Final update ingition problem 1010 Deere

This is the last follow up to my Deere 1010 crawler that I ran for many years with a 6 cylinder distributor with a four-cylinder cap stuck on it (1010 is a four cylinder engine).

I put the distrutor back on today with the four-cylinder points-cam stuck in. It runs better then ever, since I've owned it. Engine basically sounds the same but seems to have maybe 20% more power. I can charge a dirt-bank now in 2nd gear and lift with a full bucket of hard-pan and rock. Before this, I could just barely do that in 1st gear.

So, if somebody ever asks you a stupid question - like "can a 6 cylinder distributor run a 4 cylinder engine" - the answer is "yes."

I did the math and it seems this is how it ran. When it had the 6 cylinder distributor on it, and I timed it with a timing light hooked to #1 cylinder, it resulted in this. Firing order is 1-3-4-2. Timing spec is 26 degrees before TDC at full RPM. So, #1 was firing at 26 degrees BTDC, #3 was firing at 56 degrees BTDC (30 degrees overadvanced), #4 was firing properly at 26 degrees BTDC, and #2 was firing at 56 degrees BTDC (30 degrees over advanced).

It feels like a different machine now.

Glad you found out what it was. Yeah can see it having lots more power now. Saw pics of your rusty 4 cylinder cam. What I have done to ones like that is smooth the pits full of JB weld and polish it back down some it works till can find a better one or may run forever who knows. I didn"t study the Delco book after that but only other thing I can think of is if that 4 cylinder cam you got is out of distributor with same rotation as your original as CW or CCW cams could be different. It"s usually the slot where the rotor fits making them different but bet yours is right now or would still be doing the same thing.

You NEVER know what folks will do!

If you follow the "N" Ford Forum, you will remember a couple of years ago I fixed a guy's side-mount 8N distributor. Some MENACE had put an NAA cam and advance in it.

The distributor rotation is OPPOSITE between those 2 engines and the advance became a RETARD and also the points fired the coil when the rotor was BETWEEN high-tension terminals.

Great it works well now. I was rolling the same numbers around in my head Saturday. The dist rotor tip was 30 degrees away fron the cap terminals on two of the 4 cylinders,BUT the distributor runs at 1/2 crank speed, so I think those two cylinders were firing 60 crankshaft degrees early / late. Shows how tough and forgiving those little industrial engines are.

Guess a guy will never get old enough to have seen everything LOL.

Glad to hear you solved the problem. When I replied to your original post, I spent a few minutes trying to think of what could cause spark at the wrong time if points were set correctly, and timed with a light on #1 as you had mentioned you did. I never would have thought of a 6 cyl distributor in a 4 banger- not in a million years!! Its hard to believe that crawler would even run enough to do anything set up that way.

If that 4-lobe distributor cam eats up the rubbing block on point sets, perhaps coating it with epoxy and then removing any excess epoxy after curing will fill the rust pits. That should help.