lbg57 2 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 I have been in this MD restoration for the last 11 years. Work/family issues have dragged it out this long. Have been in the assembly stage for the last year. I am at the point of trying to start it but no go. It had a battery ignition on it and ran fine before tear down. I wanted to put it back to original and converted it to a magneto ignition like my others with a rebuilt mag I bought off eBay 5 years ago. Following is a list of things that I have checked and double checked. 1) Double checked the timing marks on the gear train by the assembly photo I took before putting the front cover on, all right on. 2) Pulled mag drive off to check timing, was right on. 3) Checked mag timing 3 times. Mag tripped on #1 cylinder when on the "M" mark on the pully, not 9/16" past "M" as per what the manual stated. Adjusted to 9/16" past "M" but no difference. 4) Checked spark on all cylinders with an inline spark checker, it made it light. 5) Took plugs out, grounded them, turned it over, it produced a small bluish spark. 6) Took carb off. Float & needle move. Lifts needle off seat. Float height is correct. 7) Checked all start linkage adjustments 3 times. All correct. Checked start valve clearances, all right on. 9) Double checked valve timing and clearances, all good. 10) Manifold butterflies are working properly. I loosened the injector nuts to be sure their was no diesel going to the cylinders. As much as I do not like using starting fluid, I did loosen the intake crossover pipe and shot some directly in their while turning it over. Not even a pop. When turning it over on gas, it spins over quickly and almost wants to take off. Their is blackish smoke coming from the exhaust, turns white when either is shot in and returns to blackish when spinning over. When I pulled the plugs they are black soot covered. I have cleaned them and rechecked the gap a few times. Gap was right. Plugs were not wet as in a flooding issue. What do you guys think? What am I missing here? Could it be that the magneto magnet is weak and not producing an adequate spark when under compression? I am at a loss here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. A couple more things I forgot, the points are aligned and set per the manual. I took a compression check on all 4 cylinders and showed to be around 115+ psi on the gas side with all new parts not seated in yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mmi 331 Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 from here diesel side not set right s valve stuck flipper not right as was told to another here that only spent a month patience and elimination by verification since many systems have been apart have to start with the basics reconfirm all internal timing etc and work inward get manual reverse mag to opposite rotation and swap all electrics into know running tractor then back what works Quote Link to post Share on other sites
12_Guy 891 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 I wonder if the mag just is not making a good hot spark. I would start by cleaning/polishing the points to see if you see any improvement. It can't hurt to get the magnet charged but that is much more involved and probably not necessary. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
R Pope 276 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Put the distributor back on it. Your mag is weak. Did the mag come off a diesel? Gas units turn the other way. 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
beekeep15 3 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 check plug wires may be wired backwards check mag rotation Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lbg57 2 Posted July 12 Author Share Posted July 12 12_Guy: The mag not producing a good spark is what I am leaning to also as all the other settings are per the manual. I will have to try and find some place that works on mags to check it out. Thanks. R Pope: Yes the mag is the correct H-4, counter clockwise rotation, for the diesel. The new wiring harness was made for the magneto system so I would prefer to leave it as such but will have the mag checked by someone for output. Thanks. beekeep15: I have checked the plug wires before but will check them again to be certain. I do have the correct H-4, counter clockwise rotating mag for the diesel and is turning the correct rotation. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MinnesotaFarmall 231 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Could a guy switch it to diesel and sniff it with ether to see if it will fire off and run? All the gas does is get the cylinders warm enough for combustion of diesel. Unless I miss understand that? Somehow you could try warming the intake temp to get it to fire off? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mudfly 196 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 57 minutes ago, MinnesotaFarmall said: Could a guy switch it to diesel and sniff it with ether to see if it will fire off and run? All the gas does is get the cylinders warm enough for combustion of diesel. Unless I miss understand that? Somehow you could try warming the intake temp to get it to fire off? Starter won’t turn it over on diesel side. You have to pull start it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MinnesotaFarmall 231 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 1 hour ago, Mudfly said: Starter won’t turn it over on diesel side. You have to pull start it. Ahh I see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Downs 242 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Years ago I had a worked-over 235 Chevy (6 cylinder) with a Vertex magneto. If the plugs got sooty it would not start - if I sand-blasted the plugs or put new ones in it would fire right off. I don’t know how you are cleaning your plugs but sand-blasting was the only thing that worked for me. And I was spinning a 6 volt starter with 12 volts😀 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lbg57 2 Posted July 13 Author Share Posted July 13 Well guys I finally got it to run on the gas side. That magneto I bought off eBay that was supposed to be completely rebuilt turned out to be a POS. I had gotten another off eBay as a spare that the guy said worked when taken off. Was not rebuilt or any new parts. Put that one on & it took right off. Finally. I will see about sending that other one out for repair if I can find someone who still does that. Tried switching it over to diesel but all it would do is smoke up the garage and not stay running. One step at a time. Thanks for everyone's help. Have a good day. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Doctor 1,967 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 When running on gas, open the throttle with the nuts loose on the nozzles until fuel is coming from all four lines. Lock down all the nuts, open throttle wide open and switch the lever from gas to diesel. It should run on diesel now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mudfly 196 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 1 hour ago, lbg57 said: Well guys I finally got it to run on the gas side. That magneto I bought off eBay that was supposed to be completely rebuilt turned out to be a POS. I had gotten another off eBay as a spare that the guy said worked when taken off. Was not rebuilt or any new parts. Put that one on & it took right off. Finally. I will see about sending that other one out for repair if I can find someone who still does that. Tried switching it over to diesel but all it would do is smoke up the garage and not stay running. One step at a time. Thanks for everyone's help. Have a good day. check out Rebuiltmags.com Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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