Buda Forklift Update With Pictures

[Vicinalvictor]

I don't know what kind of motor is in this forklift. It was running, I went to tune it up and now it won't start. I noticed the distributor shaft with the rotor cap on it is not turning now. I don't know what happened....

 

[wore out]

I don't know what kind of motor is in this forklift. It was running, I went to tune it up and now it won't start. I noticed the distributor shaft with the rotor cap on it is not turning now. I don't know what happened....

''I don't know what happened''. Any chance you dropped a screw or other small part and it fell down "under" the breaker plate, or you lost one of the points screws or the condenser screw and replaced it with a longer one? Any of that can catch the advance mechanism and break something in the distributor drive.

 

[Jim.ME]

I don't know what kind of motor is in this forklift. It was running, I went to tune it up and now it won't start. I noticed the distributor shaft with the rotor cap on it is not turning now. I don't know what happened....

You "went to tune it up", or you did tune it up? What exactly did you do? As wore out posted did you lose anything into the distributor? Did you pull the distributor out?

 

[used red MN]

In picture 009, do I see it right that the distributor comes out perpendicular or 90 degrees to the side of the block. Or maybe you would say that it’s shaft is parallel to the surface you’re driving on? That seems like a fairly unique configuration I don’t recall ever seeing a set up like that before. Someone should be able to identify the engine by that. I that the jury is still out on whether you are a better mechanic or photographer.

 

[Vicinalvictor]

You "went to tune it up", or you did tune it up? What exactly did you do? As wore out posted did you lose anything into the distributor? Did you pull the distributor out?

No, I didn't drop or lose anything in the distributor. I drove the forklift to it's work location, took the points, rotor, condensor & distributor cap to NAPA and they matched everything, put it back together and it won't start, that's when I noticed the distributor shaft not turning. Engine had a miss in it, but it started easy and ran. I used it all summer.

 

[Vicinalvictor]

In picture 009, do I see it right that the distributor comes out perpendicular or 90 degrees to the side of the block. Or maybe you would say that it’s shaft is parallel to the surface you’re driving on? That seems like a fairly unique configuration I don’t recall ever seeing a set up like that before. Someone should be able to identify the engine by that. I that the jury is still out on whether you are a better mechanic or photographer.

That distributor comes straight out horizontally from the motor. I never messed with it, it's secure.

 

[Jim.ME]

No, I didn't drop or lose anything in the distributor. I drove the forklift to it's work location, took the points, rotor, condensor & distributor cap to NAPA and they matched everything, put it back together and it won't start, that's when I noticed the distributor shaft not turning. Engine had a miss in it, but it started easy and ran. I used it all summer.

If you grab the rotor button and try turning it and it turns around, more than the few degrees the advance allows, before stopping, it indicates something has failed in the distributor area. As a first step from there, I think you need to pull the distributor to see if it shared the drive pin in the gear/blade on the distributor shaft. Something happening to the timing gears or camshaft could be another cause of the distributor not turning.

 

[Mule Meat]

Buda made engines until AC bought them out in the 50's. Parts for them were available until the old man died in early 2000 and his family sold everything in the warehouse to a scrap dealer. So parts are no longer available for them.

 

[Mcrafty1]

There's more to this story than we have gotten so far. If that engine was starting and running 'ok' when you shut it off....and all you did was change the points and condenser and now the distributor shaft doesn't turn when you crank the engine there's something missing in the story. jmho
Like Jim said, if you can turn the distributor shaft by hand more than a little (like a quarter turn or more) you're going to need to pull the distributor out and see if the drive mechanism is damaged in some way.

 

[Vicinalvictor]

''I don't know what happened''. Any chance you dropped a screw or other small part and it fell down "under" the breaker plate, or you lost one of the points screws or the condenser screw and replaced it with a longer one? Any of that can catch the advance mechanism and break something in the distributor drive.

That's exactly what happened! The distributor gear and cam gear are damaged. I am not going to rebuild it, so if someome is interested in buying and restoring it, let me know.