TO-30 Distributor

Stubbyie

Member
Hello Fellow -30 Owners:

New to this forum and a returnee to early Fergusons. Got a problem and need your assistance:

I"m generally capable, but have not completely disassembled anything bigger than a lawnmower engine. My approach is generally to research--like asking questions here--before yanking parts. I like to know what to expect. With that said, I"m puzzled by what follows.

Using -30 and died, acted like it was running out of gas but wasn"t.

Found distributor rotor NOT turning.

Looked further and found bare distributor driveshaft, oily, under distributor sticking out of side of engine. There is about 2-in of the distributor driveshaft visible.

Questions: what happened?

Is this an indication of internal engine failure?

Is this a two-piece distributor and the distributor lower bowl or body come off its driveshaft?

Has the driveshaft somehow risen away from the engine internals? For that matter, what internally drives the distributor in this case?

I"ve got the distributor [re]installation instructions and timing specs, but...

...what might be next, and...

...all ideas, experiences, help, hints, and instructions appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your interest and assistance. In exchange, I"ll post back as this experience unfolds.
 
You can probably learn all you need to know by dropping the pan. The distributor drive gear is next to the crank throw for cylinder 2 and you may have lost the No. 2 rod. Can't see any way you can fix things without taking it apart UNLESS you are one lucky guy and can clean parts out of the pan, epoxy the hole in the block and put a new distributor in. My guess, though, is that, at a minimum, the cam shaft is toast.
 
I don"t quite understand your failure description but the distributor is driven off the cam by a cam shaft distributor gear and a mating gear at the bottom of the distributor shaft.

As the cam thrust plate wears, it allows the cam to move fore and aft and thus the distributor shaft moves up and down. Usually this is indicated by the distributor rotor striking the top of the distributor cap. When this occurs, the rotor breaks and the engine won"t run. The fix is to pull the timing over and the cam timing gear and replace the cam thrust plate.
 
If you turn the front crank nut by hand and pull the plugs you may find that either 1 or #2 piston won't move indicating a broke rod.
 
Thanks for the responses thus far; they've been helpful.

However, I now understand my description of the problem was not clear. Please allow me to try again. I didn't think to take a photo and the machine isn't handy at the moment.

Looking at the distributor, all seems normal.

Unclip the cover and dust cover and look at the rotor and attempt a start and the rotor does not rotate.

Now, look more closely 'beneath' the bottom bowl-shaped housing of the distributor.

The distributor driveshaft has about 2-inches of exposed shaft visible. It looks like the hold-down clamp has come loose from the block and ridden up the distributor driveshaft, still clamped tightly to the shaft.

My guess---per original post I'm always slow to just start yanking parts off before I have an understanding of what's happening---is that the distributor driveshaft has 'risen up' away from the block, having elevated away from the engine internal mating gear.

No external engine damage is evident---just the 2-inches of exposed driveshaft, the clamp still tight but elevated, and a rotor not turning.

I hope this better explains what I'm seeing.

The replies thus far are sincerely appreciated. All insights and advice welcomed.

I'll continue the dialogue and add information as I dig deeper into this failure.
 
You might as well pull the timing cover and governor assembly off and check the thrust plate. Like Jerry said when the thrust plate wears it allows the camshaft to walk back and forth in the block which forces the distributor up out of the block because of how the distributor gear and the mating gear on the camshaft are cut.
 

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