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Farmall & IHC Tractors Discussion Forum
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Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?)

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dunniteowl

03-16-2008 10:52:18




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This is really wierd to me. Back in October, my shredder finally lost it's composure (the box is wearing out) and the height won't stay as the box sags. So, the blades dug into the dirt and there goes my PTO shear pin again.

I drive my '44 Farmall "A" (her name is Betty) back to the house, disconnect the shredder and see what I can do. Answer -- get another shredder.

Since then, I have only driven the tractor once around the end of November to attempt to pull a fallen tree out of the road in front of my property. Defeated, I drove her back to the house and there she sat until now.

So I find another drag along drawbar shredder, I get it home and I know I gotta replace the PTO shear pin. I also know by now, the battery's prolly dead. I hook up the charger, 'cause I just would like to move her to a better spot to do my PTO work.

She charges up and so I crank. Nothing doing, man. She cranks fine, I smell gas after a bit. Flooded. And so it goes. I remove and clean the plugs, I crank with mag grounded and gas shut off to get fuel out. I recharge the battery.

Rinse and repeat, trying a little something different each time. So today, I am out there and I think, maybe no spark? So I pull the distributor coil wire off the H-4 cap, so I should have the spark directly from the magneto and I check it against the governor linkage (where I should get a nice blue spark.) Nope.

I think, you know, there's a lot of corrosion and the wires are old. So I replace the kill switch wiring (which shouldn't be the problem as it's "ground to kill, open to run") and I clean the battery cable and the starter connection, the mag wire connection. Still nothing.

So now I've pulled the mag off the chassis, wire wheeled the chassis and mag metal connections (for a good chassis ground) and still nothing.

I come here, and I read through the past 4 months or so of posts and nothing comes that's close to what's going on. Does anyone have some friendly and sage advice (beyond resetting the timing, which I am already going to do?)

My question is this: If she was running right before and the only thing that changed was 3 months of not being run, how could the timing go out? Why won't I get spark to the Magneto? What am I missing here?

Any assistance would be deeply appreciated

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Steven f/AZ

03-16-2008 11:59:20




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 Re: Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?) in reply to dunniteowl, 03-16-2008 10:52:18  
Don't feel bad... I parked my A for two years because it wouldn't start by hand cranking, or the starter - only started by pulling it to get it spinning over fast.

Put in new points, adjusted, and starts every time on the second click!



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Peculiar Farmer

03-16-2008 11:45:31




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 Re: Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?) in reply to dunniteowl, 03-16-2008 10:52:18  
Like JT says, clean the points with a point file or use a piece of emery cloth just to give them a quick shine. I test mine afterwards with one side of jumper cables. Clamp one to the mag housing and the other end to the base of a spark plug. Connect a plug wire from the #1 position on the cap to the spark plug and spin the drive by hand without getting a jolt.



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JT

03-16-2008 11:22:14




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 Re: Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?) in reply to dunniteowl, 03-16-2008 10:52:18  
Sounds like you have points that have corroded from sitting. That would be the first thing I check.



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dunniteowl

03-16-2008 11:27:45




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 Re: Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?) in reply to JT, 03-16-2008 11:22:14  
Thanks, JT, sounds like a good idea. The points are underneath the rotor coupling, correct? The part that has 3 screws holding it in place? The last time I was in there was some time ago, so that's definitely worth checking out.

Any other ideas from anyone else?

dunniteowl
Christopher in Bastrop, TX



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dunniteowl

03-16-2008 11:48:03




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 Re: Farmall A Magneto No Spark (Ideas Please?) in reply to dunniteowl, 03-16-2008 11:27:45  
Thanks JT!

That was it! I was so excited to see a spark off the coil wire that I forgot to put the rotor back in. So I go, "Huh? I know I'm getting a spark..." and I turn my head to look at the seat and see my rotor sitting there.

DUH!

So I put it in and she fired up immediately!

Thanks again, I knew it had to be something really simple, or I would have figured it out already.

Many, many thanks!

regards,
Christopher
dunniteowl in Bastrop, TX

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