Ford 600 running rough

I have a 1956 Ford 600 tractor. I had it rebuilt 8-10 years ago. It has ran great since. I was plowing snow the other day, and it started acting like it wasn't running full power. It had a different sound in the muffler. Less power too. It seems to have good spark. I took the coil wire off at the distributor and there is a lot of spark. I take one plug wire off at a time at the plugs and it dies down. I changed the plugs and re-gapped them. I try to check the coil Ohms but I'm not getting anything, but like I mentioned I seem to have a lot of spark. I looked at the points and used an emery file and just lightly touched them up. I was going to buy a new coil and set of wires for it, but the guy at the parts store said I wouldn't just buy a lot of parts, get a Mechanic out to look at it. That is easier said than done these days. Any suggestions from people who have had this same situation? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Pull the air cleaner tube off the carb and see if it runs better. Yhe air cleaner tube could be full of mud and water/ice
 
I have a 600 also, and sometime ago it
started acting up just like yours, and
I replaced the coil and fixed my problem.
Coils are not that expensive.
I am sure others will chime in and add
their thoughts.
 
Reid, first of all, you have a great parts guy at your auto supply.
Second, If what Old said, didn't change anything, go back to the distributor and check the gap on the points. They should be .025. If the rubbing block on the points gets worn down and the point gap is too close, you will see spark, but it's a weak spark under compression.
As for the coil, in my experience when they go bad, it's usually after running for 10 minutes or so, but they work well up until then.
Let us know what you find.
 
Check that the points open the same at all 4 lobe of the distributor. Also while this is not a nice way to find a problem fire it up and grab the distributor cap. If you get a zap when you do that then the cap need to be replace because it has a crack in it. I learned the hard way back when I was 18 howto find a bad distributor cap which is what I just said to do
 


Running fine then this happened while plowing snow? It is possible there was enough snow blowing around as you were plowing to get the cap and wires damp, allowing some shorting. Look inside the cap for moisture. There are a number of products sold to help alleviate this problem. Gunk. Permatex, CRC all make specific products to help with ignition system drying. Just a thought having had that problem.
 
(quoted from post at 21:44:30 01/25/23) Check that the points open the same at all 4 lobe of the distributor. Also while this is not a nice way to find a problem fire it up and grab the distributor cap. If you get a zap when you do that then the cap need to be replace because it has a crack in it. I learned the hard way back when I was 18 howto find a bad distributor cap which is what I just said to do
That sounds like a painful way to find out. Lol Thank you
 
Yes it can be painful but some time it is about the only way to know for sure. Feels a lot like grabbing an electric fence. Some times you can fire it up in the dark and see sparks jumping around on the cap or wires
 
(quoted from post at 20:44:05 01/25/23) Yes it can be painful but some time it is about the only way to know for sure. Feels a lot like grabbing an electric fence. Some times you can fire it up in the dark and see sparks jumping around on the cap or wires

Watching the distributor and spark plug wires in the dark while the engine is running should allow you to see the arcs to ground that indicate bad components without having to shock yourself.
 
(quoted from post at 03:32:54 01/26/23)
(quoted from post at 20:44:05 01/25/23) Yes it can be painful but some time it is about the only way to know for sure. Feels a lot like grabbing an electric fence. Some times you can fire it up in the dark and see sparks jumping around on the cap or wires

Watching the distributor and spark plug wires in the dark while the engine is running should allow you to see the arcs to ground that indicate bad components without having to shock yourself.
good idea checking in the dark, forgot about doing that. I did check just now in the dark, didn't see any arcs anywhere on the tractor. Thank you.
 
I checked in the dark this morning, no arcs. I will look at points again. Actually going to try another coil and points, rotor today. Thank you for the ideas.
 
Have you checked fuel flow and fuel filters? I'd look at fuel for loosing power more than spark which you say is good.
If you want to test plug wires looking in the dark is good and you can also mist them with a spray bottle of water and a little dish soap to see if they are bad.
 
(quoted from post at 18:03:38 01/26/23) Have you checked fuel flow and fuel filters? I'd look at fuel for loosing power more than spark which you say is good.
If you want to test plug wires looking in the dark is good and you can also mist them with a spray bottle of water and a little dish soap to see if they are bad.
I just ordered new ignition kit, spark plug wires and a distributor cap. I took carb apart and cleaned it . Everything looked good. Good gas flow. Thank you .

This post was edited by Reid Johnson on 01/26/2023 at 11:43 am.
 

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