56 400 distributor play

How much turn play is there on the distributor? I can turn it by hand approximately 5 degrees or 3/8 of an inch or less from the distributor rotor. Is there an adjustment to make it snug?? or is that the way it is supposed to be?
 
You should be able to move it by whatever the limit is of the centrifugal advance. But there should be spring tension holding it one direction. If it moves freely without pushing back, something is worn. You would need to pull it apart and look at the advance mechanism to see where the problem is.
 
thats normal, centrifugal advance. but it should return back to home by its self. good idea to give it a drop of oil to keep from seizing
 
I pushed it one way a bit harder and felt the spring back, but it had more play after that back. I figured it would be more snug against the flywheel. Engine seems to run tho. Think I shall change out the coil. It seemed hot for the 3 to 4 mins I had it running. If that dont fix the problem, I will have a spare anyway. The one on it now looks like it fell off the hood of the tractor and got hit one time. It is oil filled and the new one is too. I can hear it sloshing around when I shake em. I would assume it is mineral oil as that is what we used as a dielectric in our High Voltage Power Supplies on radar.
 
Jim Becker is correct, It cannot have rotation that does not spring back. The amount of looseness will be taken from the
full advance. Probably loose or missing spring in the Centrifugal advance. You will be much happier with it fixed. And so
will the tractor. Jim
 
http://partstore.caseih.com/us/parts-search.html#epc::mr56558ar663434


14,15,16 area? I am trying to see where I need to go before I tear into it and find a need for parts.
 
Next question, my distributor goes into the Hydraulic pump. Do I need to drain anything before I pull the distributor? There is a pair of bolts/nuts on the pump that I can access...and there are a couple of bolts on the distributor that I can access one of with ease and the other may take a LOT of work to get to. Yes, I do have crows feet purchased to work on the carb. Does the spline connected to the pump run an impeller for the Hydraulics? If it does, that would mean a somewhat sealed system I think. Thanks for the help.
 
You should be able to pull the distributor from the pump with no oil related complications.

Just turn the engine until the TDC mark is lined up.
Note the direction the rotor is pointing.
Make a scribe mark that shows exact position of the distributor housing.
Remove/fix the distributor. Don't turn the engine while the distributor is removed.
Reinstall distributor pointing the rotor to the previous position and aligning the scribe mark on the housing.
 
One more question before I go in....after I pull it, can I replace and adjust the points with the distributor out? I have a new set that I have not installed yet.
 
Ok. I got it off, took it apart and the springs look ok. I do not know if the other parts are ok or not. The two oval pieces from the center out look worn a bit. I could move the two outer arms and they would not spring back?? Are they magnets? Twas kinda gunky in there too. I shall try to post a pic when it comes to my computer and I upload it to the site here. I could move the outer arms away from center and they would stay without moving back. The springs are on top of those arms, so the arms pivot under the springs. We may see pretty soon.
 
36361.jpg
 
yes that thing is all gummed up and need to be washed with silvent and work the gum out till it all moves freely. then oil it. the cam is gummed up to the shaft. fixed many like that. or you can disassemble it too and clean it.
 
As rustred said, you need to de-gunk it. The oval pieces/levers are weights that make the advance respond to the speed it is rotating. To disassemble, you remove the 2 springs (easy with needle nose pliers). Note that there is a small flat washer on the pivot pin at the outer end of each spring. The point where each weight fits on the pin is a major wear point you need to check. Once the springs are removed, you should be able to pull the cam off the shaft. Clean everything, lube it up and reassemble. Be sure all the contact points are lubed but don't get a bunch of extra in there. Light oil is a good choice but I've tried lubriplate on all the contact points of the weights and it seems to work well.

By the way, that dirty glob in the middle of the cam is a felt that is supposed to get a drop of oil on a regular basis. It oils the cam where it moves on the shaft.
 
One more item: With the entire battery ignition unit removed as you have it, the input shaft on the front side is free to fall out. Don't let it. There are multiple ways to put it back in, and only 2 of them are right.
 
