Check your ground

[tinnerjohn]

As you know, I have been pulling what's left of my hair out trying to figure out why I had. power to the points but no spark. Turns out the rusty battery box wasn't allowing a ground between the battery and engine! The fact that it had been running good made that the last thing I thought of. I even bought another coil, replaced the plugs and points (that didn't hurt but didn't fix it). Now I just need to get the distributor (I even pulled the one of the LoBoy I don't use) back in the proper orientation. The sad part was it was my 12 year old Grandson who suggested the ground, "Grandpa the ground doesn't look too good, do you want me to try to clean it?" Gotta love em!

John

[staninlowerAL]

GOTTA LOVE IT!!! I'll soon be 81 and learn something new just about every day. Stan

[ajhbike]

Thanks for putting that out there....I am pretty sure I would have been stumped too and I doubt I would have checked that...why would I if there is power forward. It is on my list now!

[tinnerjohn]

I found/verified by checking continuity between the battery and the distributor.

[NJ Farmer]

The vast majority of electrical problems with these tractors can be traced back to poor grounding and corrosion. As I have stated before I use dielectric grease on all connections that require a ground return. Battery terminals and wire connections/grounds all get covered with a thin coat of Dow Corning DC-4 and I never have continuity problems…..ever.

NJ Farmer

[inairam]

I use AWG2 flat braid cable to the bottom of the batter box and conductive grease on the cable terminal and the bare area around the hole in the batter box. I use dielectric grease on the battery and starter connections and if it has it has it solenoid connections.

[SONNY]

Not original, BUT I ran ground direct to engine block on mine. Extra long cable but its a biggie and so far it been working. Course mine is 12-v and that helps but still the original location sucks.

[tinnerjohn]

I didn't know about the di-electric grease when I put the Cub back together years ago, since an electrician told me about it 3-4 years ago I've been using it on almost all electrical connections, even a couple light bulbs in the house that wanted to seize up. Finally tracked it down this afternoon to a voltage drop somewhere in the dash, either the ammeter or light switch, Got the garden disced using a jumper from the battery to the coil, When I get the garden done I'm going to pull the hood back off and check everything. I want to thank everyone again for their advice!

John