Farmall H - HARD starting

Kippster · Jan 15, 2009

Hey guys. I have a 48 farmall h that smoked like a freight train when I bought it. I have since rebuilt the engine and now it is hard to start. Before I rebuilt the motor, I could start it on about 3 throws of the crank (no electric start). Now that I rebuilt the motor, it no longer smokes, but it is a son of a pup to start. carb is clean, mag is hot, timing is right on the money as far as I can tell, but I still have trouble getting it to start. Once it is running, it has TONS of power for an H, but whatever you do, don't shut it off or you will crank a good 55 to 60 throws to be able to start it again. It takes probably about 25-30 throws to get it started cold. Temperature outside seems to have no bearing whatsoever. Any ideas? Also, it seems to start easier facing downhill or on flat ground. REALLY hard, if not impossible to start facing uphill. Ideas, guesses and advice are welcome! Sorry to be so long winded. Thanks for helping me.

the tractor vet · Jan 15, 2009

Well if you are 100% sure that the timing is dead on and the carb is working and there are NO air leaks in the intake i have no idea and if it is a crank start only i can assure that i would not be working on it as i can show you the scar on my forhead and the lump in my elbow from and armstrong starter.

spiffy1 · Jan 15, 2009

Tractor Vet already touched on my guess: spray some ether around the manifold gasket while it's running, I'm thinking an intake leak has it too lean for the volume it pulls on a crank start but miniscule for the running volume.

old · Jan 15, 2009

Does the impulse in the mag work as it should?? If you can not hear it trip or it only trips once in a while that would make it very very hard to start
Hobby farm

Kippster · Jan 16, 2009

Come to think of it, I do usually have to run the tractor with the choke about 25-30% on to make the engine not miss when it is running. I'll try the ether trick next time I have it started up.

Red Mist · Jan 16, 2009

Sounds to me like your float level is off - as evidenced by the fact it starts easier facing down hill vs uphill. If not float level, then perhaps something else not right in carb? mike

mkirsch · Jan 16, 2009

(quoted from post at 03:52:50 01/16/09) Come to think of it, I do usually have to run the tractor with the choke about 25-30% on to make the engine not miss when it is running. I'll try the ether trick next time I have it started up.

Soooo, everything is NOT 100% as you indicated in your original post...

Having to run choke AT ALL indicates either an air leak or an improperly reassembled carburetor.

Spritz the starting fluid around the manifold where it connects to the engine, around the carb/manifold interface.. If the tractor runs differently then you've found your air leak.

No air leaks? Take that carb apart again. You didn't get something right. Did you put a kit in? Put one in if not. Don't get frustrated with the carb especially if this is your first rebuild. I can tell you from experience that as a rookie you never get them right on the first try. Once you've got one right, you won't notice that you're doing things differently on future rebuilds, but you'll be rebuilding them like an old pro.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 16, 2009

These old tractors were and are still pretty forgiving - extreme precision is not necessary to get one runing well. Start with the simple things. You may not have that much difficulty fixing this.

When an engine needs the choke to run smoothly, you have a too lean mixture. You may have a vacuum leak or you may have something worng with the carburetor, but you might try opening up the mixture valve first.

The starting easier on a hill probably means that the float level is too low - another easy fix. Setting the float level is not intuitive at all, so follow the instructions in the manual to get it right.

John - OH · Jan 16, 2009

As others have already stated, two things come to mind an air leak in the manifold, and or the float is not adjusted correctly. Make sure when cleaning the carb everything is cleaned thoroughly. The smallest piece of dirt/crud will give you fits. Float and mixture screw adjustment is key to good operation. Keep us posted.

Bob Kerr · Jan 18, 2009

Sounds like the others pretty well covered it. I will add that last year, I found 3 farmall H and Ms with loose manifolds that all had sputters when idling. Just had to retorque the manifolds readjust the carbs and it fixed all of them. The downhill thing does sound like a low float setting. I do have an F-12 that can start hard if parked down hill, but most of that problem is a slightly leaky needle valve on the float I haven't bothered fixing yet. It runs with a cloud of black smoke with a full gas tank but runs perfect with a half tank. The F-12 tank will gravity feed if full but needs the pump at half or lower. One more thing, if you rebuilt the engine did you go back and retorque the head and manifold after it ran a while? If not do both and readust the valves and carb afterwards.

Farmall H - HARD starting

Kippster

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the tractor vet

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spiffy1

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old

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Kippster

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Red Mist

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mkirsch

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Anonymous-0

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John - OH

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Bob Kerr

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