73 IH dump truck quite.

[nastcat]

I have been on here before about my lastest project, an old IH dump truck. Well, I figured out it is a 73 1910A Single axle with I believe a "549" mated to an automatic trans. When I bought the truck it wouldn't make air pressure. I fixed the compressor by cleaning it out the seeds that were sucked into the intake valves. Next the gas tank had a bottom like a sieve. Welded that up and yesterday put some gas in it, fired it up, took it for a ride. I had to shift it manually but it went through all the gears and after about a mile it quite. Just like if you had reached up and shut off the ignition. It squirts gas into the carb when you pump the throttle. I have spark at the points when I roll it over. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[beenthere]

The truck in this thread?
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,84757.msg1296193.html#msg1296193

[North River Energy]

Does the small spark at the points become a large spark at the plugs?
Your problem is likely something simple like a bad condenser, coil, or rotor. 
Or a loose wire somewhere. Or a sketchy ignition switch.
The shaft bushings on my 549 are worn such that the point gap varies all the time.
I converted to an electronic ignition just for giggles.

[Firewoodjoe]

Condenser I'd say. They coil should cool down and work. (Sometimes)

[snowstorm]

is it getting gas?? take the air cleaner off look into the carb while working the throttle. if its has gas in the carb you will see it squirt from the accelerator pump.  i went tru this with a 345 right after the gas went to e85. i changed 5 inline fuel filters within 20 min. finally it cleared up 

[snowstorm]

fire to the points dose not mean  you have fire to the plugs. uses a plug you know is good pull a wire connect to that plug ground it crank the motor  and look for a blue spark. there may be a balist resister . white porcelain 2 to 3 inchs long a wire on each end.. if that burns out it would only run while the starter is engaged 

[nastcat]

"beenthere" Yep thats the truck. Thanks everyone for the help I will do some checking this weekend and see if I can narrow it down. I will pull a plug wire and see if I have spark at the plug. I don't think there will be any, so I was hoping that someone would be able to point me towards a problem that would let there be spark at the points and not at the plug. If there is spark at the points, doesn't that mean that the coil is working?

[North River Energy]

^nope.  You can have a weak coil, and a weak condensor, and still have a small spark at the points.
In line with what Snowstorm said about a ballast resistor, check the voltage at the coil.

[nastcat]

Can I use a coil off a 80s car or will that not work?

[nastcat]

"North River Energy" how did you convert it to electronic ignition?

[North River Energy]

You can use any coil so long at it's similar in input voltage to the system in the truck.  Which is to say, some coils require an external ballast resistor to step the voltage down, while others have an internal resistor that does the same thing.
So pull the wire from the positive terminal of the coil, and measure the voltage with the key in the 'run' position.  If it's 12v or battery voltage, the truck has an internally ballasted coil.  If it's between 5 and 8 volts, the system has an external resistor.

Make sense?

As to the electronic conversion, I got busy with the lathe and modified the distributor shaft to take a trigger wheel from a Chrysler system. http://beckmannag.com/heavy-metal/ih-v220/ignition-upgrade I have several Dodge trucks and like parts to interchange across platforms.
Depending on distributor model, you might be able to use a Pertronix system without hassle.

[nastcat]

"North River Energy " thanks. Yes that makes sense and I probably will not invest the time to do a conversion, but you never know, it does sound interesting.

[John Woodworth]

after you check what   the others have suggested, have you checked the coil wire? If the truck should be using a non resistor coil also there are electronic conversions simple to install, Petronics (think that's rite) the brand I've been using that vary in price generally 70 to 130$ and are foolproof.

[Kbeitz]

If it has good spark then check the timing chain...

[snowstorm]

If it has good spark then check the timing chain...

dosent have a timing chain. has timing gears.

[nastcat]

Went back and put the points back in it after we reassembled them and rolled it over the spark at the points looked much brighter blue. We threw the distributor cap back on and it fired right up. I drove it home, still not happy. I am not sure why it quite the first time.

[North River Energy]

Have noticed in recent years that points have a tendency to 'gum up' with some sort of insulating oxide on the contact surfaces.  Clean it off and the points work as they should, but if you park the machine for awhile, particularly in areas of higher humidity, they'll tarnish up again and you get poor or no spark.
Odds are good you had a tiny area of contact, and then the points closed a little off to one side and then no go.
Just another reason to go electronic.

[nastcat]

"North River Energy" I would love to go electronic, but this is not a high priority vehicle. I have a hard time believing that the points are to blame when the truck was running down the road and the engine just quite without a sputter or a cough, but anything is possible. I want to thank everyone for their help and if I find out any more I will keep you posted.

[North River Energy]

I was kidding a little about the conversion. ;D  I did mine mostly for sport. Haven't run my v220 for years, and even then the neighbor has used it more than I have.
If I don't wrap the distributor on my old dozer with plastic when parked, guaranteed it won't start until I clean the points off.
And then it takes off like clockwork.

[whiskers]

 just quite without a sputter or a cough
Just another reason to go electronic. X2

sounds like electrical failure, possibly a loose ignition wire. intermittent voltage loss can be a bugger to find. You might straight wire it to be ready for the next time it quits.

solderless connectors can loosen over time.

check the nut that holds the steering wheel, they give any number of problems. :D

[nastcat]

"North River Energy" I did a little digging and looked up Pertronix electronic conversion kits like "John Woodworth" talked about earlier in this post and if I can figure out which kit goes to my distributor I might just get one. "whiskers" are you talking about wiring a line directly to the coil from the battery and putting in a switch of some kind to make sure there is juice on the coil if this happens again? When we put the points back on we did find a solderless conection that was some what loose, but it looked very clean. When the truck shut down we coasted a good 75 yards, the alt guage was showing a positive 13 volts or better. I believe the motor was still rolling over " automatic trans". I flipped the ignition switch off and back on several times no split, or sputter, nothing.

[North River Energy]

I seem to recall there might have been at least 3 different distributors for that engine, depending on application.  Yours is later production, so that might simplify your search.

[nastcat]

Pertronix ask you to get the number off the distbutor and see if they can match it to the right kit. I'm not one hundred percent positive that it is a 549, that is what I was told, but the owner wasn't sure. I am going the try and confirm the engine identification.

[North River Energy]

Now that you mention it, '73 does seem a little late for that size engine?

[whiskers]

if you straight wire it beforehand it'll be in place when it quits again, saves figuring it out on the roadside. you may want to pull a wire from the solenoid to engage the starter. make sure it's in park, it'll start in any position.

those old wires are brittle and oxidized, easy to loose continuity at any connection.