Distributor gears old vs. new (pic)

[davreh99]

This is a follow up from all my misfiring problems.
I hope these pics help someone someday!

My previous thread...
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f107/p...tinued-295063/

[Teeleton]

Yep, that's what mine looked like when I pulled it out. Only I had three teeth in a row completely missing. Well, not completely. I found little bits of them all over the place throught the engine. Had some nice stripes in the crank journals, too.

What did you cam look like? If your distributor gear is all worn out, the cam very likely is too. Putting a new distributor drive gear and running the old worn out cam is going to eat your new distributor gear in short order.

Teeleton

[davreh99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Teeleton

Yep, that's what mine looked like when I pulled it out. Only I had three teeth in a row completely missing. Well, not completely. I found little bits of them all over the place throught the engine. Had some nice stripes in the crank journals, too.

What did you cam look like? If your distributor gear is all worn out, the cam very likely is too. Putting a new distributor drive gear and running the old worn out cam is going to eat your new distributor gear in short order.

Teeleton

Ohh no. I never thought of that! Took me 4 yrs to figure out the dist. was bad

I just want to be an "Oil change, spark plug guy" , but with this truck, I've learned more about vehicles than I have my whole life.
Anyway, point well taken. I'll add it to my list. Now that the dime is back on the road, my list is getting pretty thick, quick...

[Canjun]

My 1997 has 215k miles on it, and has the same problem. It rained yesterday, and I never started it. Now I get up early to go down to my boat, and well, it is 11:30 and I am still home reading this forum.

I went to FL last September, and it rained here for 4 days, and I had to get a tow out of the airport parkade. Dealership said that the cam timing was off 10 degrees, and said that it was either the distributor gear or the timing chain--or both.

How did you get the distributor out of the truck with the engine still in? It doesn't look like there is much room.

My truck has so many miles on it, but the compression is fine. (I took good care of it) I've driven it for so long with the timing problem, I've probably whacked the cam too. I probably put 20k in it since it started acting up. Unfortunately I too took it to a dealer, and they said that it was the coolant temp sensor. WRONG! So until I had to take it somewhere when it wouldn't start at the airport, I spent months chasing down the wrong problem.

I noticed a big power loss too, even when it is running OK. Is that consistent with your symptoms?

The truck is in really good condition for 10 years old. It came from Atlanta, and the first few years I had it, I didn't drive it in the winter. I'm thinking if I have to do the entire timing system, I might as well pull the damned engine and put new rings, bearings and seals while I'm at it. Any thoughts?

[Canjun]

Hey Teeleton:

I think that the guy at the dealership that said it was either the distributor gear or the timing chain said that the cam gear was harder and that you could just replace the distributor.

The rule of thumb is to always replace meshing gears as a set. Doing this, as alluded to in my previous post would require a huge amount of work--because another rule of thub is to always replace the lifters and cam together.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't try to find just a good gear and see how long it lasts before tearing down an otherwise good motor.

[Teeleton]

The cam and lifters thing is mostly for older style lifters. Not so much for roller motors like the 4.3L. I'm not saying you necessarily have to replace the cam. I recommended that you check it.

Teeleton

[draginlow]

ok my best friend work at a gm dealer and he sad they made the gear on the dist softer to save the cam "a old problem they had"
gm now has a update gear for sale i can get the part number Tuesday if any one wants it

i have fixed 5 or 6 of them they used the same gear on all vortec's 4.3-5.7

[draginlow]

oh and just check the cam gear "i never do unless it is realy bad" the gear on the dist is made to wear

[Canjun]

I noticed that Advance Auto Parts has an AC Delco gear for $50. I'm assuming that it is the same as what you can get from the dealer. Probably cheaper at the dealers.

Damn truck wouldn't start again this morning. Has to be that damned gear. Ran fine once I set it out in the sun and it finally got started.

[O3S-DIME]

what was the problem that made you look at the gear. was it pinging or have a miss fire like the timing was off, low on power. what was the symptoms. i have a 96 with high miles that does and was thing it was a sensor or something, but it could be something like that.

[draginlow]

if you are going down a hill and you let off the gas and get back on it and it miss fire's
or at a idle or a steady speed for a long time
i beet 70% of miss fire problems have a worn gear
it is easy to pull and check

[Canjun]

Hey Suncad, you're just up 69 from me. I'm the other side of Capac.

Anyway, the distributor gear was not my problem. Changed it last night, put it back in, and it sill won't start. I'm thinking the timing chain, now.

I'm sure that after it dries up around here that it will start again. $56 at the dealer for the gear. It really only took about 20 minutes. The only pain is getting the 10mm bolt that holds the distributor down out because it is under the base of the distributor and you can't get a wrench in there.

The dealer that said it may be the gear said that the cam timing was out 10 degrees and said that it was either the timing chain or the cam gear.

My gear didn't look all that worn.

Dime - I read the TSB when I was at the dealer. Trucks up to 1997 were affected. That may be your problem.

[bilkster55]

Quote: Originally Posted by davreh99

This is a follow up from all my misfiring problems.
I hope these pics help someone someday!

My previous thread...
http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f107/p...tinued-295063/

My 2002 extreme 4.3L is having the same situation. I don't know much about the mechanics, but dose anyone know what could cause the gear to get ground up? I'm currently debating a new motor or a new truck, and i would hate to get rid of mine. any insite would help...

[MikeInCtown]

Canjun, if the truck runs fine when nice out but suddenly doesn't start after a rain the problem would not normally be the dist gear. I would be looking at plugs, wires, cap, rotor, or connections at the module or coil.

Also, a worn dist gear would not necessarily mean the camshaft gear is toast. They make cam gears harder and make the dist gears softer so that any failure is easy to replace.

[Yogi]

Old thread.

[fjm568]

Gear change didn't do a thing for mine. Old gear still looked good. What fixed my stutter or miss problem was new plug wires. Look for the simple stuff first.