[DML] Re: Distributor chewing up Rotors

["David Teitelbaum" <jtrealty@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Unless the shaft is bent or somehow you are using the wrong parts, the
most common reason to have this kind of trouble is that somehow you
either are not seating the rotor all the way down or the cap is not
properly positioned onto the cast body of the distributer. It can be
tricky getting it to fit together but it is imperative that it is.
Maybe as you lock the clips onto the cap you are moving the cap. It
can happen when you get one side locked down and then go to the other
clip. Holding pressure on the top of the cap will help till you get
both clips locked. Again, be sure the rotor is seated ALL THE WAY down
on the shaft. Now you have to make sure any broken pieces are removed
and not preventing you from fitting things into the correct positions.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Tom Tait" <TTait@...> wrote:
>
> I was ready to throw in the towel this morning and order a complete
> distributor, but Warren talked me into taking the weekend to try to find
> the root of my problem first, before I just threw money at the problem.
> 
>  
> 
> History: I have just replaced my head gaskets, had my heads rebuilt and
> have reinstalled them, all of that seems ok.
> 
>  
> 
> In the past I learned my lesson about not putting the cap and rotor back
> together perfectly, and I know very well to align the keyway in the
> rotor properly and push it all the way down.  I am on very good terms
> with the depression in the distributor body that the cap must key into
> and respect it.  Tab A squarely into Slot B.  I put my cap on and make
> sure it is well seated before I install the clips, and I know that if
> they are impossible to clip, something is wrong.
> 
>  
> 
> I had 3 rotors and 2 caps in my collection, all the right parts.  When I
> reassembled my distributor the first time I was cranking the engine over
> slowly by hand and heard a terrible squealing.  When I finally opened
> the distributor cap I found that the plastic key inside the rotor had
> been sheared off and it could then spin, begrudgingly, on the shaft.
> 
>  
> 
> I thought that perhaps my new cap had a manufacturing defect and was
> binding the rotor somehow so I reassembled everything with another cap
> and a fresh rotor, it happened again.  
> 
>  
> 
> At Warren's first suggestion I removed my disintegrating dust cap which
> goes under the rotor and protects the impulse coil and tried it again -
> it was fine at first, so I ran the engine with the starter while using
> my timing light.  It was fine for about 10 seconds, then I lost all
> spark.  I opened the cap and found that my third and final rotor was
> ripped to pieces.
> 
>  
> 
> At this point I'm taking Warrens advice and pulling the distributor off
> again, and I'll put in a NAPA rotor tonight and slowly turn it by hand
> looking for signs of binding.
> 
>  
> 
> I have learned that I installed the o-ring for the distributor in the
> wrong spot - I ran it all the way up to the bottom of the distributor
> body instead of placing it in the groove on the shaft, but I can't for
> the life of me understand how that would have caused the problem.  
> 
>  
> 
> Anyone else run into this before?  What else should I try?  
> 
>  
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>




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