Tim Rollins

I bought a 1950 Ford 8n about a month ago and just got it running last weekend. Yah! It took a lot of work and trips to the part store, especially for someone who is not a mechanic. It seems to run ok for about 10 mn but then dies when it gets hot. It sounds like it runs out of gas. I can keep it running for a little while if I pull the choke out, but still dies in a min or two. I'm not sure if I have a carb problem or if its getting too hot. The coolant in the radiator is hot, so I would assume that it is circulating? It has side mount distributor. New plugs, wires, points, condensor, coil, battery, and fuel to the carb. It also smokes a little, white smoke if that helps. Any help would be appreciated, cause my wife is gonna kill me if I don't get the field mowed!!! Thanks

Fordfarm

Have you done any carb work? There are also three fuel filters on an 8N, make sure all are clean. If it isn't a fuel problem, check the points. Another good thing to check is the oil bath air cleaner. Make sure it is clean and has oil in it.

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Fordfarm
http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/

"Progress stops when you can no longer improve your property, for fear of the tax burden it would bring..."

tractor beam

Fordfarm, in addition to your suggestions, could it be vaporlocking too? I've had trouble in this area before in my life. Just wondering if this should be considered.

Fordfarm

It could also be something simle as a non venting cap and the went tube for the tank being blocked.......

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Fordfarm
http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/

"Progress stops when you can no longer improve your property, for fear of the tax burden it would bring..."

tractor beam

I had a 1947 Checy truck when I was a bit younger.......(11 years old) and it would vapor lock all the time. I had a really old guy at that time tell me to put several clothes pins on the steel line. I had recalled seeing older vehicles when I was a kid, that had clothes line pins on the fuel line so I tried it and I'll be if it didn't work! I never understood how or why, but it solved the vapor lock on my old truck.

Tim Rollins

I cleaned the fuel system out and took the carb apart. The carb looked really clean, but I spent about an hour makin sure it was spotless. There was quite a bit of junk in the sediment bowl so I cleaned it out and made sure all the filters were clean. I put some more gas in it, and from what I could see there was a lot of stuff in the tank. I put everything back together and it fired right up and ran good. I let it run for about 5min and it seemed ok. I might have to clean the gas tank out. The real test will be tomorrow when I fire it up and try to mow. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Smarterthanfox

good luck with the 8n, they usually run very well so when you find the problem it will make you happy with it. One thing that gave me much trouble when the engine got warm was a bad condenser that is in the distributor if you have a battery ignition. This condenser would form a short when it got hot but would work ok when it was cold. Only a test of it while hot revealed the short. By then I had many many new parts on the engine that I probably didn't need.

Tim Rollins

The tractor ran ok today. It still doesn't run so well when it gets hot. For about 3 min when you start it from cold it runs like a top! After it warms up it starts to sound like it has a miss. Smokes quite a bit. Don't know if I might have to rebuild the engine. I took the plugs out and cleaned them up. I think its running rich, it doesn't have the original carb on it. I've tried tinkering with it, and it seems to be set the way that runs the best but I still don't like it. Replaced the radiator cap cause it didn't seem to be holding pressure, then went back to the parts store for some stop leak after it did pressurize. Nearly chopped my finger off while flushing out the radiator, turns out that the fan blade is a little closer to the bottom hose than I thought. Replaced the hyd fluid, it looked like melted vanilla ice cream. I also spent at least 3hrs today out in the hot sun tryin to get the pto workin right. It finally ended up with the piece I took off of it back on but with a much shinier bolt holding it together. Problem was that I didn't have a nut for that particular bolt. 3hrs of work and I only took about a half step backwards so all in all it was a fairly productive day. I did manage to make a few turns around the field in the last few minutes of daylight. It mowed ok, I have a few kinks to work out, but it seems like it should have more power. Should a 8n bog down in tall thick grass with a 5ft bush hog on it?? Well, I will have some pictures tomorrow of what happened when the day ended and I thought I should make one more lap around the field before I headed in.

tractor beam

Does it by chance have a heat riser in the manifold. If it does, it could be sticking.

Tim Rollins

I'm not sure, there is no extra piece between the carb and manifold. I don't really know what a heat riser is, I googled it, and it looks like it would be another piece.

Tim Rollins

This is why that one last lap when it was gettin to dark was really a bad idea!!

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tractor beam

Ouch! Not sure what happened there. Not sure if your tractor has one or not, but many of the carbed engines had a flapper that, when cold, the flap allows hot exaust from the exhaust manifold to warm up the intake manifold just below the carb, until the engine warms up, and the flapper is thermastatically closed off. They have a thermastatic coil attached to the flapper shaft running through the exhaust manifold and often have a weight to ensure that the flap closes upon warm up. You could have one or maybe not. Sounds like you needs some headlights on that!

tractor beam

Tim, here's a picture of a heat riser on a Chevrolet 235, from which I am familiar with. This photo shows the basic idea behind the principle.

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Tim Rollins

No, pretty sure there is no heat riser on it. There is nothin like that around that intake or carb or manifold. Yeah, I need lights. They're on there, I just haven't wired them up yet. You can't tell from the pic, but before I trampled it all down the grass was just as tall as the stump. I hit it and the front end rode up and over, then it caught the run board and turned it up and caught on the rear axle. I was lucky though, all it really done was to damage the running board. I straightened it out well enough to mow with. I'll have to take it to work and heat it up to get it back right.

tractor beam

Must've jolted ya pretty good!

buffalow2

i had a 8N ford that the coil would heat up & allmost quit sparking . would die & not start still had weak spark.
let it cool down spark just fine, start right up & run till all warmed up

Smarterthanfox

Gosh! Better read the statistics for most dangerous occupations. I think you said you were using a brush hog. A simple mis application of the equipment. You need deforestation equipment with stump jumping capabilities. I am afraid of what you will try if you get it running good! I am trying to find some humor here I hope you know.

Tim Rollins

Yeah, I've got 10.5 acres that need cleared off. I think me and the N can take 'em down one at a time. I'll probably break before it does.