IH 400 died, no start

I have a 400 Farmall with a loader. That's all I use it for, so it doesn't get many hours/year. I have to run non foulers on the spark plugs, I put new points, condenser and rotor in it last Dec. Started and ran good. I've used it a few times over the summer and then it got to missing and dieing. I put new plugs in it again and it ran good for about an hour. I was going to use it today to switch a gravity wagon end for end on the running gear. I started it, started hard but finally ran, I let it warm up quite a while thinking that would help it run better. I hooked the chains on the wagon and started to pick it up and it died and wouldn't start. I checked plugs with the spark plug tester, no fire. I took the distributor cap off and it was green corroded inside on the terminals and around the center lobe. I took emery paper and tried to shine them up a little and then took cover off and checked points, no fire. When I was poking around the points with a screw driver, I could hear a click when I opened the points but did not see any fire. I touched the coil and it was not hot. I'm ready to go the whole nine yards on it, points, condenser, cap, rotor, plugs(again) and new plug wires. Am I missing something here. I don't know of anyone around who can check a coil. I was thinking the distributor cap until it didn't have any fire. What would you do with it?? Thanks, Chris

Check for power at the coil(small wire) and then at the disturber with a test light or a volt meter. If no power then check at the switch.

Chris, when you looked at the terminals on the cap, did you only look at the ones under the cap? I've had a few that corroded on the top of the cap where the wires go in. Looks good until you pop the wires out, and there'll be lots of corrosion in there.

better find out if its a gas or electrial problem first. you say u heard the points click when u opened them so it has spark. hold the coil wire out of coil 1/2 " and you will see the spark jump. when you open the points. you can put all those parts on it but that dont mean it will run. hope i can have all those plugs u took out.
remove the plug at bottom of carb and see if you have a good flow of gas running out. check everything starting from the sediment bowl down. many time the sediment bowl top part will be corroded with junk. remove it from tank and blow it all out with air. i have this problem many times. many times had to soak in carb cleaner from the old gas corrossion. blow air through the gas line also check the filter at carb inlet. seen them plugged many times. its either gas or spark problem. i would even try the condenser before anything else. dont matter how bad the plugs are it will start. same with points they can be filed and never will completely let you down. same with the cap , same with the wires. so that leaves the coil or condenser, which i would say is the first thing to change.

I suspect the points are corroded. The corrosion inside the cap says water has been getting in the distributor, condensing inside the cap. There may still be water in the distributor...

Try cleaning the points with contact cleaner and wiping them with clean paper. Or just replace them.

Then check for spark at the coil. If still no spark, put your test light from the point side of the coil to ground. Turn the engine over, the light should come on each time the points open, go off when they close. If the light stays on, the points are not making contact. If the light never comes on, there is a short in the wire to the distributor, the points are closed, or there is no power to the coil. Check the ignition side of the coil, if no light, there is a bad connection from the ignition switch, or the switch itself.

If all that checks out, and still no spark from the coil, the coil is bad.

Back to the water in the distributor. There can be water pooled in the bottom of the distributor housing, especially if stored outside. When the engine starts, the heat boils the water up, it condenses under the cap, shorts out the high voltage. Be sure the distributor is dry. Blow it out if possible, or leave the cap off, get some heat on it from a light bulb or hair dryer. The corrosion under the cap is usually harmless unless it's severe or carbon tracked.

Have you looked inside the non-foulers? Sometimes they pack up with carbon and need to be cleaned. That is not why it won't run, but it can cause miss fire and poor performance. If you do end up replacing the plugs, might try to find hotter plugs and remove the non-foulers. It there a thermostat and is it working? Getting the engine up to temperature?

You've described what my M does when the points go bad.If your points look burnt you can file them down to good metal - make sure the surfaces are clean when you finish.Could be the gap is wrong too. Is your tractor 6 volt or 12 volt. If its 12 then you could have a resistor in the system going bad. On my tractors they just died when the resistor went bad but I guess they could act up as they warm up and not be completely dead.

You ask what to do, so here is my approach to finding the cause of no spark........

http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=farmall&th=5745

John T
John Ts Ignition Testing

I just came in from working on the 400, here's what I found. With my test light, there is power in and out of the resistor, power to the coil, power to the block that goes thru the distributor, no fire at points. I ran emery paper thru the points, blew them out with air and pulled a shop towel thru the points to clean them. Still no fire. What I don't understand, the distributor cap and plug wires were hanging down below the distributor, the spark plug tester was still on #2 plug, when cranking it over checking for fire at points, the spark plug tester was lighting up as it turned over. After church, I will go to O'Riellys or Farm & Fleet to see if I can get points and condenser and try that. Thanks for the reply's, Chris