Distributor will not rotate ?

J

JBohannon

Senior Member
Model A would not start. I replaced points because they did look bad. Still will not start. Now I realize that my distributor is not rotating when engine does. I last ran it a month ago and all was fine. What would it likely be? Thanks Joe B.
 
Cam, cam gear, dist. shaft, distributor drive, & distributor cam screw loose. I can't think of any more places to check.
 
J Franklin said:
Cam, cam gear, dist. shaft, distributor drive, & distributor cam screw loose. I can't think of any more places to check.
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X10 Could be any of these. First thing, remove the cam screw and see if it turns below that, then if not, pull the distributor, look down the hole and see if it turns the shaft. If not there, pull the valve cover and pull the oil pump/distributor drive. I sure hope it is only one of the pieces before the drive gear as those are most easily fixed. If you need to pull the drive gear assembly, may as well pull the pan and clean all the shrapnel out of the pan and replace the oil pump because odds are that is what caused the chewed teeth on the drive gear.

Oh CRAP, I just thought of the other end, while you are chasing this down, pull the small inspection cover on the timing gear. IF the oil pump did give up, it may not have ate the cam and drive gear, it may have chewed up the timing gear since that is the softest piece in the chain.
 
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The first thing I would do is remove the timing pin, insert it and feel if the timing gear is rotating when cranking the engine, IF OK then move on to the other suggestions , not much sense in doing more work than needed.
 
I had the gear turn on the lower shaft which may make it appear that the shaft isn't turning, it was a reproduction shaft that just had the gear pressed on. Could be some strange thing going on with that gear down on the cam shaft.
 
Pull the distributor and see if the tang is broken, or remove the slotted 1/8" pipe plug on the side of the block and see if oil comes out when you crank the engine.
 
Make sure it's not a loose screw or something with the distributor. Then pull the distributor and check the tang on the gear drive. I have seen a few that have sheared off and the dist. no go. Now! When you're pulling the distributor, you must pull it (pry) straight up for the 1st 1/4" before you can rotate it back and forth. The frequently get stuck and some guys have tried to rotate them with some pretty heavy wrenches. Saturate the bore in the head and the bottom of the dist. with WD 40. If you know what "cat's paw" is, they can be handy for prying the dist. up. Don't forget the locking screw in the head that holds the dist. in. The little locating pin is on the other sjde from the locking screw. Once you lift it out of the bore 1/4", the distributor will rotate.
Terry
 
Did you loosen the screw holding the cam and forgot to tighten it? If you pulled the whole distributor, make sure it is inserted all the way down and the pin is in it's hole in the head.
 
I just had the same problem on a pickup I worked on. The distributor was seized up due to no lubrication of the shaft. It caused the tang in the distributor to shear off as Tom said in a previous response. I pulled the dist. to confirm and pulled the side cover off and replaced the dist. drive and rebuilt the distributor. Not a major problem as I had a few rebuilt distributors on hand as well as a drive.
 
Since it ran when you parked it the timing gear and pump gear should not be the problem.
As mentioned pull your distributor and check the tang and that it's seated properly
 
I can say this after the motor will not start I did see the distributor spin while I was trying to reset old points. What I did do was put the new style lower and upper plate on the distributor. I dont guess I some how locked the distributor down ?
 
RonC said:
Since it ran when you parked it the timing gear and pump gear should not be the problem.
As mentioned pull your distributor and check the tang and that it's seated properly
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Actually I drove over to a friends house, turned off the car and it would not start when I went o leave. Stripped timing gear, very odd but it happened.
 
When my friend had a Model A his would not start. The drive gear that mates with the cam gear was stripped. He had not been oiling his distributor bushings and it seized up causing the gear failure. The teeth on the gear were getting pretty thin by then.
 
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