I had to change the drive gear on my disributor yesterday and now I can't get the engine retimed again. I got to start once but the timing was way to high and it idled like crap. I moved the rotor over a few teeth and now it will sputter and pop and won't run. I have set the engine at number one TDC and put hte rotor on the #1 plug wire and it still won't start. I have got to pull the gear again today because I need to drill some new holes in it becasue the pre-drilled holes are in the wrong spot. Do I need to line the rotor up with the pin the gear or does it matter?

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

Remember, when the timing mark is at TDC there are actually two cylinders at TDC, #1 and #6.

The way I have always done this is to set the timing mark at TDC, pulled the valve cover, and felt which pair of rocker arms were loose by shaking them side to side. The cylinder that is at TDC on the compression stroke should have no force applied to the rocker arms and they should wiggle back and forth freely. You want the #1 rocker arms to wiggle for you.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

The pre drilled hole needs to be positioned so to minimize the up / down movement or clearance.

The gear can be positioned anywhere on the shaft and you can get to the proper timing. You may need to loosen and reposition the distributor's hold down plate by using the bolt and slot on the bottom side of the distributor.
DD

Full(!) discussion of distributor drive pinion installation gymnastics is Here. Slant-6 distributor wrench is Here.

Don't feel bad about not getting the dist in proper time on the first try. Seems like it almost never happens that way no matter how carefully you line everything up. Heck, I had my '71 out of commission overnight due to this same screwup on a simple distributor swap!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Jeb, Provided you have the Dist. Gear installed correctley and the Timing mark up when # 1 Has both the intake and exhaust closed this is what your dist should look like after it goes in.


Rember to back it counter clockwise so when you set it in the teeth mesh to produce a copy of this image.


I also keep a huge print out of this pic in my shop manual along with pics of tranny linkages etc. so I can put it togther right the first time and not pull out may hair.

Greg

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http://www.youtube.com/hyperpack

Well, I got it fired up today. Reinstalled the drive gear the correct way and I also made a distributor wrench. If you don't want to spend the $20 to get a wrench, you can make one yourself. I patterned this after the one Charlie made. just make a bend in a 7/16 wrench and use a short bar for a T-handle. Works great. Here is a pic.



I haven't had a chance to drive my car yet, as I am going to drain my oil tommorow to remove any pieces of drive gear that may be floating around in it. Better safe than sorry!

Thanks everybody for your help

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2