Ford. I have plenty of extra parts now. The original coil wire broke when we replaced the coil, and I could only find a replacement on line with a complete set of plug wires. The original plug wires are in good shape, so I did not replace those. I also bought a new wiring harness, but have not replaced that yet either. I also saved the OEM coil, because it was clearly not the cause of my problems. I was not sure if I was going to be able to get this tractor running right again, and that, along with the maintenance issues (compared to my other tractors) made me come pretty close to making a "lawn ornament" out of it. That would have one-upped my uncle, who lives next door. He has an old Fordson (that has not run in more than 50 years) parked in front of his barn, with flowers planted around it.

 

[fried1765]

The fix did not last long (less than 10 minutes). I drove the tractor from the barn up to the house (maybe 200 yards), and it started running very rough. I nursed it back into the barn before it quit firing completely. It sounded like it was only hitting on a couple of cylinders. The root cause of the electrical failure was a worn out distributor shaft or gear (from lack of maintenance over 70 years). I don't know if 10 drops of oil every 10 hours, per the IT manual, is really necessary but a few drops every hundred hours when I changed the oil was surely not enough.

The $ 122 distributor came with new points, condenser, cap, and rotor (now I have "extra" new spare ones of those). It did not have the internal dust cover like the OEM one. When installing, I attempted to aim the flat for the rotor in the same direction as the one I removed (Working by myself this time, I was not able crank the engine by hand and aim the rotor at the # 1 cylinder at top dead center). It took me quite a few attempts to get the gear on the right tooth. On a couple of my earlier tries, the tractor started, but ran rough with no power. It purred like a kitten again after I got the gear on the right tooth, and has good power also. I like the new distributor a lot better, because the internal dust cover on the OEM was a pain, and the side clips, and oil port were tougher to access than those on the replacement (from Stiener tractors).

Hopefully, I will get a few more years out of this old Ford. I have plenty of extra parts now. The original coil wire broke when we replaced the coil, and I could only find a replacement on line with a complete set of plug wires. The original plug wires are in good shape, so I did not replace those. I also bought a new wiring harness, but have not replaced that yet either. I also saved the OEM coil, because it was clearly not the cause of my problems. I was not sure if I was going to be able to get this tractor running right again, and that, along with the maintenance issues (compared to my other tractors) made me come pretty close to making a "lawn ornament" out of it. That would have one-upped my uncle, who lives next door. He has an old Fordson (that has not run in more than 50 years) parked in front of his barn, with flowers planted around it.

Glad to hear that you saved the Ford.
I also have a '51 8N that I bought in 1970.
It has a Sherman transmission, and had the engine rebuilt back in 1972.
I don't recall how many hours it has since rebuild, but not many.
I have two other newer tractors now, so the 8N sits in a corner, but is ready to go if I should need it.
I will only use it for pulling a rear blade.

 

[wolc123]

Glad to hear that you saved the Ford.
I also have a '51 8N that I bought in 1970.
It has a Sherman transmission, and had the engine rebuilt back in 1972.
I don't recall how many hours it has since rebuild, but not many.
I have two other newer tractors now, so the 8N sits in a corner, but is ready to go if I should need it.
I will only use it for pulling a rear blade.

How many hours are on your 51 ? The cable broke on my hour-meter about 10 years ago, but they had a new one in stock at the local TSC. I did not need to run it more than 5 minutes with the broken cable. It just turned 2000 hours this year. That is really just broken in for an n. My 51 has always been stored inside and still has most of the original factory paint and the original rims. It has great compression and still starts good on cold days with 6 volts. One thing is for sure, there never was and probably never will be a tractor model that has better parts availability than the Ford 8n.

I still have the factory Dearborn 2-bottom plow that came with mine and I use that every spring for a few acres. I also use the front hitch a lot for moving my boat and log-splitter. That front hitch is very handy. One of the first things I did, when I was not sure if I would be able to save the 8n, was to fabricate one of those to fit the 400X loader on my JD 4120. That tractor is a lot bigger and bulkier however and would not be nearly as handy in tight quarters with a front hitch.

 

[fried1765]

I actually do not know how many total hours are on my 8N, but bushings etc. are all in good shape, seemingly indicating not extremely heavy use.
Engine rebuild has less than 500 hours.

I too have an original Dearborn plow.
I have a tiller for my Ford 1920 FEL, so do not use the plow.
I have used the 8N front hitch ball, but I now use my 1920 with a hitch ball on the loader bucket.

The 8N just sits....but it is such a wonderful piece of tractor history...I just can't bare to part with it.