How would you describe.....

Anonymous-0 · Dec 13, 2012

How would you describe the amount of drag on the feeler guage when adjusting ignition points? Spark plugs are no big deal but points require a bit of finese. So what you say?

Stephen Newell · Dec 13, 2012

The fealer gauge should just be touching both contacts but not so much that the points close any when you pull the feeler gauge out.

60 acre hillside · Dec 13, 2012

Just enough to feel. If you feel a drag you have some pressure from the spring. This pressure will close the points a bit. Then check with a dwell meter. The dwell is more important than the actual point gap.

showcrop · Dec 13, 2012

I'm picturing a teeny tiny spring scale attached to the feeler gauge with a loop of wire and another loop at the other end of the scale that you slip your finger through. Then of course a range of micrograms pull. Not serious, just the thought flashed in my mind.

Zachary Hoyt · Dec 13, 2012

You should be able to pull the gauge out and then stick it back in again. If the points close enough that it won't go back in then they are too close in my opinion.
Zach

rustred · Dec 13, 2012

thats why a feeler guage is called a go,no go guage.you should have very slight drag. pull it out and should go back in. then try next thou.up and should not go in.
yes i like the word finese, but some people think its a shampoo name!

ShadetreeRet · Dec 13, 2012

I guess one way you could get the "feel" for it would be put the gauge between the points and loosen the hold down screw so the entire pressure can be felt. Then open the points to where just a slight amount of drag can be felt, which is what you are looking for anyway. This should help put things into perspective. Shucks, in a few years you will have to look for someone to adjust points, valves and carburetors on your tractor. This situation already exists with autos and trucks. Several years ago a customer came into the dealership and asked if anyone there could work on a carburetor. I think we may have had one tech who could handle it.

Nate V. IA · Dec 13, 2012

Kornfused

Thanks for asking this question, I'm not ashamed to admit that after reading the reply's I have been doing it wrong all these years. No wonder I have so much trouble with points.

Nate

37chief · Dec 13, 2012

First thing I do is take the guage out of the pack. By doing this you get a better feel of the drag. For new points, I would go just a bit loose if anything to compensate for wear of the fiber rubbing on the cam. Stan

Dell (WA) · Dec 13, 2012

Korney........nebber hadda problem with points gap, always used a dwell-tachometer. More IMPORTANT, after you set the points, CLEAN the INVISIBLE CORROSION (and oil) from between the points so they last a long time. Me? I use a clean $1-bill clamped between the points and pull. Iff'n yer really cheap, tear a strip from HEAVY brown paper grocery sack and use that. ........Dell, yer self-appointed sparkie-meister

old · Dec 13, 2012

Well first off a feeler gauge it the wrong tool for a spark plug and you can/will get the gap wrong with a feeler gauge. LOL Yes I carry a plug gap gauge on my key ring LOL. As for the drag that is a real hard one to explain. You need to be able to watch as you pull it out that the points appear not to move so much as a millionth of an inch which of course a person for the most part can not really see but I think you understand what I am saying. So in simple terms you have to learn the feel of the feeler gauge to get it right and that is why ford said 0.024 to 0.026 on many of there tractors so you had some room to make a mistake and be roght

bill mart · Dec 13, 2012

feeler gauge is ok on a new plug before any wear starts. Bill

old · Dec 13, 2012

Not as per the manuals I have and the schooling I have had. ALL flat out state a feeler gauge should NEVER be used on a spark plug. And that is per the manuals and schools

Anonymous-0 · Dec 13, 2012

Dell I have a dwell/tach from the previous century That I would use it set the dwell on my old chevies - but how would you use a dwell on a front mount 2N or for that matter any distributor that does not have the window in the cap?

Anonymous-0 · Dec 13, 2012

Glad the question can help others too. I have alway done the very slight drag myself but figured there would be some fresh ideas on here and of course there is. I like the idea of pushing back through - never tried that!

Eldo case · Dec 13, 2012

Please explain the difference in a feeler gauge and a spark plug gauge you carry in you pocket. The spark plug gauge I use is a wire type of gauge.

UncleTom · Dec 13, 2012

When you use a micrometer on a feeler gauge to measure it,it is really kinda tight and has a lot of drag on it.

old · Dec 13, 2012

Hard to explain it as per the manual since the manual does not explain why you should not use a feeler gauge on spark plugs other then the fact that the plug has a bar you bend to get the gap and because of that you do not get a true reading of the gap with a feeler gauge. Remember do not shoot the messenger as I said that is what the manual say that the feeler gauge is not the correct tool to gap plugs

FarmerZeb · Dec 13, 2012

i use the method Zachary described.....it only took me 26 times over the course of a year to figure it out. but i had never seen a set a points until i bought a gas tractor

paul

Old Roy · Dec 13, 2012

I get good luck by setting points one blade above the recommended setting. tighten just so the setting holds the weight of the feeler gauge, then recheck with the proper one....usually right on!

Dr. Walt · Dec 14, 2012

I've always used the folder on a set of paper "book" matches & it's always worked for me.

showcrop · Dec 14, 2012

Old is correct about not using a feeler gauge. I was taught way back, and old is a little whippersnapper compared to me, that when using a feeler gauge, especially if you don't take it out of the stack as 37 Chief noted, that it is too easy to hold it with a little twist on it relative to the surfaces of the points, so you would get plenty of drag when the gap is way greater than the thickness of the blade. A wire gauge will give the same pull weather it is twisted or straight.

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