distributor woes

So I started Liz up the other night and head a squeak under the hood. I narrowed it down to the distrubutor. I thought it was the cap and rotor. I replaced those and it was still squeaking. Went and picked up a new distrubutor and stabbed it in this morning.

Now after starting it up, the idle bounces between 500 and 800 roughly. Is it possible to stab a dist and be one tooth off to cause this or does it set in the oil pump exactly?

Part two is I replaced the cap and rotor in partial darkness and had the firing order backwards. Went counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. When I tried to fire her up, heard a clunk from the motor. After getting the distrubutor back in, she starts, runs (idle bounces), and drives but over 2100 rpm it sounds like valve clatter. Only does it when driving not at idle. Pulled the valve cover and rockers are tight and the pushrods aren't bent. Would having the firing order wrong cause this or could I have jumped timing somehow?
I'm planning on taking this to Colorado for the holidays so I have a little time to figure it out but it would be nice to drive her daily instead of the work truck.

Thanks in advance

No ignition gurus?

We had to lay off all the paid help, so its only volunteers now.

Please take a number: 10,000; now serving number 2!

Yes, it is possible to "stab" yourself off one or two teeth. With one tooth off it will usually start, idle, and run up to about 2,000 RPMs then struggle after that. Two teeth it usually won't start or idle.

I doubt you bent anything in the engine.

I would start from scratch--in the daylight check the firing order--too young, too old, just right--1-5, 3-6, 2-4. If all is good, then try re-indexing the distributor, one tooth back, check, then try one tooth forward if need be.

10,000? Dayam..thanks joe. Wasn't looking forward to pulling all apart a few more times, but looks like that's what needs to be done.

In my 98 4.0 the distributor started making a slight squeak so I replaced the rotor and cap and it didn't help. What is going bad inside of the distributor that is causing this?

praetorian said:

In my 98 4.0 the distributor started making a slight squeak so I replaced the rotor and cap and it didn't help. What is going bad inside of the distributor that is causing this?

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I had a squeaky distributer a while back that I replaced. When reading about it there seems to be a brass bushing that wears out and causes the problem. Along with the squeak I had some side-to-side play also.

I could be wrong, that's just what I remember reading and I'm not sure how possible it is to replace the bushing if that is the problem.

Yup, bushing is shot. While there may be a way to replace it, I never found it. I just replaced the entire assembly.

One tip for anyone else considering replacing a distributor. Take the original cap & rotor off, and mark the position of the rotor tip on the distributor housing with a marker. After stabbing in the replacement, it'll be pretty apparent if you're off by a tooth.

There is a procedure in the FSM that outlines the steps required for distributor removal and installation.

When replacing a distributor there is a hole in the bottom of the housing that allows a rod or pin (about the diameter of a model paint brush) to be inserted from the top when the CPS is removed which locks the rotor in position on cylinder 1.
If during installation the distributor locating dowel pin (pressed into block opening) doesn't align with the distributor housing groove when you rotate the distributor; you may need to use a long large bladed screw driver to turn the oil pump drive slightly (turned previously when old distributor was removed) to align the notch of the oil pump drive with the slot on the distributor shaft. The distributor will require rotation during installation.
This is the procedure that I have used several times over the years during distributor replacement and distributor gasket replacement.



When I replaced the original distributor the bushing was so bad it allowed the shaft to wobble causing the CPS to short out on the curved trigger plate inside the distributor.

There may be a rebuild kit available. It was easier to replace the whole unit, so I didn't bother looking.

Chryco says it isn't serviceable, but if you have the skills and a machine shop (most) all things are possible.