1946 Farmall H Problem

I inherited my grandpa's H. He bought it new in 1946. It is complete and in very good condition as it was stored inside. Grandpa passed in 2004 and the farm was sold in 2008. I brought the tractor home in August of 2008. Its my responsibility to care for his tractor until I pass this tractor to someone else-- hopefully my son if he has the passion.
I knew that he was having some starting issues with the tractor. I replaced the battery cables with new ones from IH. I also replaced plugs,wires,points,cap, and rotor (All properly set and installed). The new 6volt batt cranked fast but it would not start. I checked for spark, and found it to be good. I moved on to the fuel system. It did not take long to figure out that gas left in the tractor is not good for the system(Ok to laugh- we have all seen gunked up carbs and lines!). This did not surprise me so I installed a new IH carb kit and float. I also ran a tempory "custom rubber fuel line with an inline filter". The gas tank does not look bad but I wanted a filter just in case.
Next,the tractor started strong and fast. HOWEVER, it would rev up real fast. I had set the carb to the basic settings according to the instructions. Adjusting the throttle stop lowered the rpms. No other adjustments on the carb made any difference. Also if I tried to adjust the engine speed control lever while running, it made no difference or sometimes it would just kill the motor. I removed the carb to make sure it was installed properly to the governor control and it was. I reinspected the entire carb to include rechecking the float,making sure all passages were clear, all within specs and looking normal. Reinstalled the carb. Started the tractor and the results were the same. I checked for air leaks in the carb and between carb and manifold. No leaks. I did some research and read my tractor restoration books again. The only thing that I did not do was time the distributer. With Dad's assistance we followed the IT manual and static timed the H last night. Now it will not start. And fuel drains out of the carb. (Probably flooded from cranking) We marked the distributer before we timed it so we could return if necessary. So after it would not start, we stopped, and decided to do some more research. If anyone could possibly advise, I would really appreciate some help.

How far did you move the distributor? It sounds like you might be 180 degrees off. I'd return it to where it was and go back to the carburetor/governor and double check everything is connected right, you might have a spring missing or connected wrong.

Spark could be a problem, but from your description of the speed control lever being of little use, I wonder if maybe you need to re-synchronize the governor to the throttle, where you've had the carb off.

If this were an A,B or C, I could tell you how to do it. The governor is a while different set-up on the H, and I don't know it well enough to be able to describe it. If you can get your hands on an I&T IH-8 manual, it's at the end of Par. 161.

Thanks for your response. Did not move distributor more than 2 inches before we brought it back 3/4 of an inch when it sparked. Tightened clamps at that point per instructions from the IT manual. Before that we made sure that No 1 was at top dead center and rotor was in no 1 position and the pointer was aligned with the first notch.

CMR

It might still be possible that you are 180* out. Timing needs to be done at TDC on the compression stroke. If by chance you were at TDC on exhaust, you'll be 180 out.

Easy fix to test it would be to move all your wires at the cap to the post exactly opposite of where you have them now, i.e., swap #1 for #4, and #3 for #2. If that fixes it, that's the problem. After that it's up to your conscience whether you want to pull the distributor and retime it so that the wires are in the customary position for the next guy. ;8^)

You have a problem in the gov. You can take the cover off the side and make sure things are freed up in there and since you are good at removing the carb now make sure the linkage is also free.It sounds like the gov weights arent able to do their job.

Thanks for the reply. I will try it. If it is 180 off I will correct it. I have been the next guy on other projects before(HA HA)----I have never liked correcting stupid! This is why I am asking questions from people like yourself. I am a tractor novice but, that is not a good excuse to cut corners. I do appreciate your humor!

Thanks for your response. After I get it running again, I will go through the gov. The nice thing is that when it was running it did not smoke and sounded just like I remembered it as a kid.

Of course, if the next guy is your son . . . Oops. There goes that sick sense of humor again!

Please let us know how you make out.

To follow on that idea, make sure that when you put the carb back on, the lugs on the shaft coming from the governor are in the slots on the carb. Sometimes they can get out of alignment and things go wrong.

Also, you should have been able to flood out or starve your carb by adjusting the main jet on it. If you had gas running out of it, you could have some gunk still stuck in there somewhere thats causing your issues....

A lot of the posts up above have good ideas about things to check out. The timing being 180* out is quick and simple. If that's the fix that gets you running again, great! But if it's still running away on you once you do get it running, give a hard look at your governor to carb connections. Also in re-reading, I see you do have the I&T manual, and the page (44 in mine) that has Par. 161 and Figs. IH393-IH395 should be dogeared for future reference.

My experience on Hs and Ms doesn't include fuel and governor. I'm much more familiar with the 113/123 on he A-B-C tractors, and on them that governor carb synch (a different setup) is such that it's worth checking any time the carb has been off.

Did you do anything work on the governor as part of your project?

Did you have the throttle plate off when you did the carb? When Dad had the SMTA overhauled in at the dealership,the mechanic overhauled the carb. We got the tractor back, & it would idle at [good guess] 900 RPM. We tried everything to slow the idle down---nothing worked. A couple years later, against Dad's wishes, I took the carb off & the mechanic had gotten the throttle plate in upside down---it couldn't close the throttle bore enough to slow the idle down. The MTA is still working perfectly now. Worth a look.

Definitely put the distributor back to where it was when the tractor would run. At that point, you're very close to right, and it's a matter of tuning by ear to get it perfect. Slight movements of the distributor only, nothing that can be measured in "inches" that's for sure.

It really sounds like you didn't get the carburetor and governor synchronized. There is a square tab that comes off the governor shaft and fits into a square notch in the carburetor shaft. It's a blind hole, so you can only guess if you have it right. It's very easy to get it wrong.

I don't think he could move the dist far enough to be 180 off without pulling it .

Where in SD are you? I know my way around the Farmall carbs and ignition pretty well. Maybe I cab stop by and help you out. I am near Mitchell.

Gordo