# Misfire in the Oliver



## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

My Oliver 550 gas 4 cylinder has always ran a tad rough and engine felt like it didn't have a lot of power.

I did an ignition tune up, changed points, rotor, condenser, plugs, wires. Cap looked fine.

I also checked the timing. I understand it's supposed to run at 4* advance at 500 rpm. 20 is what kept lighting up in my balancer with timing light but that was the point where the tractor ran the smoothest. Turning the distributor either way made it run rougher or almost stall out.

The problem is the tractor fires RIGHT up. Starts awesome, a million times better than it used to. But it runs smooth for about 5 minutes and I think I'm an awesome mechanic. THEN it starts to have a noticeable miss after running (or driving) for a few minutes?

Plug gap is .025", point gap is ideally .020" but I could not get it set that much (no more adjustment travel) so it's a little less.

Any ideas?


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## FCF (Apr 23, 2010)

Could be the coil breaking down once it gets warmed-up.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Agree on the coil or possibly the wire going from the coil to the cap, unless the miss is on one cylinder. Ignition parts are so cheap that if they look at me cross eyed I pitch them.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Great idea on the coil. The coil wire to the cap is new, just replaced it today but problem still persists.


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## DYNOBOB (Nov 29, 2011)

Earlier this year I put a Pertronix setup in our '67 IH 424. That was literally the best $100 I've ever spent. Been around this tractor my whole life (Grandpa bought yr I was born) and never heard it run this good.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

DYNOBOB said:


> Earlier this year I put a Pertronix setup in our '67 IH 424. That was literally the best $100 I've ever spent. Been around this tractor my whole life (Grandpa bought yr I was born) and never heard it run this good.


Like an Ignitor II or III? I run one in my 67 Mustang, it's a nice set up.


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## DYNOBOB (Nov 29, 2011)

Yep, Ignitor II.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

So can just any regular ol' 12 volt coil work on this?


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Depends whether or not it uses a ballast resistor, some coils will burn up without the resistor and some are meant to run on 12 volts, I honestly don't recall resistors on gas Olivers, but we only have the one anymore and its been modified from the original.

Ditto on ignition parts, if they are the least bit questionable toss em and install new.

I'd try the coil first, then maybe look at carbueration if no ignition fixes work, those old carbs on the waukesha's could be real finicky at times.

One last thing, I fought ignition problems on a tired old ford forklift forever, finally placed a ground wire on the points hold down screw to the housing of the distributor, end of problems.


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

So I replaced the coil to no effect. The coil does not require an external resistor as I learned once I removed it (said it on the coil).

I looked at the centrifugal advance mechanism and springs, and I'm suspicious of this as well. They're quite rusty and when I move one of the weights out with a flat head screw driver, it doesn't pop back into place, I have to push it back into place which makes me think there's no advance on the dizzy. Could this be an issue?

I'm considering replacing the distributor with a reman that actually came in the Oliver 550 (the current distributor is not original to the tractor, it fits, but is a different Remy Delco style than was original to the Oliver. My distributor is like the screw down cap style that came on the Masseys. However, I don't just want to start throwing expensive parts at it blindly. Though, I wouldn't mind the original distributor back on it because it makes tune ups a lot easier.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Hayjosh said:


> I looked at the centrifugal advance mechanism and springs, and I'm suspicious of this as well. They're quite rusty and when I move one of the weights out with a flat head screw driver, it doesn't pop back into place, I have to push it back into place which makes me think there's no advance on the dizzy. Could this be an issue?


If my memory serves me correctly, YES the advance mechanism should NOT be working the way you described it. IDK if it would cause all of your problems or not, but I would correct/repair/replace.

Larry


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