MF 135 Problems

My father has a 135 with the Perkins 3 cylinder and decided to bring it home from our farm to do a tuneup. He bought a new points/condenser/rotor button, plug wires, and plugs. After installing all of that the tractor would barely run if at all. While messing around I noticed that the new rotor button was a different size than the old one. I went and got all new points/condenser/rotor button from a better brand with the right size button this time and a new coil. This is a tractor that has the newer heads on it so it takes longer spark plugs which he has the right size. The tractor will not run if I have the spark plugs to go in the proper firing order of 1,2,3. It will backfire and that's about it. Now if I take the spark plug wires and put them on the distributor cap to run in the order of 1,3,2 it will start and run but not very good. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks for reading this.

Was it running ok before the tune up? If the distributor has been removed before it probably could not be in right, to check pull the number 1 plug, and bump the engine over with the starter until you feel compression on the cylinder (unhook the coil wire first). With the number 1 cylinder on the compression stroke look at where the rotor is pointing, it should be pointing towards the number 1 cylinder (closest to the radiator). The distributor should turn clockwise. If the distributor is in right try putting the old rotor, cap, or condenser back on, only try one thing at a time so you can see what the culprit is. I have had brand new condensers that were bad right out of the box so don't assume because it's brand new that it's good!

Hmmmm. My dad told me the distributor turned counter clockwise. Thought he told me he read it in a book. That would explain why it runs a bit when i switch those 2 spark plug wires.

You could take the distributor cap off, and crank the engine over to make sure which way the distributor turns.

Ok here is a video of me trying to start it
with the correct firing order. It will not
fire.
Trying to fire it up

Here is the second video of it starting
with nothing being changed except the 2 and
3 wires on the distributor cap. The
distributor turns counter clockwise.
It starts in this video

I expect you have your plugs gapped at 0.025 (25 thousandths) not .0025 (2-1/2 thousandths) and the points at 0.021 not .0021, as you posted with your video.

I expect you may have done many of these things but sometimes it is good to get a direct answer, rather than expect or assume it was done. Also sometimes a question brings to light one of those "Why did I do that moments", been there and done that. So, to review:

1. Was it running reasonably well before you did the tune up?
2. If not, what were the symptoms?
3. Did you move the distributor while doing the tune up?
4. You said the first rotor button was different. Is your new cap identical to the old one? If the relationship of the terminals to the mounting screws is different it would throw timing off if you didn t move the distributor to compensate.
5. Did you have all the wires off the cap and plugs at the same time and are you sure you have them back in the same positions in the cap and on the plugs they were originally?
6. You did visually check the rotor rotation direction to confirm CCW?
7. If you moved the distributor, how did you confirm you have #1 on compression stroke when the timing marks lined up (12 degrees BTDC for static timing)? [When running timing is set with a timing light at 26 degrees BTDC at 2000 rpm and above.]
8. Have you checked the timing with a timing light while it is running?

Usually on engines with distributors they normally set the number 1 plug wire at the cap pointing to the number 1 spark plug.


I'd pull the number 1 plug, put the number 1 cylinder on the compression stroke (you maybe able to see the top of the piston through the spark plug hole) then see where the rotor is pointing.

(quoted from post at 20:51:38 02/25/20) My father has a 135 with the Perkins 3 cylinder and decided to bring it home from our farm to do a tuneup. He bought a new points/condenser/rotor button, plug wires, and plugs. After installing all of that the tractor would barely run if at all. While messing around I noticed that the new rotor button was a different size than the old one. I went and got all new points/condenser/rotor button from a better brand with the right size button this time and a new coil. This is a tractor that has the newer heads on it so it takes longer spark plugs which he has the right size. The tractor will not run if I have the spark plugs to go in the proper firing order of 1,2,3. It will backfire and that's about it. Now if I take the spark plug wires and put them on ithe distributor cap to run in the order of 1,3,2 it will start and run but not very good. If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks for reading this.

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Uncle has Industrial 20 with exactly same issue. It ran when parked,wouldn t start and said tractor had no spark. I get there new point installed so I gapped, switched plug wires to new gap and no start with sounded like backfire. Tractor is nightmare with loader on it . No firing order cast on block and can t find timing marks on flywheel. Points were burnt bad as had wrong non resister ignition coil on it. Any solution to yours?