Points and condenser. 856. Walk through requested

[FLtractor 62]

Morning. 
After replacing the fuel lines, fuel shutoff valve on my 66, 856. I’d like to check the points and condenser. Can someone walk me through how to access them? I cannot find a video online how to do so.
Thank you.

[adsm08 3,528]

Open the hood, look at the bottom right hand (your left if you are facing the tractor) corner at the front. There you will find the ignition coil. The condenser should be attached to the ground side terminal. Right next to the coil on the outboard side should be a little cover held on by two screws with a wire running up under it from the coil. The points are in there.

[stevasaurus 23,420]

This picture shows the coil with 1 wire going under the points cover and the other wire going to the condenser.

 

Couple of pictures thanks to Prondzy.

 

 

 

 

[oliver2-44 10,914]

Use your finger to gently push the points open.  Look in the small opening at the contacts.  They should appear smooth, if the have burned spots, sandpaper like pitting or tips on them they should be filed with a points file or replaced.  

Remove the spark plug (releases compression) and roll the engine over by hand to the position that the points are the widest open.  The book setting is for the points to have a 0.020ths gap as measures with a feeler gage shown in the above picture. Sometimes an engine will run better if they are open slightly less or more. 

[Treepep 781]

 

I had q 551 I put a K91 in.   it had that push bottom on the points cover.  Kill switch ?button?

Edited October 5 by Treepep
mis spell auto incorrect

[702854boy 154]

2 minutes ago, Treepep said:

 

 

I had a 551 I put a K9 1ST in.  it had that push bottom on the points cover.  Kill switch ?button?

Yeah, when the engine is running and you push the button it grounds out the points and kills the ignition.

[FLtractor 62]

52 minutes ago, stevasaurus said:

This picture shows the coil with 1 wire going under the points cover and the other wire going to the condenser.

 

Couple of pictures thanks to Prondzy.

 

 

 

 

Thank you. So to make sure I understand where the points are located.. they are under this vertical cover in this photo? Also how do I tell if a coil or condenser needs to be replaced or is going bad? 

[FLtractor 62]

3 hours ago, adsm08 said:

Open the hood, look at the bottom right hand (your left if you are facing the tractor) corner at the front. There you will find the ignition coil. The condenser should be attached to the ground side terminal. Right next to the coil on the outboard side should be a little cover held on by two screws with a wire running up under it from the coil. The points are in there.

Thank you very much for prompt reply. 

[FLtractor 62]

18 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

Use your finger to gently push the points open.  Look in the small opening at the contacts.  They should appear smooth, if the have burned spots, sandpaper like pitting or tips on them they should be filed with a points file or replaced.  

Remove the spark plug (releases compression) and roll the engine over by hand to the position that the points are the widest open.  The book setting is for the points to have a 0.020ths gap as measures with a feeler gage shown in the above picture. Sometimes an engine will run better if they are open slightly less or more. 

Thank you very much!! Is there any risk getting dangerously electrocuted when setting points, checking condenser or coil and wires? How does one properly know if a coil, or condenser is the issue and it needs to be replaced or fixed? 

Edited October 5 by FLtractor

[adsm08 3,528]

13 minutes ago, FLtractor said:

Thank you very much!! Is there any risk getting dangerously electrocuted when setting points, checking condenser or coil and wires? How does one properly know if a coil, or condenser is the issue and it needs to be replaced or fixed? 

 

Unless you have a pacemaker or hold an active spark plug with a hand that has a huge cut on it an automotive (or tractor) ignition system doesn't have the power to kill you. It's very high voltage, but only tenths of an amp, not enough to get through the skin and disrupt the cardiac system. Points are on the low voltage side of the circuit anyway.

 

If you are having a running issue caused by the condenser disconnecting it will clear it up. If it does not then look at the coil. You can test spark quality, or if it starts running poorly only when hot that is  usually a coil.

Edited October 5 by adsm08

[oliver2-44 10,914]

You might want to put an Inline Xenon bulb spark checker on it and see if you have a good blue spark while it is running

Are you having a problem that you’re looking at the ignition?

[ri702bill 9,879]

One reason a condenser goes bad is water following the wire down to the condenser seal and moisture gets inside.

Avoid power washing that area. IF at all possible, invert the conderser to have the wire point downward....

[wallfish 18,565]

8 hours ago, FLtractor said:

I’d like to check the points and condenser

Is it not sparking and not starting? If the engine is running good, then they're both working.

As in most instances, changing out the original OEM components for the junk they make and sell today is a big downgrade.  

Points do not necessarily need to be changed unless they are badly pitted on the contacts. Cleaning the contact surfaces is usually enough. If the engine runs above idle then the condenser is working.