Archive through April 13, 2005

[dkamp]

David- if you have power at the points, and the engine block ground path is good, there're only two things left that'll prevent you from having spark at the plug:

1) ignition coil bad
2) contact points aren't opening and closing

Remove the point cover, turn the engine 'till the points are closed, Remove plug, ground it firmly to the block, turn on ignition, and open points by hand- a chopstick works well for this. If the points open, and no spark, coil is bad. MAKE SURE, however, that the points actually closed, and ignore what the service manual says about point-gap- that measurement is only valid if the engine is new, and there's no camshaft point-lobe wear. The proper way is to set the contact points to begin opening when the "S" mark passes by the flywheel timing-mark inspection window (in the flywheel shroud). The timing mark is usually NEXT_TO_IMPOSSIBLE to see, so plan on having a good flashlight and a 5-gallon bucket to sit on while you hand turn the flywheel a little-at-a-time. Best way is to find the compression point, and look around from there (timing mark isn't at bottom-dead-center, obviously).

If it ran yesterday, and no parts or oil came out, it'll run tomorrow too.

Did you, perchance, clean the contacts of those points before you put 'em in? If not, do- they come coated with some kind'a crud that's a better dielectric than conductor... usually takes an alcohol swap to clean 'em to good working-order.

So far, you're not impressed, but with wide-frames, you will be, and there's not a darned thing you can do about it!

 

[ddillon]

Dave, I was hoping you would respond, and yes I put in a new coil and left the points cover off to look for spark there, and no I didn't scrape of the crud on the contacts, I will try that tomorrow I would tonight but I am working at the Fire Dept till 0600 and more ideas?

 

[rchristensen]

David Dillon
Well you impressed me that you changed all of those items, although I don't know what a starter/generator would have to do with spark, unless the engine wasn't turning over.

Sounds to me like you have a bad connection somewhere or wired up incorrectly. Sometimes when swaping parts you can accidently move a wire.

Some more information might be good, like did the previous owner have it tore down, did he paint it. You almost have to start at square one and assume something could be wrong from the previous owner.

Do you have a manual or another running cub to use for reference? I would clean all of the connections and check correct routing. Check the wire from the coil to the points and make sure it is not shorting out somewhere. Is the area that the points are mounted clean and not painted or rusted. Are the points set correctly and are they opening when you turn the engine over. Are the parts you installed new, known good or what?

An engine problem has nothing to do with wide frame, narrow frame, or quietline, they all work the same.

Just take your time and go over everything again looking for poor grounds, bad connections, broken or shorted wires, and correct wiring and I'll bet you will find something, providing the parts you installed are all good.

Good luck.

 

[ddillon]

Richard,

Thanks for the inspiriaiton, the former owner sandblasted and repainted all items, I took a working coil from my 70 and used as a first try and it wouldn't spark, I checked the safety switch under the tractor, the points open and close fine and just early today I had spark and don't know where it went, the battey became weak and I jumped it with a jump box and still nothing I replaced the starter generator because the old one would not turn fast enough. I don't know where to check for an engine ground as Dave K mentioned. Your help and the help of this forum are great. Thanks again

 

[farmall gray]

Richard E,
The 85410 filter is different from the 85084. The wix version of the 85410 would be a 51410. I work at a NAPA store and wix makes our filters and the #s are similar. Our #s are 1410 and 1084.
The 1084 has a hex on the end and is the one the catalog lists for hydro applications. The 1410
crosses from the CC # but I don't think it is correct. The funny thing is the 1410 is labled
a hydraulic filter and the 1084 is labled an oil filter. But I believe the 1410 has an anti-drainback valve and a bypass. I'll have to do a little more reasearch on this. But I figured it was better to go by the filter mfr's recommendation than to go by cross reference. I have been running the 1084s for about 5 yrs with no problems. I do run OEM kohler air and oil filters though.

 

[cfischer]

Hey guys, I popped the panel off to take a look at the two valves the strange lever was supposed to activate, and this is what I found, its about 30 years of grime. It looks like something is leaking fluid somewhere and collecting dust, but I'm not sure, probably one of those two valves. So what I was thinking was that I would spray it all down with some brake cleaner and then drive it a while and see if I can't determine where its coming from if it is indeed leaking. After thirty years though I would probably expect something to leak right?

Also that little plastic fan is missing a blade, probably a critical item right? So how do you replace that one? Oh, and if you notice that some past master electrition was in there too and taped up the posative leed from the battery. Oh, and don't get me started on the battery, the guy has it wedged in there with some wooden blocks, so I'll be getting the correct hold down for it. Anyone know if they make a sealed battery that size? My buddy had an optima sealed battery in his rover and drove on it for like 3 days before he realized the he hadn't reconnected the alternator. Thats an amazing battery.

 

[digger]

Chuck F.
Would you like me to answer your questions again here or will my answer on the Yahooie board be good enough?

 

[rabrown]

Myron Bounds and Roland Bedell: Thanks guys. You diagnosed my problem. I have the gray wire and lt. blue wire reversed at the regulator. Also, I need to move the lt. blue wire over to the s/g side on the starter solonoid. I hope my previous wiring error has not damaged anything, like the s/g or regulator. The regulator was a new one. points still look fine in it. Thanks again for the advice and wiring diagram.

 

[dkamp]

Chuck- pardon me for saying so, but something tells me your driveshaft is about an inch too short... that rag-joint won't last too long...

