No power....runs but wont throttle up

[usedcarguy]

1950 8N Side mount. Has a new 12V conversion with electronic ignition. 12V battery. The old mule will run but it does NOT like to be throttled up and would rather idle. It wants to be choked a bit to make any attempt at power. I have swapped out the carb from another 8N (1950 front mount) that I own so.....I do not believe it is a carb issue. This is my first N with a side mount distributor.
Any ideas where to start would be welcome.
Oil pressure is around 20 pounds at idle.

All new tires and metal on the tractor. Bought it almost 10 years ago and it has been in my garage under a tarp since. New battery and electronics.

 

[lha]

1950 8N Side mount. Has a new 12V conversion with electronic ignition. 12V battery. The old mule will run but it does NOT like to be throttled up and would rather idle. It wants to be choked a bit to make any attempt at power. I have swapped out the carb from another 8N (1950 front mount) that I own so.....I do not believe it is a carb issue. This is my first N with a side mount distributor.
Any ideas where to start would be welcome.
Oil pressure is around 20 pounds at idle.

All new tires and metal on the tractor. Bought it almost 10 years ago and it has been in my garage under a tarp since. New battery and electronics.

Carb adjustment. The small side-pointing screw should be about 1/2 turn out[that's where mine runs well],the main jet that points down should be between 1-1/2 to 2 turns. The carb might be pretty dirty or the timing is off.

 

[olgentdc]

Check the flow of the gas line ,,. With 5 gallons of gas it should fill a pint jar in less than a minute

 

[R Geiger]

Does the governor push back when you try to use it to increase RPM?

 

[showcrop]

Don't go beating up on the carb and governor until you verify that the poor carbie even has adequate gas to work with. It is generally thought that trouble shooting time is best spent addressing simpler, easier to remedy possibilities first.

 

[Eman85]

Shut the fuel off and remove the pipe plug on the bottom of the carburetor. Use a jar and place it under the carburetor, open the fuel and time how long it takes to get 1 pint. Use a spark tester set at 1/4" and check spark. For the full pre-test remove the spark plugs and do a compression test. Then you will KNOW where you stand.

 

[Jim L WA]

How did it run before the new 12 volt conversion and electronic ignition?

 

[usedcarguy]

How did it run before the new 12 volt conversion and electronic ignition?

When I bought it.....I drove it for about 2 minutes and parked it in my garage. It ran horribly compared to my other N. It has sat for years. Going to push it back into the garage and do a gas flow test.
Last year I converted my front mount 1950 8N to electronic ignition and 12 V conversion. It has been running amazing. This conversion was similar but it is my first side mount.

 

[Eman85]

How old is the gas?

 

[usedcarguy]

How old is the gas?

Gas is new. 93 octane

 

[usedcarguy]

Shut the fuel off and remove the pipe plug on the bottom of the carburetor. Use a jar and place it under the carburetor, open the fuel and time how long it takes to get 1 pint. Use a spark tester set at 1/4" and check spark. For the full pre-test remove the spark plugs and do a compression test. Then you will KNOW where you stand.

Fuel 1:32 for 16 OZ.......about 1.5-2 Gallons of gas in her.
Compression: 1 110 2 110 3 105 4 105 This is 4 Compression strokes.....I can get another 5 pounds if I go to 6 strokes

 

[Jim L WA]

Compression is good, fuel is fresh, swapping carburetors didn't help. I would be looking at ignition. Centrifugal advance? Timing? You need to check that spark.

 

[HFJ]

pour more gas in it, you could be up against the dreaded plugged reserve pickup. add another 2 gallons and see what happens.

 

[usedcarguy]

Compression is good, fuel is fresh, swapping carburetors didn't help. I would be looking at ignition. Centrifugal advance? Timing? You need to check that spark.

Yep. I think the fuel is ok.....I swapped the carb from my verry well running 1950 front mount 8n. I had spark on all cylinders...how do I easily test for "good" spark? I did do an electronic ignition mod to it....kind of wonder if that may be the issue. Not making any sense. Also, losing oil pressure again and had to put more 80/90 in the front pressure valve. Could it be the spark plug wires? So I need solid copper or should the solid copper core be used with a 12 V electronic ignition upgrade? Better to just go to 12 V conversion with points and condenser?

 

[usedcarguy]

pour more gas in it, you could be up against the dreaded plugged reserve pickup. add another 2 gallons and see what happens.

Poured another 3 gallons in....same result. It just wants to sputter and not really take off. Kind of like it being starved for fuel but it is not.....cant be because the carb on the tractor works just fine on another tractor.

 

[Jim L WA]

You check for a good quality spark by getting an adjustable spark tester like Eman85 said, or you can open the gap on an old spark plug or one off you tractor. Open the gap to 1/4 inch and see if a spark can jump that.
Also you can do a quick check on the centrifugal advance of you distributor, by removing the cap and dust cover and turning the rotor, I think clock wise and see if it will spring back.
One more simple thing. check and re-check the firing order. 1,2,4,3 front to back ccw on the distributor.

 

[HFJ]

Poured another 3 gallons in....same result. It just wants to sputter and not really take off. Kind of like it being starved for fuel but it is not.....cant be because the carb on the tractor works just fine on another tractor.

the fuel pickup assembly is before the carb. the carb working fine on another tractor demonstrates nothing about your sediment bowl's state of health. all that shows is that THAT tractor doesn't have a fuel supply issue

 

[deanostoybox]

Yep. I think the fuel is ok.....I swapped the carb from my verry well running 1950 front mount 8n. I had spark on all cylinders...how do I easily test for "good" spark? I did do an electronic ignition mod to it....kind of wonder if that may be the issue. Not making any sense. Also, losing oil pressure again and had to put more 80/90 in the front pressure valve. Could it be the spark plug wires? So I need solid copper or should the solid copper core be used with a 12 V electronic ignition upgrade? Better to just go to 12 V conversion with points and condenser?

If you have a pertronix EI module you should have resistor spark plug wires. Solid core wires will cause trouble.

 

[HFJ]

do NOT use copper cored wires with pertronix EI.