21 replies to this topic

[Husky]

  Oil wont cause any thing to short out clean oil is an insulator. oil on the points could cause pore and intermittent contact. Condenser can also cause week spark. Don

Bummer, well I'm going to clean it all up anyway. The points are new but I'm not so sure about the condenser. I may replace that when I put it back together. There is not much else that can be wrong with this system. I noticed when it died last Fall that the coil was almost too hot to touch. I tried replacing the coil.

[Husky]

I got the points done and it started and backfires out the exhaust and won't stay running. The coil gets too hot to touch. Not sure what's going on now....the old coil got very hot last year

[29 Chev]

You may have a partially shorted condenser - if you did not replace it I would try that and see if it starts and runs.

[Husky]

You may have a partially shorted condenser - if you did not replace it I would try that and see if it starts and runs.

Thank you chev I'm ordering all new points condenser and correct coil with internal resistor. Being a battery ignition there's nothing else to replace. I hope it works.

[29 Chev]

Usually when a coil gets hot with the engine not running it is because the negative side of the coil is being grounded the same way the points ground it when they are closed.  With the engine running (or cranking) the coil circuit is constantly being turned on and off by the points opening and closing and as a result the coil windings have a chance to cool. The wire going from the negative side of the coil to the points could be touching on metal somewhere and grounding out - it could even be where the wire enters the points box if it is an insulation and stud set up the same as the TRA10D is.  You could try disconnecting the wire on the negative side of the coil that goes to the points and then hooking one of the leads of an ohm meter to the wire and the other ohmmeter lead to ground.  If the points are closed the reading should be 0 ohms resistance and then rotate the engine by hand until they open and observe the reading on the ohmmeter - with the points open the capacitor will charge and then the meter reading should be infinite if everything is working properly.  This test is not fool proof as the voltage the ohmmeter provides may not be high enough to cause the capacitor to break down the way it may with 12 volts if the capacitor is bad.  If you get the engine running also check the voltage of the charging circuit as sometimes a bad regulator can make the voltage go too high and damage a coil as well.  Normal voltage should be between 13.8 and 14.2 volts on a properly operating system with the engine revved up.  One other thing to check is to make sure you are getting a good voltage reading at the positive side of the coil - a bad switch can provide good voltage in the run position but may not be providing the same voltage in the start position.  

[Husky]

Hi Chev this is great information. I've got a new points set, condenser, plug, wire and correct coil with internal resistor. I will replace everything and then run some tests. Especially the regular and switch tests. It would be nice to have things running right again. I'll let you know how things turn out.

[Husky]

I can put this one to rest. Upon very close inspection I found that there was a small rip in the wire insulation on the condenser. Being such a TINY points box on that 1250 I'm sure it was intermittently shorting out on the engine block. I ordered all original Wisconsin parts which included a coil, plug, wire, points set. I got everything installed and adjusted the points using a meter. The tractor runs very well now. It's nice to have it back.

 

Just a quick thank you to Bolens Parts and Supplies for his quick turn around time on orders placed. Our sponsers here great. I've bought from several over the years. 

 

So, the points setup on this 1250 is a nightmare. There is almost no room to install a set of points and condenser in the tiny box on the side of the engine. There's a small copper grounding strip that is near impossible to install onto the points and hold it all together when trying to secure the points onto the engine block. The Bolens engineer who came up with that design was out to lunch. Here's a couple pictures of the points box before I replaced the points. 

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