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Why does my loader keep stalling?

arse_sidewards

arse_sidewards

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
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'57ish International 4cyl, gravity fuel system. 3/8 hard line except for about 6" by the tank where it's 5/16. Ford 8N (or maybe 9N, some sort of N) carb. Idles great. Will rev a little but if I gas it too fast or open the throttle too much overall it tries to stall.

I'm thinking it's a fuel issue and I either got some shit from the ancient fuel line in the carb or I'm not getting enough volume.
 
crud plugging the fuel outlet in the tank or crud in the carb. Pull the carb and lines and see what it looks like.
 
Should be a screen in the fuel tank, got shit on it?

Glass fuel bowl?

Clogged jet? Been into the carb yet?
 
ironman_gq said:
crud plugging the fuel outlet in the tank or crud in the carb. Pull the carb and lines and see what it looks like.
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Carb and fuel bowl are new. Tank was bone dry and clean because the last two owners ran it on propane
posford said:
Should be a screen in the fuel tank, got shit on it?

Glass fuel bowl?

Clogged jet? Been into the carb yet?
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No screen, see above regarding tank and bowl.

I haven't been into the carb yet.

The fuel line is the only thing not new but it was pinched off where they snipped it so there shouldn't be much if any junk in it.

ThePanzerFuhrer said:
Your only real option is to swap a 300 6 in its place.
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That's actually the long term plan when this 70yo motor dies. Feel free to mail me a bunch of plate steel so I can stretch the chassis a foot. :flipoff2:
GBG8201 said:
I know you're joking, but actually a very real option is a flathead v8 swap. Bolts right up. Look up the "Funk v8 ford".
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Bolts up where an International C135 used to be? I doubt it.
 
My best guess is the accelerator pump. If you look down the throat of the carb do you see a small squirt of fuel when you pump the throttle? Accelerator pump's job is exactly that, give it a shot of fuel when you crack the throttle to satisfy the engine with fuel until the jets take over.

I'd track down a rebuild kit and clean that thing out real good.

edit: missed the "new" carb part. Doesn't mean the accel pump couldnt be bad out of the box though. I'll bet you got some shit from the tank in the carb or you need to make some adjustments to the carb. Accel pump shot might be too late or weak, not familiar with those carbs but usually you can adjust that.
 
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Try running the engine to high RPM and blocking off the air inlet on the carb a couple times. Choke it out until the engine just about dies, and repeat the process. Once in a great while a guy just gets lucky and is able to blow out any crap inside the carb this way.
 
Start from the beginning. Don't assume anything.

Will it run better if you shoot starting fluid into the carb.?


1. New fuel line to a water/sediment separator. One with a glass bowl.

2. Install a low pressure electric fuel pump. This will give you consistent pressure at the carb.

3. Replace any and all of the original hard fuel lines. Eventually fuel lines rust and start dropping chunks into the fuel.

4. Install a properly sized fuel filter just before the carb..

5. Even though its new, clean out the carb.. Spray carb cleaner through all the capillary's to make sure they are open. I bet you have rust chunks from the fuel line in you jets and/or capillary's.

6. Don't rule out an electrical problem. Does it run worse after it warms up?
 
Brecklin said:
Try running the engine to high RPM and blocking off the air inlet on the carb a couple times. Choke it out until the engine just about dies, and repeat the process. Once in a great while a guy just gets lucky and is able to blow out any crap inside the carb this way.
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I do this with a wet rag, 50% of the time it works every time.

Doesn't fix an accelerator pump though
 
arse_sidewards said:
Bolts up where an International C135 used to be? I doubt it.
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Apparently after reading Ford 8n, 9n, I threw any mentioning's of International out the window and replied. :flipoff2:


Can't say I'm familiar with running a Ford carb on a newer international tractor. What is the reason behind that?
 
There is a bowl, it's brand new and free of junk. I'm not running a filter because all the tractor forums say not to and that it'll cause more problems by being a restriction.

I'm running a Ford carb because it's an updraft carb that bolted right up and is for about the same horsepower engine.

The fuel lines are copper so there's no rust in them. The tank had no rust.

Since you all think it's a blockage I'll go looking for that this weekend.
 
Can you get it to stay running if you choke it? Sounds like could be advance or flood issues.

Check to make sure the float doesnt have a pinhole and only half floating.

The updraft ford carb doesnt have much to adjust, run the main screw out and in to find the stumble points and make sure you arent set real lean or real rich.

You didnt say anything bout the dizzy. Are you still running points? are the weights free and able to advance? I got fed up dealing with points and converted everything to electronic ignition. Much easier to keep it running.

I am not going to say you shouldnt ever add a fuel pump to that carb, but it will probably add more headaches. As long as the tank is above the carb, gravity should give you plenty of pressure to run it. Putting a pump on it will probably lead to flooding and needle bypass.

If the carb is new, it should have a buna needle, but depending if it came from china it might be a rubber one that doesnt like ethanol at all. Check to ensure the needle is closing properly. The needle has to be fitted to the carb by sanding the triangle lobes to the point it moves easily but holds position, if not fitted, it wont open/close in a predictable manner. Also make sure the float isnt rubbing the inner wall of the carb and getting hung up with the needle open.
 