And by the way... THAT hydrostat ain't grimey... it's still identifyable as a hydrostat!

 

[tcbusch]

David Dillon,
Take the plug out of the head. Hold it against the head on a non-painted area. Take the wire off the coil that goes to the points. Connect a temporary wire to the coil where you removed the points wire. Turn the key on and lock the brakes. Now take the other end of the temporary wire and tap it against the engine. As soon as you pull the wire away the plug should spark. If you don't have a spark then the motor isn't grounded or the coil is bad. To check the engine ground move the spark plug to a frame member or something other than the motor. Now tap the temporary wire to the frame and check for spark. If no spark the coil is likely bad. If it does there is a connection or bad connection issue with the points.

REMEMBER!
Turn the gas off and don't spark anywhere close to the gas tank pr carburetor.

 

[rmunday]

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

And by the way... THAT hydrostat ain't grimey... it's still identifyable as a hydrostat!

<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

LMAO! I saw one at PD that was just square. It had so much gunk and grime on it when it was pulled. It was just a green and black block.

 

[cfischer]

No Digger, your answer was quite thorough on the yahoo board. Thank you! I didn't even know that rag joint was bad, thanks for pointing that out, how can you tell? I would have never known... man I love the Internet!

Quick one for you guys, I live real close to R. F. HOUTZ & SON INC. They have a lot of tractors in their yard. My father has an old Case 446 that he keeps because his dad bought it for him. However it has a really lame manual PTO clutch that he's always fussing with. I was wondering if you guys think it would be possible to adapt a Cub PTO to it? It runs an onan 18 horse motor. I never liked that case, and after using this cub 1250 for the first time this week, I gotta say, its miles above the case in quality!

Thanks for all the help guys... hey Digger, don't take an offense to this, but who needs 25 garden tractors? I mean, come on? 25? that seems like a bit much doesn't it? Man, when you get into something you really get into it! I could see maybe having two, but 25... thats awesome! Which one is your favorite? Do you have a 1250? I always told my wife I wanted 17 cars, but with gas prices the way they are right now... 25 garden tractors... man I'm still shaking my head. I'd love to have a fleet like that. Of course, I'd have to live on a sod farm to really get to use all of them, but that is pretty cool.

I’m just kidding around with you Digger,
Thanks again everyone!
Chuck

 

[dkamp]

Chuck- Charlie's got 25 gardens!!!

 

[digger]

Chuck F.
I know a young guy that has in excess of 50 Cubs and another guy that has 73 at last count, LOL
I've sold many of mine off, I was up to 42 a while back.
You see, you have to have a Cub for every attachment, yea that's it, grin
I have 2 1250's right now, one manual lift and one with hydraulic.
The 1450 is my mainstay though. next to the 1650,149,169and the 800.

On the rag joint, yours is mashed down and not doing what it should be doing as far as flexing.
Here's what 2 good one's or I should say better one's look like.

 

[digger]

Dave K,
Ya know, I do wear out one tiller about every 2 years, good thing I have 3, that way I can slack off a little between re-builds. They are great tillers but I don't think they were meant to till about 2 miles every year, LOL
And it's also a good thing that main shaft bearings and seals are only $37.00.

 

[rchristensen]

David Dillon
New paint looks good but it sure can mess with the ground system. Since your engine bolts directly to the frame it gets its ground that way. The condensor gets its ground through the sheet metal on the engine. The points need a good clean non painted area for mounting. Any place paint gets in the way you loose conduction.

 

[wheinsohn]

Chuck F.,
I started out with one, a 106, but then thought it would be nice to have 2 mowers to get the lawn mowed faster when I lacked time during the week. The problem was that the 2nd unit was a 109 with a 12 hp engine in it. That hydro became my main mowing unit and cut the mowing time by 1/3 alone. But then I thought it would be nice to have a 2nd hydro to mow with and bought another 129 and put a 50" deck on it. Well that 50" deck cut the mowing time some more. Then I bought a tiller and the 109 became the designated tiller tractor. Then I got offered a 1650 with 44" deck, snowthrower, and canvas cab enclosure. For the price, I could not pass it up. I then bought a Brinly plow so the 1650 is now the designated plowing and snowthrowing tractor. And then came a 169 chassis with 50" deck without an engine. I found a 14hp engine and put it in. I now have a back up unit for either for a 2nd mower, or to back up the 1650 incase it goes down for some reason. And it does make a nice 2nd plow unit for plow days. And the 106, I put a blade on it in the winter and just a yard work tractor during the spring and summer. So you see, one tractor turns into 5 in a real big hurry. And that doesn't include the 2- 129, 2- 123, 127, 70, and 125 that I fixed up and had to sell when I was unemployed for a while.

 

[jhines]

Good morning everyone...New guy here.

I have been given a 124 with added hydraulics and several attachments. I would like to know the year of this tractor. The Number is: 298075
These numbers came from the the very back on a metal tag. Thanks
Jeff

 

[digger]

Jeff H,
Check the FAQ page link above, it has tons of info your going to need.

 

[kfass]

I decided to change the hydraulic fluid and filter on my 107 this weekend. When I went to do so, I discovered that there is no drain plug(?) Did they eliminate it on the 107? I'm pretty sure some of the other models had drain plugs.

Anyway I ended up just changing the filter and replacing what little fluid drained out when I removed it.

Thoughts anyone?