Posted by WellWorn on June 17, 2012 at 06:06:16 from (69.95.14.20):
I'm a highly logical guy: I have a picture of my brother, sister and I before surgery removed our Vulcan ear tips (ok, it was Photoshopped), and despite the convention of considering machines 'female' (boats, cars, tractors, etc), I have found that there is always a logical reason for things acting the way they do. At least until recently.
Wednesday morning I went out to the old barn that houses my '51 McCormack Deering Super A, turned on the ignition and pulled the starter rod, expecting the purr as the usual single roll of the engine brought it to life. It promptly caught, then died. Humpf... Must have been colder last night than I thought. I pulled the choke rod for a half roll, and nothing. Pulled it hard and ground away. Got gas dripping from the carb, but no sign of life. Must be flooded. Pulled the spark plugs and they weren't wet or carbon fouled, but I cranked it a couple rounds just to 'blow it out'.
Working down the list of possibilities, I figured it could be lack of spark. Pulled the coil wire and rolled it again to check - it seemed a bit weak. Problem as good as solved.
I pulled the points and found the usual 'point and divot', so I dressed them up nicely with a fine file and... could not find my feeler gauges, then remembered they had 'walked' on an industrial project last fall. Got out the mic's and rummaging through the tool box, confirmed that a utility knife blade is .025 thick. Close enough. Fought with the screw holding the ground point for far longer than should have been necessary, that at first wanted to walk the ground point further, then closer as it tightened, but finally got it tight at 'blade minus 5' (book spec .020), then went to the plugs and gapped them at right snug on the blade (book spec .023). Set plugs 1 & 2 on the coil bracket, and 3 & 4 on the steel hydraulic line, then rolled it again. Nice hot spark on each, right around the ring. The #1 plug fell off the coil, and threw arcs over half an inch to the distributor housing so the condenser is doing it's job. Turned off the ignition and rolled it with a finger partially into each of the plug holes: it had compression when it should (and shouldn't), so the valves are working. Everything is checked, and appears to be in logical working order.
I put the spark plugs back in, double checked firing order, and cranked it over - nada. Pulled the air filter oil cup - the oil is still in good shape and at proper level. Gave it a shot of ether on the intake screen. Nothing. Cranked it and gave it a drench of ether. Not even a pop. This does not make logical sense. I concede that I'm temporarily stumped, and need a break to think through what I might have missed.
I head back to the house, considering that this is a machine that leads a sheltered life: it gets more wet from washing the mud off twice a year than from rain. There is no debris in the tank - it got cleaned out last year when the carb was fully rebuilt, along with a new fuel line, head gasket and manifold. The sediment bowl is clean, and I even checked gas flow by loosening the carb bowl plug. It mowed 2 acres of pasture since it's last gas-up 5 days ago with the same (fresh) gas I run in the vehicles (plus a lead replacer), so it isn't 'bad gas'.
As soon as I get in the back door, daughter Annie, bright PhD student that she is, notices something amiss with my demeanor.
"What's up?", she asks.
"I've spent the better part of 2 hours trying to get the blasted tractor to start to accomplish 20 minutes work that is holding up the whole day", I growled.
"Is it out of gas?"
"Still a third of a tank, and everything else seems to be in order."
"Maybe you missed something."
"I may have, but an internal combustion engine only needs 5 basic things to run: air, a combustible fuel, compression, an ignition source, and timing, and everything seems to be there but it still won't start."
"It's probably just moody."
"Are you saying my tractor has PMS?"
"The mechanical version."
"Ah, that would be Persnickety Machine Syndrome", I dead panned.
"Is there another explanation?"
"This is a machine: there is a completely logical explanation" I matter-of-factly stated, "I just haven't found it yet."
"If you say so".
She gave me one of those annoying knowing smirks and headed out to do her chores.
This is the sort of problem that calls for cookies. I popped open a bag of Newman-O's and poured a glass of milk. At this point many others would be heading for far stronger stuff, but for me, that would be highly illogical ((raises eyebrow)). I needed brain fuel, not solace, and chocolate wafers with a cream filling were spot-on.
Snack complete, I headed back to the barn for the next round. Just for giggles, I thought I'd give it another try. Ignition on, gave 'er a shot of ether for good measure, pulled the starter rod and the %&@# thing fires right up. :shock: Pulled the throttle back to low idle - perfect on all four. Full throttle - a strong steady roar. This is not logical, but I'll take it - I have work to do.
I put the oil cup back on the air filter, back it out of the barn, still running just fine. Shut it off. Start it up with half a roll, no choke. I head through the gate and across the pasture, thinking about what Annie said, then dismissed it. Even IF machines had female traits, at 61, this tractor is too old for PMS.
I started running previous events through my mind that may have led to this. Then it hit me: she's been needing increasingly regular supplements (of iron) to forestall brittle parts; she had been having hot flashes (until I got the sludge washed from the block and radiator) - Oh $4it!
It pains me to admit it, but Annie may have been right. The only answer that fits the symptoms is... Mechanopause. What else would make a previously reliable and otherwise logical 'being' to randomly make no sense whatsoever?
Until (or if) I can come up with a sound reason for it's recent lapse, I can only hope continued Parts Replacement Therapy helps, because there is no way I want to deal with a full blown case of Mechanopause in the barn - as most will attest, a 'pause' in the house is bad enough.
This post was edited by WellWorn at 06:08:07 06/17/12.
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