Ford 2000 3-cyl gasser losing power with any load on PTO-suggestions needed to fix

[tmac196]

Update: Unable to schedule service on the tractor for "four weeks", the mechanic at the dealership did toss me a bone and suggested that if I opened the throttle at the carb. by hand it would bypass the governor mechanism. I tried it tonight and the engine ran as roughly as it always has suggesting, I presume, that the problem is not the governor. Fuel pump? Carburetor?

 

[Agvg]

When the problem starts, have engine temp any thing to do with it?

 

[tmac196]

When the problem starts, have engine temp any thing to do with it?

No, it does not seem to be temperature related. It will occur with a warm or cold engine.

My next step is to test the fuel pump by pulling the fuel line off of the carburetor and cranking the engine to observe the flow. The problem is I've never seen what a normal fuel flow should be so I'll have to use my own judgement...

The other possibility is a carburetor problem.

Is my logic flawed? Am I missing something else?

 

[Soundguy]

this post is all over.

1, check spark. assuming it's good, lets get to fuel.

try adding just a hair of choke when running.. does that help or hurt?

if some choke helps or fixes the problem, you have a fuel delivery issue. that can be anything from a vacuum leak to dirty carb, to insuficient fuel flow. Holley cards like a few psi positive pressure on fuel flow.

If it runs good static, but has problems when load or rpm changes, that's when you need to look at the advance ( and governor ). a bad advance can run good in one range, and be ragged in other.

 

[tmac196]

this post is all over.

1, check spark. assuming it's good, lets get to fuel.

try adding just a hair of choke when running.. does that help or hurt?

if some choke helps or fixes the problem, you have a fuel delivery issue. that can be anything from a vacuum leak to dirty carb, to insuficient fuel flow. Holley cards like a few psi positive pressure on fuel flow.

If it runs good static, but has problems when load or rpm changes, that's when you need to look at the advance ( and governor ). a bad advance can run good in one range, and be ragged in other.

Choke does not seem to help, see first post, first paragraph.

There is plenty of spark.

I finally finagled the fuel line out of the carb. The final filter screen there looks clean. When I cranked the engine the fuel didn't seem to spurt out so I bit the bullet and replaced the fuel pump which is quite a challenge working between the radiator and the radiator shroud and the block. Tight confines, small wrenches being inched along between the blades of the fan and ever so slight modifications to the routing of the fuel lines as the new CNH fuel pump has a greater "splay" between the fuel line input and output. I want to personally thank whoever invented crowfoot wrenches, they are critical in tightening fuel lines in tight spots.
The generator and gennie bracket had to come off first to get at the fuel pump, too.

I pulled the carburetor off. I will disassemble and attempt to rebuild it, just to make sure there is no debris in one of the orifices. Carb rebuild kits are hard to find for the '65-68 series Ford gassers.

I'll post back with the results.

 

[tmac196]

Well...I wish I had better news. The carb cleaning and rebuild went well. After reinstall, and after replacing the fuel pump (see post above), the problem persists.

It runs ok at idle, but in the mid RPM ranges, it farts and hiccups and burps and now is producing so little power, that it's hard to operate the tractor with no load. The problem is better, but not gone at higher RPM (1800).

Timing? Vacuum advance?, bad dissy?

 

[shaeff]

Bad condenser? Lots of people on this forum have reported several brand new condensers being bad right out of the box. One guy I saw on this forum got three bad ones in a row!

And check the coil again, you want a fat blue/white spark that makes a good snapping sound. Should be the color of lightning.

 

[fritoman4]

Possible bad vacuum advance hose? Pull a vacuum at the dist.with the cap off and see if the breaker plate moves.

 

[tmac196]

Bad condenser? Lots of people on this forum have reported several brand new condensers being bad right out of the box. One guy I saw on this forum got three bad ones in a row!

And check the coil again, you want a fat blue/white spark that makes a good snapping sound. Should be the color of lightning.

Bright blue/white coil spark confirmed. The problem persists with old coil and a new coil.

Problem persists with the old condenser and the new condenser.

 

[tmac196]

Possible bad vacuum advance hose? Pull a vacuum at the dist.with the cap off and see if the breaker plate moves.

Frito- How do you recommend I perform this maneuver? I guess I need you to be more specific.