Electronic Ignition

When you say "weak spark", do you mean that you are getting a red spark at the plug vs a nice blue snap?

Cranking speed makes all the difference in the world on these old gals. Is your battery in good shape?

Electricity follows the path of least resistance, so if the battery is somewhat weak, that starter with its low resistance will pull the voltage away from the ignition system making the tractor harder to start than usual.

Another thing: When an engine is at borderline compression, it will seem to run fine after starting, but starting is difficult. If you advance the timing 5 or 10 degrees and it starts a lot easier, this would be an indicator.

Just a thought or two,

Allan

You might want to check a few other things first. First of all, are the points well-grounded? Rust and corrosion where the points are screwed into the distributor can cause resistance - resulting in low coil voltage. Are all electrical connections nice and tight and clean? Check everything in the ignition circuit. Is the coil good? A bad coil can fool you. Put a voltmeter on the ignition coil too - with the points closed. You should have nearly 6 volts on the input side of the coil, and nearly no voltage (under .5 volts) on the side going to the points. If you have a bad coil or poor ignition connections, electronic ignition won't help you. I use electronic ignition because it is more maintenance-free. You don't want to use it to mask another problem.