Dist. problems

OK..... today I was merging onto the e-way and when i got to the top of 2nd gear, it died on me. Got it home and found a broken rotor under the dist. cap ( i've never saw one do that) went and got a new one only to find out that the rotor isn't spining its like half the teeth are gone on the distributor gear or something.

Why would the rotor snap?
Are there and special tricks to getting the dist. out?
Is there anything I should check/replace while i've got it all torn apart?

thanks,

Kris

Sounds like the dizzy gear may have lost some teeth.Remove the dist to find out why. There is a bolt between the blosck and the dist that hold a forked piece to hold the dist down. You may be able to see if by moving the PCV hose out of the way. Or try looking inbetween the alternator and the belt tensioner. Disconnect the battery before trying to remove or you may arc on the terminal of th ealternator. It a PITA to get to, even with the right tools. Set the engine to TC on the #1 intake stroke. Mark on the outside of the dist the position that the rotor would point to if it wasn't broken. Note which way the dist turns when you pull it out of the hole.

Once you get it out, look for broken/severly worn teeth on both the distributor and the auxilary shaft (down in the block) Check the distributor for side play in the shaft. You need to check th eaux shaft for end paly and side play and that means taking some stuff of the front of the motor. If there are broken teeth off either gear, they are in the oil pan. That has to be cleaned out and the oil pump inspected, maybe replaced or it will happen again. If there are no broken teeth, check for end play in the dist. shaft
let us know what you find

[This message has been edited by Pete D (edited 04-15-2005).]

i would just make sure that when you reinstall the new one or old one again, that the rotor is lined up the same way it went out. and do yourself a favor dont crank the motor either unless you know for sure how advanced the timing was. and third if you do happen to move the crank find top dead center or a rough start anyway. take out the #1 plug turn off the coil so it wont start. have a friend do short bursts of the key and when your finger blows off yell bc that is top dead center. also do this when the dist is isntalled. bc you can see the rotor spin. were ever the rotor stops when the finger blows off that should be the number one plug firing at that time. so mark the block so that when you install the dist cap you can see the mark. mark where the rotor lines up for #1. install the cap on the dist. line up the number one hole on the cap and and you have it setup so that you can get it started. if it doesnt start then the dist is in backwords pull out and reinstall 180 degrees. hope this helps

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1966 mustang
1988 tbird

Got all that stuff apart. not fun. Take a look at the pics.... both the dist. gear and the shaft are torn up.

Why would that do that?
There is a little play in the dist. bushing or what ever. The shaft that the gear is on moves up and down about a 1/4 inch.
The aux shaft bearings didn't seem that bad. there was MAYBE a couple thousandths side play.
How is the oil pump run? Dose it run off of the aux shaft? It didn't seem to be engaged with anything else when i slid it out.

Whats my best bet on getting a dist. and shaft? Can I get my old dist. rebuilt?

thanks for all the help,

Kris

You can get a rebuilt from some parts stores, or have yours sent in for rebuild. I prefer NAPA, where i got mine. The first one I got from Autozone wouldn't even go in the hole. After I modified it and got it in, the "new" PIP was DOA out out of the box.

You are going to need a new aux shaft also. I think you can get them from Racer Walsh or Esslinger. Not sure if Ford has them

You are going to hae to clean out the oil pan as that is where the particles went. Some people flush out the pan well and get away with it. Others seemed doomed to repeat this because particles get int and jam up the oil pump. When that happens, either the drive shaft (driven by the dist/aux shaft) for the oil pump breaks or the teeth get broken off the dist gear/aux shaft gear and more particles end up in the pan.

Why if failed:
To much side or end play in the distributor shaft.
To much bearing wear for the aux shaft and it had side play. The aux shaft rides in bearings like the cam bearings. The other thing I have heard about is the retaining screws for the aux shaft retaining plate coming loose allowing end play in the aux shaft. That just happened to Hybridbird.
I'm not sure if slack in the cam belt could play a part in this or not, but if it has 60K or more on it, it is due for a change.

Got the new dist and aux shaft. I was thinking that i should replace the timing belt while i'm at it. Should i replace the tensioner pully too??? Whats the easiest way to drop the oil pan? Should i put at new oil pump init while i'm there?

Timing belts should be changed every 60K. Pully changes are recommended but not always done [Image: biggrin.gif]\

You can take the cover plate off the oil pump and inspect it inside. If there are any particles in it, it might be best to change it