Re: [DML] Distributor chewing up Rotors

[PAUL LEGUTKI <legutki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I can't believe you are having so much difficulty. I
am basically mechanically incompetent. If I read the
instructions and follow them to a "T", I generally
luck out. When i was younger and more foolish
my ex-wife and I adjusted lifters on 1972 and 1970 
Volvo 4-cylinder engine, put new distributor rotors
and caps on the Volvos and an inline 6 AMC pacer. Is
everything tucked in properly?  Never had to replace a
distributor, though.  ChicagoPaul--- Tom Tait
<TTait@xxxxxxxxxx> 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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