Trying to figure out why our 1952 John Deere G isn't running well. Turns out there were 3 culprits: distributor in need of overhaul, fouled spark plugs, and carburetor out of tune. Fixed those things and now it is running great.
I had a G once with a rough running condition. I replaced points, condenser, plugs. Didn't help. Turned out to be the ignition switch had too much resistance. New switch, problem solved.
Had a JD H had a dozen new plugs in the tool tray still boxed and wrapped in shop rags. They were rebuildable Blue Crown plugs and were for a Farmall Mc McCormack Deereing vintage 1928 29 full one inch thread for the F12 and F14 up to the F20 and 30. Champion plugs would only work a year befor giving up the ghost.
Troubleshooting ignition problems when your plugs are bad is always frustrating. Here we had a couple of problems. I probably should have started with the plugs. But the distributor was really bad, so I'm glad we cought that.
I have a 47 B John Deere and I put a new comprehensive carbrator kit in it and it is running better I also put new spark plugs in it but on a pull up a hill it starts to cut out I played with the timing and when I had a rench on the bolt I hit the dashboard and got a spark so I am thinking that there is a short somewhere in the distributor it has one of the kits in it that turns the magneto into a distributor what is your opinion of what is going on I would like to just get a regular distributor for one and put it on it I have a A John Deere that is going to need some kind of spark system anyway when I get it put together
You could check your plug wires. Make sure they are copper core and that the rubber insulation all along the length is free of cracks or nicks. I've seen them short out in the metal tube they pass through.
I need to dig into this G again because it started acting up and not running smoothly again. We bought this one after someone had "restored" it... So we don't have any idea what has been done correctly and what has just been patched together. It's definitely a journey working on these old rigs.
Rebuilding a distributor is pretty straightforward. I have a video I recently posted on my channel where I rebuild the distributor I pulled off this G. If you watch it, you may be able to do yours on your own. But if you want me to do it for you, I can help you out. Email me at magnetojoes@gmail.com
