656 starting problem -- she is running at last!

I want to thank everyone again for all of your help. The culprit was the points!

I didn't think the points were bad because they were "brand new"., but tractor vet and others said they had bought new points that were bad, so I bought another new set of points and put those on, but still had the same problem. I really, really didn't think that I would get two bad "brand new" sets of points, but a lot of you guys were saying that the points were bad, so I bought a third set of points, installed them and still had the same problem.

I tried the test that Janicholson said to take the wire off the distributor to see if it would spark to the tractor and it did! He also mentioned that the points might be coated with something that doesn't conduct electricity, so I checked the continuity on the points with them out of the tractor. I couldn't get good continuity on any of the three brand new sets! I tried rubbing them on a dollar bill like someone suggested and that helped some but I still didn't have good continuity. So, I had some 800 grit sandpaper, put it on a flat surface, rubbed the points on it, got good continuity, put the points on the tractor and she fired right up almost instantly.

So, now I am wondering? Are they making points differently these days? I grew up when all cars had points and I changed a lot of them and never had to sand the points to make them work. I have also changed the points on this tractor before and never had to do anything to them, but three brand new points that do not have continuity makes me think they must be making them differently?

What color of spark did you get at the points.......not the tower wire, the points themselves when you open and close 'em with a screwdriver?

The spark (at the points) should be a nice blue color.

Allan

Due to the storage time of points that are sold from a specific counter, or shelf, many electrical components are protected from corrosion with a coating. This can and does insulate the points. One of my first posts said to polish the set with silicon paper, and wipe with a folded dollar. Solid state is not the same as make and break points. We are glad that era of this saga is over. Jim

Guess I missed that on your first post, but now I know and will make that part of the process of changing points from now on!