Tractor Repair: stalling farmall C (1953), sediment bowl, vent hole

Question
This tractor starts right up, but stalls many times ,as I plow snow, I put a new coil, plugs, points,gas filter. cleaned the air intake, cleaned the carb, and it still stalls. It starts
right back up, but will stall again

Answer
Hello Jim,

   Since it could be either ignition related or fuel related, we need to use the process of elimination to narrow it down.  I just had the exact same problem with my tractor last fall, and it was a bad ignition switch.  Sometimes it would lose connection inside the switch, if I hit a bump just right.  Hook a test light or voltmeter on the wire from the ignition switch to the coil.  As the tractor is stalling, see if you lose power to the coil.  If not, you have a fuel problem.  It could be that the gas cap is not venting properly, or the fuel outlet in the fuel tank is partly restricted.  If you have a glass sediment bowl under the tank, remove it, turn on the petcock, and see how much fuel flows from the tank.  You need to have full flow out of the holes.  A little dribble is not going to supply enough fuel when the engine is under load, and could cause the engine to stall, then the fuel catches up until you restart it and put it under load again.  You could also remove the fuel line from the carburetor and check the flow there.  You need full flow from the line.  If you have too little flow, you will have to unscrew the petcock assembly out of the fuel tank to clean it out.  Siphon or pump as much gas from the tank as you can before removing it.  If that doesn't help, try running it with the gas cap loose or removed (as long as the tank is not very full, of course.)  Safety first.  I have seen incidents where someone replaced a lost fuel cap with an incorrect one, or the vent hole in the cap was plugged.  I have also found mysterious foreign objects in the tank that covered the outlet hole.  Look in the tank with a flashlight, you never know what you might find.  I have found caps from gas cans, pieces of newspaper, large bugs, grass, corn, rubber gaskets, you name it.  I have seen vapor lock, but it's not a problem on this type of tractor so I can guarantee it's not that.

                    Good luck,

                        Arnie