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Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 8:13 am
by slick4x4
Started cutting wheat a couple days ago
Everything ran fine.... first 10 minutes
Dam engine started cutting out
The fuel tank sits about five feet below engine
So a weak electric fuel pump was my guess
Put on a new one from auto zone
Ran fine ...for about 15 minutes .....
So I changed
Points
Condenser
Plugs
Coil
Fuel filter
I did all of this because once you run it
WAY too hot to do this stuff ,the way the engine is mounted
Same problem ... unhooked fuel line to carb... NO GAS !
New pump not powerful enough I guess in this heat
Go to napa and buy a heavy duty pump
Ran five seconds and dies
WTF !
No power to the coil ... what ? ... a ghost I tell ya !
Ran a Hot wire to coil
Maybe these forty five year old wires from switch are crap !
Got it to run good again
Cut about ten minutes and belt starts slipping going into the grain bin
Gearbox inside bin went out ....
It's a ghost I tell ya.... can't think of another reason this antique keeps breaking down
......
Well... I see my neighbor is getting a lot done though...
Five Deere machines probably costing more than a quarter a million each
Plus two tractors and grain carts ...that's another three or four hundred thousand
Not to mention about four semis hauling it to the elevator
Poor guy.... always pizzing and moaning about grain prices being too low

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 10:41 am
by 64 f100
Yep, just another poor farmer. Sullivan auctions has a poor farmer auction listed in Iowa. You should check it out. Ever see a pile of antique kids pedal cars before, or a pile of kids ride trains, not to mention over 100 convertable's in the sale.
You have my sympathy working on problems in the sun, especially when you need to be up and running. Sounds like the old gal is telling you she doesn't want to work.

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 1:11 pm
by slick4x4
The other one has been running perfect without a hiccup...
Had to swap a new starter into the grain truck...
Not a bad job in the shop in the morning

My son asked me if there was anything I hadn't fixed at least once
On these old machines ....
Had to think..... not that I know of ! :cussing: :cussing:

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 1:25 pm
by Mr. Jones
Reminds me of a Zappa song,"The Torture Never Stops"..one way or another you'll succeed.Wishing you a successful and profitable harvest,best of luck to you...
Dan

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 1:38 pm
by ICEMAN6166
slick4x4 wrote:Well... I see my neighbor is getting a lot done though...
Five Deere machines probably costing more than a quarter a million each
and he cannot work on them himself as JD refuses to give out manuals due to "proprietary information" so he is left hauling them to the dealer or paying for an certified JD mechanic to come out.

kind of like new cars and trucks

https://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-owne ... ohn-deere/

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/arti ... n-firmware

ill stick with old iron, thanks.

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 2:12 pm
by slick4x4
I pulled into the dealership yesterday at almost closing time...
Drove up in the 61
Guys behind the counter were eyeballing my truck
One of them said
" you like old shite , don't you ? "
I said .... I'm still married to my wife ain't I ?

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 16, 2017, 6:36 pm
by ICEMAN6166
:rotflmao:

me too.

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 17, 2017, 9:01 am
by 64 f100
It's all fun and games until you get X-lax in your pudding or the bleach is not rinsed out of your shorts. :( Just remember, anyone can read what is said here.

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 17, 2017, 9:27 pm
by slick4x4
Well... mine ran good today ...
Jims machine needed a fuel pump though....
I blame the gas we run today
It is nothing like it was back in 1975 when these machines were new
Also noticed his water pump is real loose....
Wasn't leaking , but could move the fan blade a lot
Priced a new one ...$325......
So we pulled one off a junk machine
It had clean antifreeze in it & felt perfect
Will get it installed tomorrow morning

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 23, 2017, 12:36 am
by slick4x4
Combines have been running fair
Put 2 more fuel pumps in grain trucks....
Talked to the fuel man (he delivers to the farm)
He said other guys have had some vapor lock problems
This fuel is not good for old stuff apparently
I've started running a gallon of oil in 150 gallon of gas mix
.......it can't hurt
Been hot ..... my AC has been working good
Jims swamp cooler gets kinda stinky after a couple of days :shock:

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 25, 2017, 9:37 am
by slick4x4
Almost done......
Was running yesterday & machine gave a couple of coughs
Ran terrible ...then died
First thought...run out of gas ? ....nope...tank 1/3 full
So I thought about the distributor
I have seen so much dust (from the wheat dust)
Build up inside a cap , they won't run
Pulled it off
It wasn't terrible..
As long as I have it off , might as well check those new points
Cranked it over
SNAP , SNAP , SNAP !
What ??? .... did it again....
Coil jumping from plug wire to negative side....
Bad coil !
Taped it up for a temporary fix....
Ran fine after that

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 25, 2017, 9:06 pm
by grump
Dang Pat just think how boring it would be if everything went smoothly :lol:

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 25, 2017, 10:00 pm
by slick4x4
grump wrote:Dang Pat just think how boring it would be if everything went smoothly :lol:
Sometimes a nice boring drive is kinda nice
Way better than getting 1/2 way to SlickStock & breaking down :cussing:
But...... it sure makes for good stories during second shift :mrgreen:

Re: Ghost in the machine ....

Posted: June 25, 2017, 10:11 pm
by grump
And ya gotta love second shift. Who needs to sleep anyway.