Distributer Gear Question

[FSJ-Earl]

You get what you pay for, a 50.00 distributor cannot be all that great. Although even the better gears can shred. I shredded my dist gear and cam gear several month ago. The repair is not hard, but it is labor intensive. The garage wanterd almost 800.00 for it, Zack and I did mine in about 8 hours. Not too hard, just time consuming.

[Joe Guilbeau]

Geeze, that is harsh...

Here is something from archives...

http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/AMC/1973/Service/Part1/pages/MChasAMC_1973_3-25.jpg

Others can chime in here to see if this applies to your vehicle, it looks to be good info.

[Jeep madness]

I feel your pain!!!

I installed a new distributer yesterday, I made it 10 miles down the road and the jeeps shuts off, after some looking the gear on the bottom of the distributer is fubared, its been shaved down and allowed it to jump timing. I used the gear off the original distributer and I thought all was ok, any idea what could have caused this?, how to fix this? and is the cam shaft gear going to look fubared as well? Where to get the correct gear now that this one is gone?

I just "up graded" to a HEI distributor. I had the same thing happen. The dizzy had a gear on it and I just dropped it in. 10 miles later, a roll back is bring me back to the house. It sucks to cause I had the truck apart for the last 5 weeks swapping it a Dana 60 rear with disc brakes and now its stuck under the car port again. The motor has about 8000 miles on it so its not bad greasy and hopefully no stuck bolts. Oh mine happened yesterday.

[Thumper168]

I just "up graded" to a HEI distributor. I had the same thing happen. The dizzy had a gear on it and I just dropped it in. 10 miles later, a roll back is bring me back to the house. It sucks to cause I had the truck apart for the last 5 weeks swapping it a Dana 60 rear with disc brakes and now its stuck under the car port again. The motor has about 8000 miles on it so its not bad greasy and hopefully no stuck bolts. Oh mine happened yesterday.

What gears are you going with? I just spent 3 hours washing everything so its pretty clean for the tear down. Im ordering Bulltear gears and a gasket kit tomorrow and then pull it down.

[Jeep madness]

What gears are you going with? I just spent 3 hours washing everything so its pretty clean for the tear down. Im ordering Bulltear gears and a gasket kit tomorrow and then pull it down.

I've had 2 other poeple teel me to get a Bulltear set, so that is what I'm going with too. Mine is going to have to wait until after X-mas though.

[The Colonel]

Id love to but I took it back for the core charge, I called and they said its gone allready

When you have the cover off check to be sure there is free-play between the oil pump shaft and the dizzy gear drive- in other words, be sure when the dizzy is bolted in it isn't binding the oil pump shaft into the cover. Also check the endplay on the dizzy when the gear is installed. When I checked mine, I used prussian-blue to check the contact pattern on the gears.

[Thumper168]

Will do and thanks !!

[The Colonel]

Im 100% confident it was lined up with the oil pump, I actually had to turn it to get the timing correct and to get the dizzy to drop all the way down, the dizzy did hower have a lot of free play counter clockwise and almost none clockwise so Im guessing the cam gear had a lot of wear allready, the dizzy gear didnt look perfect but not near as bad as it is now ,lol

Lined up- yes it would have to be. I would just check everything out really well. You don't know if the dimensions on the replacement dizzy are off a bit?

[jaber]

I use a spot next to the Jeep to "lay it out" as I remove it. it helps me remember where each one goes on reinstall.
Use Vaselene to pack the oil pump.
Inspect the timing cover well while its out. easier to repace if need the first time.
Lots of rock&roll and have fun...

[Thumper168]

Lined up- yes it would have to be. I would just check everything out really well. You don't know if the dimensions on the replacement dizzy are off a bit?

I mis read your previous post, I understand what you were saying, I'll check it all while its apart for sure..

[FSJ Guy]

Actually, several years ago, I did the "$50 distributor" deal and mine is working fine. In fact, I even swapped it over (along with the existing cam gear) to my 401 motor.

I remember reading that there were two different gear types and (obviously) you wanted to make sure they matched. Perhaps they changed pitch or tooth count. <shrug>

[Jeep madness]

I looked and measured the end of the distributor before I dropped it in. I did not notice the pitch on the gear was different until I pulled it out. Now the cam gear is toast. Live and learn!

[Thumper168]

Well I just hope this repairs the problem and its over with.

[Skeeter74]

Bulltear is great, but the cost is high. I rolled the dice and ordered the set from teamgrandwagoneer.com. I used a lot and I mean the gears were round with assembly lube, and everything is fine so far. Of course, while you are in there, I would definitely do the timing set. I got a double roller set from Edelbrock and checked the oiling paths and checked for flashing. Everything was great and has worked fine since.
One thing I read somewhere, is to drop the dizzy in without the gasket on it and check that it seats all the way to the base. That way you know that the dizzy isn't binding the oil pump shaft once you reinstall with the gasket in place.

[fulsizjeep]

Been there. I got the hardened gears by MSD (not brass or bronze). I forget the part numbers. They worked out fine. If it makes you feel better to buy the matched set from Bulltear, go right ahead. As it has been said, this is tedious work but not difficult.