FORD 600 Rebuild with my SON!

Good afternoon fellow tractor enthusiasts. I have a question. Me and my son are restoring our very first tractor together. We chose a Ford 600 because of its ease of use and readily available parts. However, unbeknownst to me, I did not know initially that the system was a six volt system so I put a 12 volt battery on the tractor and tried to start it. You can turn over and turn over but would never start. I didn't notice that the distributor and condenser had gotten quite hot from cranking the tractor for about 10 minutes, then I'd started to do some homework. Found out it was a 6 volt system. My question is this. I went and bought a six volt battery and it still turns over but nothing's will fire off. I've rebuilt the carburetor already and cleaned up gas tank. I think the problem goes deeper than that though. I'm not getting any spark at the actual spark plug. Any idea on what might be happening here?

Or simply put is there a testing procedure to validate the electrical system as a whole???? Many thanks from here in Central Texas!

Hey John... Originally, it would have had a 6V POSITIVE Ground system, but many have been modified over the years. You can get a good idea of what is currently by looking and tracing wires. Firstly, does it still have a 6V generator? How is that wired? Photos could help.

You need to find out where you do and do not have voltage. To the coil? to the points? At the key switch? Find the point where you get the first "no". Your problem is just before that.

Welcome aboard,John & Son. Do you have any prior experience with tractors? As with any machine, the first thing you need to do is get the ESSENTIAL MANUALS. They are the best investments you can do to fully understand the operating and maintaining of your machine. Pay attention to SAFETY! All systems are pretty well detailed and the MPC (Master Parts Catalog) has exploded views with every part and its' number listed. The OEM Operator's Manual, the I&T F0-20 Manual, and the 53-59 MPC are Essential and required reading and should at least getteh OWNER's Manual and read religiously B4 you do anything else, including just start buying new parts and replacing. ALL FORDS were originally 6V/POS GRN, until the late 1950's then 12V was used on the diesel models. Your 12V battery will work on the 6V system BUT if you are going to have a 12V battery, best to go full throttle and do the whole electrical system right for a 12V setup. That requires removing the GEN and the VR, exchange the GEN with an ALTERNATOR; 1-Wire or 3-Wire will work. The DELCO 10SI is a good, reliable choice. Swap the Coil with a verified 12V unit so you don't have to muck with adding an external 1-OHM resistor in the circuit. In addition to the ESSENTIAL MANUALS are the WIRING PICTOGRAMS by JMOR. Jesse Morris is a qualified electrician and mechanic, our in-house tech guy, and wrote a document on how to wire these old FORD'S correctly in both the OEM 6V and 12V conversion systems. NO FORD manual was ever published with a 12V setup because they didn't exist til late 1950's as stated. Whether if using 6V or 12V, a GEN or an ALT, you must have a belt tensioning bracket otherwise you will never charge the battery. Distributor is timed via flywheel hash marks thru inspection cover on side of housing. You need to know how the 6V/POS GRN system operates before you go to 12V. You don't want to make any newbie mistakes and do damage to your tractor.

FORD TRACTOR 600, 700, 800, & 900 ESSENTIAL MANUALS:

FORD 600 700 800 900 TECHNICAL DATA SPECS:
#NOTE: OEM SPEC FOR THE SPARK PLUG WAS CHAMPION 14mm H-10. LATER,THE H12 WAS INTRODUCED, A HOTTER PLUG. EQUALLY, THE AUTO-LITE 437 PLUG WAS RELEASED. TODAY THE H12 IS NUMBERED 512 AND THE AUTO-LITE 437 IS NOW THE 216. SOME FOLKS USE THE NTK PLUG. ALL WILL WORK JUST FINE.

FIRING ORDER: 1,2,4,3 CW


FORD 600 WIRING DIAGRAMS, OEM 6V/POS GRN:

12V CONVERSION, PICTOGRAMS & OTHER DOCUMENTS:

*NOTE: THE 8N SYSTEM USES THE SAME WIRING EXCEPT THE FIRING ORDER IS CCW, AFTER THE 8N IT BECAME CW.

**NOTE: SHOWN Is THE EARLY FORD SYSTEM WITH THE FRONT MOUNT DISTRIBUTOR & THE 12V CONVERSION WITH a 3-WIRE ALT & A 1-WIRE ALT WITH ADDED EXTERNAL 1-OHM RESISTOR, ONLY USED IF COIL IS 6V.



DON'T GUESS, READ THE MANUALS FIRST:


Tim Daley(MI)

As stated it was originally 6V positive ground, since you bought a 6V battery make sure it's connected correctly.
To start troubleshooting an ignition system it's always good to have the manual. Then you will need a spark tester, a test light and a DVOM.

In addition to what has been said about how the electrical system was setup when it was new, you need to see if the original generator and voltage regulator have been replaced by an alternator, which would mean that it has already been converted to 12 volts.

No spark at the spark plug means that something is wrong with the ignition circuit, which is completely separate from the charging circuit and the starter circuit. If it is an original ignition circuit, it will have points and a condenser inside the distributor. If it has been converted to electronic ignition (EI), whether 6 or 12 volts, it will have an EI module in place of the points and condenser inside the distributor. Troubleshooting a points and condenser ignition circuit is different than troubleshooting an EI ignition circuit. If it was converted to 12 volts then it will either have an eternal ballast resistor for the coil, or a replacement coil that has the higher resistance internally.

You need to know what you're looking at to be able to know what it has and how to troubleshoot it.

(quoted from post at 15:03:03 03/03/23) Hey John... Originally, it would have had a 6V POSITIVE Ground system, but many have been modified over the years. You can get a good idea of what is currently by looking and tracing wires. Firstly, does it still have a 6V generator? How is that wired? Photos could help.

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Hey there! Thank you for the feedback. I know it does, in fact, have A 6v generator on it still and the previous owner stated it was still a 6v system. I will have to verify the other question you have and I will take pics!

(reply to post at 06:16:25 03/04/23

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Good afternoon, sir. Wow! what a great response! I am sooooo appreciative of these manuals. I have been looking all over for them.

I will familiarize myself with the 6V system and go from there. I knida wanted to keep it all stock, but if it's too big of an issue, I will go 12v.

Hey there! Thank you for the feedback. I know it does, in fact, have A 6v generator on it still and the previous owner stated it was still a 6v system. I will have to verify the other question you have and I will take pics! The tractor is bone stock from the factory....I bought it from the original owner and it only has 1800hrs on it.

I did, however notice a green wire up there by the generator that wasn't hooked up to anything. Just dangling loose????

So I verified that there is voltage up to the condenser, at least coming in on the inbound side of the condenser. However, on the outbound side of the condenser going to the distributor, there is no voltage. Or very little. Maybe half a volt. What should it be reading from the condenser To the distributor? As always thanks for everyone s feedback.

Ah, the condenser is inside the distributor. Sounds like you are checking voltage to/at the coil. If the contact points inside the distributor are closed, you will see little to no voltage on the distributor side of the coil. If you unclip and move the distributor cap (you should be able to get it out of the way without unhooking more than one or two plug wires from the plugs, then pull the rotor and the clip under it off the shaft. with those removed the dust cover can be removed so you see the points and condenser. See if there is a gap between the contacts of the points. If not either turn the engine a bit by hand or put some paper between the points to insulate them and you should have voltage on both sides of the coil primary terminals.

This post was edited by Jim.ME on 04/09/2023 at 12:56 pm.