Distrbutor seems to bind

[majorbacon]

Have 47 Ford 8N and in the course of diagnosing a no spark problem, have noticed that with distributor removed from tractor the following:

Spring which holds breaker plate in place was not entirely in the groove (it was 3/4 or more in, but one end was slightly raised from the plate and not in the groove, maybe 1/16"). So I carefully nudged the spring back into the groove. When the spring is in the groove entirely, it is very hard to turn the distributor by hand. If I then move the spring back to where it was, slightly out of the groove, the distributor turns easily (as I would expect it to) by hand.

I have completely removed the internals from the distributor in an effort to see what may be binding the rotation and can not see anything out of place. Cam and related parts all seem correct.

My guess is that the distributor should turn more freely than it does. You can turn it by hand, but is not an easy turn, it takes a little muscle and finger torque to move it.

Is this normal?

If it should turn more freely, any ideas for what is binding it and how to unbind it?

Have tried a few drops of engine oil on the cam bushing and the lower bushing which fits the bottom of the distributor housing.

 

[Soundguy]

if the bushings are worn and allow slop, then the shaft can kick to the side and bind.

is it a repalced braker plate that may have been tweaked.. or perhaps does it look like new bushings were pressed into the old and the PO tweaked it.

it should turn by hand, freely, when assembled correctly.

 

[majorbacon]

if the bushings are worn and allow slop, then the shaft can kick to the side and bind.

is it a repalced braker plate that may have been tweaked.. or perhaps does it look like new bushings were pressed into the old and the PO tweaked it.

it should turn by hand, freely, when assembled correctly.

The distributor has been in place and working good since I got the tractor in about 2003. Have replaced or had replaced the points a few times. It was only after this last point replacement that I noticed the difficulty in turning the distributor. On visual, everything looks normal, but then so do I!

Everything seems to fit together nice and tight, but only when the spring is pushed into place that last little bit does the binding seem to occur.

Do you think it would be wise to replace all the bushings at this time and a new breaker plate?

 

[Soundguy]

-if needed-

does it need it?

 

[majorbacon]

Took me a year, but in the end I replaced the wiring harness, regulator, and resistor. After that it started and runs great, was probably losing power for years due to old wiring and finally gave out/shorted somewhere.