Fun Project; Need Some Help

So Derrek-

When you're working with D17's, if you ever find yourself in a situation where it seems to want to start, but not run, or it cranks, but won't fire, but when you release the key, it either starts, or farts...

Put a jumper wire from the battery, direct to the ignition coil's + side, and try again.  If it starts and runs, you've got a bad ignition switch.  The cylinder wears, and START terminal wears/corrodes over time and use... eventually, when you turn the key to START, the contacts to the STARTER work, but the IGNITION contact lifts away, so you don't get spark while cranking.  Bypass the switch, and it'll work fine.

A troubleshooting technique you should learn and perfect:  Isolating ignition or fuel problems.

To check ignition for basic operation:  Disconnect the center (coil) wire at the distributor.

Place it about a quarter-inch from the engine block, and turn the key, watch that gap- you SHOULD see a SNAP SNAP SNAP as the engine cranks.  IF it doesn't snap, you have either a keyswitch, wiring, ignition points, or condenser problem.  Connecting a voltmeter or test light between the coil + post and ground should indicate battery voltage with ignition on.  When cranking, you'll see this vary as the engine rotates (the points are opening and closing).

If you have a good solid snap, but no start, reconnect the wiring, and shoot a shot of something flammable into the carbeurator, then crank.  If it pops, or tries to start, you have a fuel problem.

D17 ignition system consists of contact points operated by a lobe on the distributor body.  The most COMMON ignition problem of the D17, is wear of the distributor's shaft bushings, and when they wear, the breaker point cam doesn't operate the contact points so well... you get dropped cylinders/missing etc, and general naughty behaviour.  Best way to immediately resolve this, is to have a spare rebuilt distributor, particularly one with a Pertronix Ignitor electronic conversion in it.  Get with NJ Steve, he can probably get you one for your ready shelf.  When you go to tear down one for a resto, send your old one in for a thorough rehab.

Old battery cables suck.  They suck water in, via capillary action... and you wind up with all those fine copper threads turning into pretty blue-green fuzz that doesn't carry electricity worth $#!t... so they crank slow, don't fire plugs, and are a general nuisance.  When you do your resto, investo in a starter rebuild, new cables, and a new wiring harness, it'll be so much happier.

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Before you do a full carb rebuild, get a harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner.

I had a Ferguson 35 that had carb problems, did a rebuild and several manual cleanings and nothing worked. So yesterday I bought the smaller unit HF sells and it fit both halves of the carb plus a little mesh box for the small parts. A few cycles and installed it back on the tractor and fixed it. Works perfect again.

So today I pulled my WD carb, since it hasn't run in a year due to a wiring repair I'm about to do on it, and am putting that in the machine for a few cycles to avoid any surprises when I get it ready to run again.

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Thank you so much!! 

Looks like there's a big smile embedded in yer' face!  Might need surgery to remove it! Enjoy your Tractors man. There's nothin' like it....... 

Steve@B&B

Once you get spark, take the air filter hose off the carburetor and a little starting fluid in the carburetor and see if it fires.

How do you hand crank a D-17 Series 3 or 4?

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I would start your project by manually rotating the engines, not a battery and starter. Pull on the fan belt or turn the engine with a crank. That way you don't bend something.

Watch YouTube videos on Vice Grip Garage, like these. Derek goes through the steps you'll need, and tools that are helpful.

https://youtu.be/Q4W9TWrwnh0?si=MOBrZ3VDqe2yQGt9

This is gold; thank you so much! Epic stuff.