Ford 4000 won稚 crank after use without sitting a day

LouNY · Sep 15, 2018

The easiest way I have found to get the distributer in the correct position is to bump it with the starter switch till it's close,
then there are two ways, many distributors you can manually rotate the shaft far enough to get on the high point,
the other when its close put the transmission in high gear and start to rock the rear tire you should be able to bump it in the right direction,
when you get the direction figured out pull or push all the driveline slack then go the other way and just bump it a bit and repeat till its on a lobe.
One way to check your coil high voltage wire is to use your meter on the ohm scale and measure the resistance from one end to the other,
the other is if you don't have an ohm meter disconnect the lead from the coil to the distributer attach a temporary jumper wire to the coil (-) turn the key on then with the coil high voltage lead held about a 1/4 inch from a good ground just tap your temporary (-) lead to ground you should see a spark every time you touch the coil (-) to ground.

Good Luck

ovrszd · Sep 15, 2018

Get it close, then use the cooling fan to position it correctly. This is totally old school mechanics.

banc123 · Sep 15, 2018

When I bump my starter, it ALWAYS goes from one flat section past the lobe to another. I was able to get it at the very top of a flat section just at the start of a lobe. I thought about trying to bump or lightly pull the tractor with the truck, but my bushog is attached and lowered all the way down. I tried engaging the pto and turning the shaft but it wouldn’t budge. I thought Id try taking the plugs out to relieve the pressure and see if that’s it easier or maybe not move so far. The distributor shaft wont turn without the starter.

I’ll try the coil test as well. I saw a vid of someone disconnecting the coil ground , putting a jumper on, then putting a grounded plug in the center coil plug and the spark plug and the jumper would spark when tapped on a ground.

If that was to work, seems it has to be a ground inside the distributor ....but nothing would surprise me now.

banc123 · Sep 15, 2018

ovrszd said:
Get it close, then use the cooling fan to position it correctly. This is totally old school mechanics.

It wouldn’t turn, when I forced it, slid on the belt (tight). Hoping taking the pugs out will allow it to turn.

banc123 · Sep 15, 2018

I read that disconnecting the + on the coil and running a jumper directly from the + on the battery to + on the coil would be a test of a problem from the ignition to the coil. It did cross my mind that maybe something was happening when the ignition was turned to crank.

Figure I will

1. Try a direct wire to the + on the coil , if that doesnt do anything .
2. Try to disconnect the coil distributor wire and attach a jumper wire in its place on the coil. Put a grounded spark plug in the center coil wire and tap the jumper wire to a ground and see if it sparks.
3. Check for grounds inside the distributor. ( if I put a test light (ground) on the bolt where the coil wire and condenser attach, it should not light up if the points are open ? And should light up if closed ?)
3b) I think I read a test light on the + and - side of the coil should flicker when cranked , I know my points are opening, so if it stays on, would think that means the points are grounded since its lit when open)

While I have no idea what the issue is, I think I finally understand all the prieces of the puzzle.:confused2:

banc123 · Sep 16, 2018

HOUSTON , we have lift off.

First thing I did was take the plugs out to see if could get the distributor shaft to stop on the high point on the lobe. Still wouldnt turn by the fan belt. Had to engage the PTO and put a pipe wrench on the bush hog shaft and rock it, finally landed perfectly. I set the points and put it all back together.

No love, would not crank.

Put a test light on the coil terminal to distributor and it lit up. Opened the distributor and the points were closed. So I manually opened them and it still stayed lit. So I moved the test light to the open point and it lit up. Took that to mean the point was grounding somehow. Took off the condenser , still lit up. Unhooked the coil wire and it still lit up. Took the entire point out and it didnt light up until I touched the base to the housing. Very puzzled. So I got the old point and rested it on the housing and opened the point manually.....no light until I let it close.

I took that to mean the new point was somehow grounding the open point. Put the old point back in, set the gap, put everything back together and ....

The bad thing is, I dont really know what the original problem was since I changed the coil, condenser, plugs and rotor. I guess its possible the original problem was just the old points needed adjusting since they were always closed and were not opening.

Not sure how that translates into not starting when hot or losing power sometimes when hot. Guess I could hook the old coil back up and see if it cranks.

Ran it for 30min under load and it ran fine, I guess time will tell.

Thanks for all the help, I now have a much better understanding of the basic ignition system

Too bad I didnt know in highschool, I would have grounded some girls igition and then fix it for them ;0)