(quoted from post at 08:24:15 05/27/16) One more item: With the entire battery ignition unit removed as you have it, the input shaft on the front side is free to fall out. Don't let it. There are multiple ways to put it back in, and only 2 of them are right.

Uh oh.
 
I took pictures and marked spots for both the distributor rotor and the drive. I happen to recall how critical it is for timing to be on. My dad and grandfather showed me how timing is imperative on engines. So far everything I have done on this engine has been done with putting it back where it was after cleaned or repaired. It seemed to run ok before I had these problems and minor adjustments may be necessary when the parts are re-assembled. Thanks.
 
Post back if you have a problem positioning the input shaft. It only takes 30 seconds to fix, but at least 5 minutes to explain.
 
Ok. Took it apart and cleaned it with some stuff I got back in 1991 or so. Looked for an MSDS (material safety data sheet) and could not find one on the net. Contacted the company and got transferred to someone that helped me....cleaned it up and it looks nice. Used an acid brush and when done, cleaned the brush and applied about 2 drops of 30 wt to all the chassis inside with the brush. It looks clean. But I have a question. Upon removal of the weight units, I noted somewhere a spare washer...then pulled off the second unit and did not see anything out of order. Ended up with 4 washers. I know one goes on top to be a spacer for the spring, is the other one under both weight pivot points? I placed it there but before I install it tomorrow, I want to know if I did correctly. Also, glad I took pix of the thing when I removed it...I cant find my markings too well on the outside for the rotor and driveline.

Stuff I used is called Gunk Engine Brite EB-2A. They dont make it in Canada no more.
 
You are good with the washers. Stuff goes on each pin: washer, weight, washer, spring.

Be sure to get some motor oil soaked into the felt.
 
(quoted from post at 16:09:50 05/27/16) You are good with the washers. Stuff goes on each pin: washer, weight, washer, spring.

Be sure to get some motor oil soaked into the felt.

I still have access to it, should I pull the felt and clean it? I also need to go get some form a gasket and make a new Distro to Pump gasket.
 
I don't think I'd pull the felt out. It may be difficult to get it back in. I'd hold the cam rotor end down and squirt some brake cleaner (or the closest thing I had that was handy) up into the felt. Let it sit that end down overnight so it can drip/dry out. Next morning, turn that end up and put a few drops of motor oil in, however much it seems to want to soak up. Call it good.
 
Decided to stay with this post for the next bit of confusion. I pulled the distributor off as said earlier, cleaned it, and was getting ready to put it back on after I did the points and condenser. I recalled that the stud was a little bit flat on the attachment to the pump and went to clean the threads off. Looked at it close and think they are way too flat and the nut is a bit flat too threadwise. Not totally stripped as it were, but close enough for me to want to replace the stud. I tried to find die for it, but my set does not contain the 32 thread or 18 thread for it. I would change out the nut too if I could get the threads cleaned up. I looked at the parts list above on my other post and could not find the double threaded stud. Has one thread to the distributor and a different thread to the nut side of the pump. Wisdom would help here. Did they change out the original part to something different to mess with me? Would a regular stud work with a nut on the distributor side? Does not look like much room to work with either way. Thanks.
 
Can't help you on that. The attaching hardware varied some on different engines. Hopefully somebody with a 400 will see this and reply. If nobody does in a day or so, you might want to try asking in a new thread to get other's attention.
 
Got the threads cleaned up with tap and die set, and the nut seems loose. Wonder if I just packed it with a tiny bit of teflon tape, it would snug the threads up a tiny bit. Got a new nut too and it is loose on the threads as well.
 
Must have done something wrong....it starts and runs good now. The points were a new design on the wall called art. Shall keep them in backup status when I get them cleaned up. Also ordered the thru contact that attaches to the points as I broke the top part of the insulator while tightening the point spring and condenser connectors. Still it runs as desired, with one exception, I think it runs too fast, so I shall have to do the governer according to the book. I have that book and will use you people's knowledge on that as well on the other post. Thanks for the help. On to the next project, water in the tranny.
 

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