Ford 4000 fork lift question

Our rail road museum has a Ford 4000 forklift with a 4 cylinder engine. I asked a couple of questions here about it last week and have a few more now. I'm told a couple of weeks ago the distributor cap came partial detached and the inside the cap and rotor got messed up pretty bad. They bought a new cap and rotor and I went down to help them get the machine started as our mechanic is laid up for a while. We put on the cap and rotor and while cranking the tractor I noticed the cap wobbles as the rotor turns inside. Never seen that on a distributor before and what ever is causing that is probably why the cap came off to begin with. I don't find any slop on the rotor shaft either side to side or in and out. Its way tighter than any of my Farmall distributor shafts. We also don't have any spark but the points are pitted real bad so next time down we are changing them. My big concern is the cap wobbling and what is causing that. It does have some weak clips holding it but I can't imagine the rotor hitting the cap enough to make it move when everything is right. Anyone got some ideas for me. My tractors are all Farmalls and this thing is quite different from them.

Most of those had a dust cover under the cap.

If it's not there the cap won't fit right.

If the cap only, not the distributor body itself, moves it would seem the problem would be related to the cap rotor, and shaft. Are the cap and rotor the correct ones? Is that one that is supposed to have the metal clip on the shaft, under the rotor, and is it there?
Is that one supposed to have a dust cover? Is it there? If it is supposed to have one and it's not there it can throw the cap position off. Any sign of the rotor hitting the cap contacts? Is the shaft bent? Set up a dial indicator to check shaft runout.

Is the spring clip missing from the shaft?

It is the cap only wobbling. It doesn't have a dust cover - don't know if it ever had one since we owned it. It does seem like the cap is too short so the rotor is hitting it is what I think is happening so
I'm reading here the dust cover might raise it up a bit and fix that? I don't know where the cap and rotor came from but our mechanic has ordered stuff from Steiner in the past so I suspect that is where it
came from. I can't say for sure its the right one and these days you have to be suspicious of after market parts anyway although they match the old parts. I don't know about a clip on the shaft as I didn't
know there could be one and so didn't look. What does the clip do? You can probably tell Fords are a new world to me. I guess that is why I stick to only one brand of tractor.

(quoted from post at 07:58:52 06/22/22) It is the cap only wobbling. It doesn't have a dust cover - don't know if it ever had one since we owned it. It does seem like the cap is too short so the rotor is hitting it is what I think is happening so
I'm reading here the dust cover might raise it up a bit and fix that? I don't know where the cap and rotor came from but our mechanic has ordered stuff from Steiner in the past so I suspect that is where it
came from. I can't say for sure its the right one and these days you have to be suspicious of after market parts anyway although they match the old parts. I don't know about a clip on the shaft as I didn't
know there could be one and so didn't look. What does the clip do? You can probably tell Fords are a new world to me. I guess that is why I stick to only one brand of tractor.

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As someone mentioned in one of your previous posts about this unit, You should tell if it is a 3 or a 4 cylinder as both were used in 4000s. Here are links to the 4 and 3 cylinder distributors from the New Holland on line parts books. They may help you determine what is missing or not correct. The clip on the shaft has a tab the rotor slides down over, it is needed to keep the rotor tight and in position.

4 cylinder distributor

3 cylinder distributor

This post was edited by Jim.ME on 06/22/2022 at 05:34 am.

I did mention it was a 4 cylinder when I started this thread after as you mention someone said that in the previous message. I didn't know they could come in a 3 cylinder. Thanks for the link on the
distributor as it will tell me what we should have for parts. Everyone that replied to this current thread has been a big help so looks like we have to buy a couple more parts and we'll see what happens next.

(quoted from post at 09:08:53 06/22/22) I did mention it was a 4 cylinder when I started this thread after as you mention someone said that in the previous message. I didn't know they could come in a 3 cylinder. Thanks for the link on the
distributor as it will tell me what we should have for parts. Everyone that replied to this current thread has been a big help so looks like we have to buy a couple more parts and we'll see what happens next.

Click to expand...

My apologies, I missed the 4 cylinder above. Good luck with it.

Everything is available from this site, I found a complete kit with points, dust cover, cap and wires, nor sure if the rotor clip is included but its also listed
Its easier to look the parts up in the 801 listing as the 4 cylinder 4000 is a 801 with different sheet metal

Pull back on the shaft and then check for excess side play