v8 distributer

[Garth]

Distributor, V8 only of course
How-to Remove your distributor, and check serviceablility and re-install

Remove the distributor wiring harness from the distributor

Remove the cap from the base of the distributor, dont disconect the wiring, make sure you leave this in place, simply place cap with leads out of the way.

Rotate the engine by hand at this stage, WARNING, do not use key to start the car, rotate it by hand, a firm grip on the belt will allow you to spin, if that fails, put a ratchet with a breaker bar on to the crankshaft pulley and rotate it. You will need to rotate the engine untill it's at top dead center of the compression stroke. To tell if it's at top dead center on compresin stroke, the distributor rotor will point directly at spark plug no1 on the spark plug wiring terminal, also, the timing mark on the harmonic ballancer will be inline with the zero mark on the timing scale.

This part is tricky, with some liquid paper, or even a white permanent marker, mark the posotion of the rotor on the distributor housing.

Where the distributor enter's the block, mark a line so when the installation is started you can line it up exactly.

To remove the distributor from enigne, remove the hold down bolt, (12mm or 1/2 inch, if my memory serves me correctly) and remove the clamp, now lift the distributor out of the engine block.

AT THIS STAGE, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT NOT TO ALOW THE MOTOR TO TURN, IF THE MOTOR TURNS YOU WILL NEED TO LOCATE TOP DEAD CENTER AGAIN.

When the dissy is out, check the shaft for any side to side looseness, wear or lack of lubrication, you also want to check for any obvious damage, damage could be a chip in the dissy cap, or the rotor could be rusty.

Connect a volt meter to the distributor shaft and turn the dissy by hand, you should get readings somewhere between .05 and 11.6 volts, if you fail to gain these readings replace the hall effect switch located on the distributor base or you can simply replace the entire distributor base.

One common cause for loss of power with the 5lt is a crack or points in poor condition inside the distributor, a crack in the distributor cap is easily spotted, it will generally show up as a stress mark inside the cap itself. Poor condition points on the other hand are spotted by looking for a build-up of any matter on the points inside cap where the rotor meets the points for the firing sequence.

Re-fit is the same as removal but only in reverse, be careful not to tighten the hold down bolt or clamp to tight, refer to the electrical section of this forum for specific torque settings should you require them.

Always remember basic safety. There is no need to remove the battery for this procedure.

cheers
garth
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