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Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:21 pm
by Dances With Cubs
After a bit of tinkering last night and today, I'm happy to say I have a running tractor! :{_}: :{_}: :{_}: The '48 Cub fired right up, no fuss, no muss, after simply replacing coil, rotor and plugs, but I suspect it was the plugs that were the issue. One was way out of gap and the others were pretty well fouled. Pulled starter lever and it fired by first revolution, I think. :D

Here's a video of the first crank after the work was done:



Here's a pic of it running

Image

Ok, issues presently:

1. High oil pressue. I saw another thread on that already, so I will read up on that and see what it says. Needle all the way to the far side of guage. :shock:

2. High engine rpm. Engine doesn't seem to want to change speed. I thought it was a bit high and tried to bring it down, but throttle linkage not wanting to move.

3. Ammeter showing negative, but that may be normal after cranking for the first time; battery had been used for a lot of cranking attempts over the past 4 days. Just slightly south of 0, so it might rectify itself after running a bit. Or... charging system woes.

If anyone has any tips and tricks they want to share at this point, I'm all ears.

This is the previous thread on this tractor:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=78141

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:45 pm
by birddog
Congrats on getting it running. The fast idle is probably the governor linkage sticking. It could be something else but when they set for a while the governor is the likely culprit. If the charging system is working the gauge should show a charge, especially if you had been cranking on it some. There are a lot of good threads out there on the charging system also.

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:49 pm
by Mike in Louisiana
Ok, issues presently:

3. Ammeter showing negative, but that may be normal after cranking for the first time; battery had been used for a lot of cranking attempts over the past 4 days. Just slightly south of 0, so it might rectify itself after running a bit. Or... charging system woes.

If anyone has any tips and tricks they want to share at this point, I'm all ears.

Did you polarize the generator? if not try that

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:54 pm
by Dances With Cubs
Birddog, you're right, I had that backwards. Ammeter should have shown a charge. I'll need to pull the hood off so I can get to everything soon. I am moving next week so I will probably wait until I get to the new house to do any serious repairs, serious meaning anything that might involve removing hood or other components... With the amount of corrosion on these wires I will need to check to see if the all the circuits are complete. Thanks!

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:55 pm
by Dances With Cubs
Mike, I have heard of polarizing a generator but have no clue how to do it...

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:35 pm
by Barnyard
Dances With Cubs wrote:Mike, I have heard of polarizing a generator but have no clue how to do it...

Check out this link in the How To forum. It will tell you everything you need to know about polarizing your generator. http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=11804

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 7:03 pm
by VinceD
Congrats on getting it running. :D :D

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 7:48 pm
by Tezell
I like it! :D :D

Spray some kroil on all the linkages and around the govener spring and just work it back and forth a little bit and it might loosen up a bit.

It sounds pretty good. I sure do enjoy hearing them run after they have been sitting for years.

Keep us posted.

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 8:16 pm
by cottonpicker
[quote="Dances With Cubs"]

1. High oil pressue. I saw another thread on that already, so I will read up on that and see what it says. Needle all the way to the far side of guage. :shock:

Congratulations on the running cub, it is fun is it not I just got my 5 th to fairly well run in the past two months.

On your concern about the statement quoted above. Is this the original gauge, is it marked in psig or just the painted low, normal and high sector?
Those types of gauges are mass produced and inherantly inaccurate, like 10 or percent. I would suggest getting a new gauge, to double check the actual pressure. Those type gauges can be recalibrated, but the test equipment is expensive, so replacement is the norm in industry. I have some questionable gauges, I intend to attempt to check their calibration in the future, because of originalaty

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:29 am
by Matt Kirsch
One check you can make on the generator is to ground the F terminal to the tractor frame with a jumper wire, while it is running. If the generator starts charging at full-tilt with the F terminal grounded, you've got a regulator/cutout issue.

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 9:58 am
by Super A
On Farmalls, the oil pressure gauge "pegged" is always a good thing in my book....

Al

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 2:24 pm
by ntrenn
Gage pegged - new filter and clean the filter housing by chasing all the gunk out the bottom of the housing.
Generator not charging - in addition to the polarizing, clean ALL the contacts in the circuit - from inside the genny to the external posts, to the regulator. One high resistance connection will keep it from charging.
When you have the hood off - you need to lube and free the governor bellcrank just below the genny. careful, it's cast and will break, but with lots of patience and deep creep it will free up and stay free for your lifetime.

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 12:03 am
by Dances With Cubs
I had some free time today so I got "Elsie" out of the garage and cranked her up. Started right up, very smooth. This time I left it running for 20 minutes. It was fully warmed up in 10 minutes, and rechecking the oil pressure it backed down to the midrange. Likely a bit of sludge was blocking oil galleys earlier. At one point the ammeter seemed to move to the charge side, but not for long. Very well could be corroded connectors or bad wires. Virtually all the wiring on the tractor is in bad shape and needs replacing. Alas, it will have to wait until I move; I'm packing up now to move so I don't want to remove the hood and components until I have a safe and secure workplace again. The throttle linkage is still stuck but I'm spraying it with PB Blaster every other day. Hopefully it will be free soon.

The puzzling thing for now is a constant stream of coolant from the radiator overflow tube. My guess is the radiator cap is shot, so that is next.

I will be moving May 9 or thereabouts, so I will hold off on further repairs until then. But any ideas/suggestions you have, keep 'em coming!

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 6:12 am
by Tezell
Too much coolant in the radiator. It will blow out the excess and get to it's proper level. They do that. On just about all of mine if I can see the coolant it is a little too full. You probably ran it enough for it to correct itself.

Re: Got A Running Tractor!!!!

Posted: Sun May 05, 2013 8:14 am
by Billy Fussell
What Tezell said. Mine pukes out what it don't want, and is satisfied when the level gets to the 'right' level.