distributor gear DESTORYED!!!

[rusmannx]

so i pulled my dist today to see if had sheared a pin, but no, the gear is missing nearly half of its teeth!

i can't even comprehend how something like this would happen, but what should my next move be? worse yet, how am i going to find a gear to match it???

 

[CruisinGA]

I think I would be more worried about the cam and oil pump than the distributor.

Check to see if the oil pump is siezed with a flat head screwdriver. Then check if it will build oil pressure by spinning it with an electric drill. carefully inspect the condition of the cam gear.

Gumby's idea that the oil pump may have siezed causing the gear to strip seems plausible. The dist. is the connection between the cam and oil pump.

 

[CruisinGA]

I take that back....

i reread your original post, rethought my hypothesis, and here's what I came up with:

When installing new plug wires, you dislodged the dist cap, or pushed one of the contacts down, so when you restarted the rotor caught one of the contacts, and caused the gear to strip.
The pop you heard was the rotor itself breaking and shearing the plastic screws.

Thats my story and i'm stickin to it.

 

[rusmannx]

um..... i tried spinning the oil pump with a large screw driver, and it worked. the pump spins as though it were trying to pump. also, i used a flashlight to look as closely as i could at the cam gear, and it doesn't seem to have any wear at all.

and as for the rotor snapping theory, i was replacing spark plugs, not wires. i don't think i would have made conteact with the distributor in the process. even if i had, i don't think the plastic screws holding the rotor to the advance would have been strong enough to hold back the dizzy and allow the gear (which is steel mind you) to shear.

 

[CruisinGA]

Oh i thought you were changing wires.

The screws are the only thing holding the rotor button on? Toyota dist shafts are flat on one side and the rotor fits this-I assumed the DUI had this as well. The gear on the dist. must also be much softer than the cam gear in order for it to shear but the cam gear to come out unharmed.


Ok so theory #2 is wrong.

have someone look at the oil pressure guage with the key on (obviously) so you know for sure it is pumping.

 

[Gumby]

I think your rotor destructed when the distributor gear tried to climb the cam gear. My guess is your distributor seized. Does the shaft spin very easy?

If your rocker cover is off, you will be able see it pump oil to the rockers if it is working.

 

[rusmannx]

well as luck would have it, the battery is dead. but it's charging. i don't know if the oil pump is making pressure, but i've already put the valve cover back on. i'll check to see if it makes pressure.
i'm in the process of uploading some pics for your pleasure.

 

[rusmannx]

ok, the dist spins easily, and i've got the new rotor on now. i don't have a drill handy to check the oil pressure, but the fact that it moves must be good.

why would my dist gear try to climb the cam gear?

 

[Gumby]

It would always try to climb the cam gear because of the helical shape of the gears. The bushings on the shaft should keep that from happening. There shouldn't be much up and down play in the dizzy shaft. If there was enough bind in the shaft, something would have to give. Total guess on my part, 'cause I don't have the truck in front of me, but kind of an educated guess.

 

[rusmannx]

on closer inspection it looks like several of the gears have been wearing away (they are only shaven a bit, with no jagged edges), so i'm wondering if something was amuck and allowed the gears to shave, eventually there would be enough play to let the gear jump, which would then destoroy it.
pictures are almost ready.

 

[Romer]

Two thing:

1) If you think gears have sheared off, I would drain the oil and drop the pan to clean out any broken metal. Use an OWM gasket and re-install the pan.

2) Before you even try starting, prime the oil pump with a drill (Trust me - I know).

Since the gears are damaged, I would not dick with the dizzy, just replace it.

Is it a GM dizzy? If so the PO probably did not change the gears to match Toyota's

 

[rusmannx]

it's a d.u.i, they are about $400. i've emailed them to find out about the gear.

 

[Romer]

Mine is a DUI, but the gears were swapped to match the Toyota Metric and was tunned and sold specifivally for the FJ40 2F. If this wasn't done, thats probably the cause of your problem.

Don't know how bad it is, but you probably could have it regeared and tested. Is this your DD, or can you afford the down time?

I feel your pain.

Ken

 

[rusmannx]

it's not my DD, but it's mud/hunting season. hate to be broken down.
i would assume i have to get the gear from D.U.I.

 

[Romer]

No, DUI would not have it. You swap it with a Toyota Dizzy. Here is a link from the tech page:

http://www.geocities.com/calcide/fj402fhei.html

There are also other places, that if you send them the dizzy, they will convert it for you.

The following vendor does Fuel Injection, and part of that is converting a GM to Toyota. Send him and e-mail and let him know what you want to do. I don't know anything about him though! There are probably others.

http://www.customefis.com/

 

[nuclearlemon]

and romer doesn't know from personal experience at all....

 

[Romer]

I know about putting them in, but the one I got had the Toyota gears allready. That was something I did not have to deal with.

 

[Romer]

Russ,
Here is the personal experiance Ige is referring too. When I swapped it I didn't have it all the way down and did not engage the oil pump (Bad!!!). Here is my guide on how to swap dizzy's. I hope this is helpful

https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=18700

 

[CruisinGA]

I know about putting them in, but the one I got had the Toyota gears allready. That was something I did not have to deal with.

I understand what you are saying, but i do not see Rus saying anywhere that his DUI was not the toyota one.....

 

[Romer]

I understand what you are saying, but i do not see Rus saying anywhere that his DUI was not the toyota one.....

Lots of people just buy and put the GM version in. I bought mine from a company that modified and tuned it for a land cruiser,

http://www.performancedistributors.com/toyotadui.htm

or he could have had it modified by swapping the gears himself. I am just guessing if Russ or the PO (whoever put it in) had one with Toyota gears, that Russ would know or have been told.
The fact that his gears are messed up, "imples" that there was a gear mismatch.

Your right of course Bailey that this may not be the cause of the problem as he didn't state it wasn't the Toyota one. However, without more info or seeing it ourselves, there is no way to know. Before he does anything, he should replace the damaged gears and he should use Toyota Gears. So, even if this was not the cause of the problem, it needs to be kept in mind as part of the solution.

Let me know if I am missing something! I'm no expert mechanic by any means, just trying to help in an area that I learned more about than I cared to because I learned the hard way.