Brecklin said:
Try running the engine to high RPM and blocking off the air inlet on the carb a couple times. Choke it out until the engine just about dies, and repeat the process. Once in a great while a guy just gets lucky and is able to blow out any crap inside the carb this way.
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The good old advanced Mexican tune up:smokin: (std Mexican tune up is just revving the shit out of it, to "clean it up" :laughing:

I've had really good luck doing this, it's about the limits of my carb tuning/repair abilities :laughing:
 
clodhopper said:
Can you get it to stay running if you choke it? Sounds like could be advance or flood issues.

Check to make sure the float doesnt have a pinhole and only half floating.

The updraft ford carb doesnt have much to adjust, run the main screw out and in to find the stumble points and make sure you arent set real lean or real rich.

You didnt say anything bout the dizzy. Are you still running points? are the weights free and able to advance? I got fed up dealing with points and converted everything to electronic ignition. Much easier to keep it running.

I am not going to say you shouldnt ever add a fuel pump to that carb, but it will probably add more headaches. As long as the tank is above the carb, gravity should give you plenty of pressure to run it. Putting a pump on it will probably lead to flooding and needle bypass.

If the carb is new, it should have a buna needle, but depending if it came from china it might be a rubber one that doesnt like ethanol at all. Check to ensure the needle is closing properly. The needle has to be fitted to the carb by sanding the triangle lobes to the point it moves easily but holds position, if not fitted, it wont open/close in a predictable manner. Also make sure the float isnt rubbing the inner wall of the carb and getting hung up with the needle open.
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No choke installed. The machine never had one so I didn't install one. I'll try playing with the choke while I gas it to see if that helps or hurts.

I'll try the carb adjustment before I pull it apart looking for stuff.
 
I dont know that engine. The carb was intended for low compression ford 4 cyls. They dont run well cold, and the carb is touchy when the engine is cold. If that intl is similar, let it warm up before diagnosing.

If you find you are running lean rather than rich/flood, crap stuck in the fuel line would be my first place to look. If that fuel tank sat dry for awhile, and if it was coated/painted on the inside, you might have some of the paint come loose, curl up and get sucked down into the fuel line. right after, maybe before?, the glass fuel bowl is a small screen filter that catches all that stuff. Pull it all apart and get that screen flowing.

The nice thing about those upflow carbs is once you get it working, they are very hardy and pretty much run any old stale gas without much issue.
 
You sure it's a fuel issue and not an ignition issue? Check your coil, points, condenser, cap, rotor, etc.

Also I think I mentioned it in one of your other loader threads, but I'd be swapping a pertronix ignition onto that thing to get rid of the points if I were you. Set it once and forget it basically.
 
You sure it's a fuel issue and not an ignition issue? Check your coil, points, condenser, cap, rotor, etc.
billybob_81067 said:
Also I think I mentioned it in one of your other loader threads, but I'd be swapping a pertronix ignition onto that thing to get rid of the points if I were you. Set it once and forget it basically.
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Yup fuck points . Need to find the local old time tractor repair guys. They’ll have a wall of them like this. They will hook you up.
5048C58C-D475-4561-9CC3-5B51B613AF93.jpeg

This is my local tractor repair guy. He loves those things. Solves so many old tractor issues.
 
feed it extra fuel while its trying to stall
either with brake cleaner or a bottle of propane
this will tell you if it is going lean
 
You can find the electronic ignition on amazon if finding a "good local tractor shop" is difficult. Some areas have a good tractor guy around, some dont. But Pertronix does a good job identifying which one to get for your engine. Simple to install. Even if your points are working ok, I would still swap it to avoid future timing issues that are inevitable with points.

There is the restored to original tractor world. I am not in that world. All my equipment is used regularly. A new to me tractor always gets converted to 12v, electronic ignition and lights converted to LED. After that, other specific deficiencies get addressed.
 
I'm like $800 into this machine. Ignition has been gone through already and I am 100% sure it's working great or at least great enough I don't feel the need to spend an additional hundred bucks on it.

I'll check fuel/carb this weekend when I have a chance to look at it.
 
Make sure you're getting full flow from the tank and that the tank is vented properly. And make sure the exhaust isn't plugged up with shit. If those two things check out then I'd fiddle with the carb itself.
 
arse_sidewards said:
I'm like $800 into this machine. Ignition has been gone through already and I am 100% sure it's working great or at least great enough I don't feel the need to spend an additional hundred bucks on it.

I'll check fuel/carb this weekend when I have a chance to look at it.
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What do the spark plugs look like?

We have a fork lift that adjusting the carburetor does absolutely nothing, it is wore out. It runs ok until the plugs get carbon fouled, then it has the same symptoms as you describe.
 
M92PV4U said:
What do the spark plugs look like?
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There is a small metal knob at the top followed by a ceramic section, then a threaded part and a small metal hooky thing at the bottom. Pretty much like any other spark plug.:flipoff2:


Actually, pulling a plug is about the only way to determine lean or rich on the old ford motors. I cant even think about how many times I was pulling a plug when I was fighting a too rich issue that turned out to be a hole in the float. Stupid float.
 
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