Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day

   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day #1  
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banc123

Bronze Member
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Mar 28, 2010
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69
Location
Florida
Ive noticed the last year or so if my Ford 4000, gas , turns off after Its been run a few minutes , it wont crank again without sitting over night. Most of the time this happens is after 30min or more. Sometimes it stalls out cutting high grass and Its over for the day. Its running about 190deg, which has been normal after use or in hot weather. However it does spit some radiator fluid out the over flow if it conks out while in use. If i try to recrank it, it just turns over with no sign of firing. I only do that once or twice since it’s never ever cranked if it doesn’t crank within the first 3-4 seconds. Figure it’s just flooding it. The gas line is rubber other than the last 3-4 before the carb.

It did this yesterday and it recranked today, but while ideling after 3-4 min, it conked out. Would not recrank. Even sprayed starter fluid in the intake and no spark or fire. Prior times once it stalls, starter fluid gets no firing either. Once it turns off hot it’s over. Not sure why it conked out after ideling a few min today.

The fact that starter fluid doesnt fire, makes me wonder if it’s flooding somehow. Fuel take was recently cleaned and lined so it shouldn’t be junked up. Carb is original and was rebuilt 4-5 years ago.

Not sure what to try / test to figure it out. Thanks.
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Is the easiest test to pull a plug wire and put a spare plug on it, ground it and turn it over ?

Saw some info on testing the oms on the coil terminals , but not sure what a valid read would be.

Thanks , makes sense it may not be getting a good spark after heating up.
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Went out this morning and it would not fire on the first 2 attempts. I unscrewed the bolt on the carb and gas poured out quickly, then went to a constant stream, I let it go 30 sec. Figured from there it wasn?t a fuel problem. I was going to unscrew a spark plug but the socket in my small travel kit was too small. So I pulled the distributor cap and thought it looked good, but then I noticed a black spot on the center contact. When I looked at the contact on top of rotator, it also had a black buildup. I scratched both of the black spots clean and put it back together. It cranked up after that.

Is that a sign of a failing coil or just a need to rebuild the distributor ? Seems to be a clue on why it wasn?t firing.
 

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   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Now I’m wondering if opening the carb bowl drain plug had something to do with it since it would not crank, zero fire from start this morning and all I did was drain the carb and clean those black spots off and it cranked right up. Will take the right plug socket next weekend ��
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day #5  
Just have a philips screw driver handy if it doesn't start,
pull a plug wire off a plug and crank it over with the screwdriver close to ground and see if it sparks,
if it doesn't pull the coil wire off the cap and repeat with it.
If no spark at the plug but spark on the coil wire to the cap it's your cap rotor combination.

Just be sure she's in neutral while doing so.

Almost missed it your rotor isn't making a real strong contact with the cap center electrode,
you could tweak it up a bit to increase the contact tension
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day
  • Thread Starter
#6  
LouNY said:
Just be sure she's in neutral while doing so.
Click to expand...

I would be the poster child for what can happen. In 2012 my neutral safety failed resulting in a helictoer ride, shattered pelvis and a month in hospital. I can’t crank it from the ground anymore mentally. I’ll get a spark tester as well. ��
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day #7  
Very common for old style coils to fail when they warm up.
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Got out to the tractor this morning with a spark tester. It would not crank, just turned over with no fire. No spark at the spark plug wire. Moved the tester to the wire off the coil, no spark either. ☹️ I pulled the wires off the coil and tested the resistance from + to - and got 1.5. I tested the secondary points + to center and - to center and both tested 9k. I thought I had seen where it should have been higher so I pulled it and went to the auto store and bought a basic 12v coil. To my dismay it tested the same.

I read where the resistance test isn’t fool proof and the coil could still be bad even if the resistance test was in range.

I’m hoping it’s the coil and the new one fixes it, but if it doesn’t what’s the next potential test ?
 
   / Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day #9  
battery-coil-ignition-system.png

Have you checked for 12 volts on the low voltage terminal on the coil, left hand side of the coil in the picture;
1) key on not being cranked
2) being cranked over (two person or long clip on leads)

If that's good;
on the other side of the coil, the low voltage wire to the distributor,
while turning the engine over the voltage reading should be fluctuating from zero to possibly 5-6 or 8-10 volts
 
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