Yea, a 12v conversion really makes it start better, doesn't it?!
Assuming that the bushings & advance weights are ok, the most common electrical failure (no spark, weak spark) points on the frontmount are:
1. The insulator under the concave head screw.
2. The insulator at the end of the points where the copper strip attaches.
3. The copper strip grounded to the plate.
4. The condenser wire grounding.
5. The pigtail/tab not making contact.
6. Incorrect positioning of the spring clip on the plate causing the pigtail to ground.
7. Incorrect seating of the coil on the distributor.
8. Water/moisture inside the cap due to gasket failure or the absence of a gasket.
I’ll assume that if you have a 50+ year old tractor that you have a test meter.
I have discovered that 75% of “no spark” problems on frontmounts are as a result of poorly aligned parts or wires & not parts failures. Remember, you are dealing w/ parts made over 50 years ago that have seen a lot of wear & tear. They just don’t fit together like they used to.
First, turn the key on & crank the engine while you look at the ammeter. What is it doing? If it deflects, that means your points are opening & closing. If it shows a constant discharge, or doesn’t move at all, that means you need to do some more checking.
If the voltage never drops when the engine is cranking, that means the points are not closing or you have lost contact between the pigtail & the brass screw or the tab & the cap.
Next, check for continuity inside the distributor w/ a meter. It is very easy to ground the tip of the condenser wire to the body of the distributor when you replaced the points. Also, make sure the condenser wire does not go through the same opening in the distributor that the coil pig tail does. The condenser wire goes the opening on the top right. Look at the points; are they burned, pitted or mis-aligned? Check the point gap, .015 on all four lobes. Make sure you are using quality parts; the points should have a phenolic rubbing block & not the cheap white plastic crap. Make sure you have the star washers under the screws on the points.
Next, with the distributor still off the tractor, install the coil. Look at the pigtail on the coil; is it touching the brass screw w/ the concave head inside of the distributor? Don’t trust your eyes; test for continuity from the top of the coil to the points. If you do not have continuity, stretch the pigtail a bit until you do. (some people would rather put a small washer under the brass screw) Make sure that the pigtail is not grounded to the clip that holds the distributor plate in place; sometimes you can move the plate while setting the timing & actually ground the pigtail. Your meter should tell you this even if your eyes don’t! Also, look at the little tab opposite of the pigtail; bend it a bit also to insure that it will contact the distributor cap. Another common failure point is the insulator in the tab on the distributor plate where the brass screw w/ the concave head goes; it holds the copper strip from the points. Again, your meter will usually tell you if you have a problem, but you might have to wiggle the copper strip a bit. Once you are sure that you have good continuity inside the distributor, you should be good to go.
At this point, I just put the distributor, coil & cap all back on the tractor as a unit (it helps to loosen the fan belt). The reason I do this is because it is real easy to get the cap or coil mis-aligned trying to put it back together one piece at a time & the result is something gets broken or you get a ‘no spark’ problem.
50 Tips
