Allyn in OK
Member
I got a D15 gas at a consignment auction Sat. It started good but ran like it was misfiring so I looked at the plugs and they were rusty and cruddy. Also looked at the points and they were almost closed so set them to .022. I checked the plug wire positions before removing the cap and 1 & 2 were nearest the radiator. I did NOT remove the distributor and did NOT remove plug wires from the cap. Checked the compression and all cylinders are good. After installing new spark plugs and carefully indexing the dust shield, rotor and cap when installing, 1 & 2 were nearest the radiator again so connected the wires for CW distributor rotation. The engine would not start. When cranked with the #1 plug and distributor cap removed, rotor was pointing away from the radiator with #1 coming up on compression. I once had a D17 slip timing due to the gear on the governor shaft slipping (key wore out) so decided to sleep on it before proceeding. More checking yesterday and decided the distributor must be 180 out so moved plug wires in cap so 3 & 4 are now nearest the radiator. It started immediately and, after adjusting timing, runs great. The mystery is, how could it run when I bought it with the distributor 180 out? I did not change any distributor parts or remove the distributor and see no indication of recent work on the tractor, especially the distributor.