Hey guys rough weekend, I am in a frustrating spot pulled the distributor on my 250 this weekend, by the way that thing was stuck had to jack up the car run the jack handle under the distributor, and let the car down to pop it out of there,, yes the hold down bolt and braket were removed. Anyway I cannot get the New Distributor to seat down fully it engages the cam gear but won't go down any further , I checked everything on the new distributor.. length width of all areas, gear pattern, etc, It stops short of the O ring in fact there is about a 1/8 to a 1/4 inch of the shaft that isn't going in too, I really don't want to tow this back to the mechanic to get this thing seated, Any ideas how I can get everything lined up to seat I know there is a hex shaped piece in there that has to line up for the distributor to engage, any tips are helpful, my concern is why was the old one so hard to get removed, I don't want to force it an break something. Also this is an embarrasing thing to mention, I was also trying to put in a new fuel pump, was running one of the mounting bolts into block to clean out the threads... and ...well dropped the bolt into the hole for the fuel pump, I heard it hit, I believe in the oil pan, I plan to drop the pan, but wanted to know if it would be safe to start the motor with the bolt down in there, I just want to be able to drive it up onto ramps to pull the pan. Speaking of that, to pull the pan does the motor have to be jacked up? how much work did my blunder just cost me?
Hopefully nothing was bent getting the old one out. To get the new one in from where you are turn the engine over by hand a little and it should go in. Do this by either grabbing the belts and slowly attempting to move the crank or put a breaker bar on the center bolt of the crank and turn clockwise. I personally would not turn that engine till you get the bolt out of there. Before you drop the pan you might try to get one of those magnetic extention pens and try your luck in fishing it out thru the hole?? Who knows you might get lucky other wise drop the pan.
I don't think anything bent, there is a "pin" sticking up out of the hole and it appears to be sitting inthere straight, that old one was just not coming out of there by pulling it by hand. Thanks for the tips, I'll try hand cranking it, should the distributor literally drop further down when everything lines up?
It is likely that your oil pump shaft is what is preventing the distributor from seating all the way. Do what 74 MAV says to get it in, but get the bolt out of the pan first. I dropped the oil pump hex shaft down into the pan on a 200 once and was able to fish it out of the pan with a magnet. I am able to drop the pan on my v8 by removing the crossmember (you may not have one since yours is a 6) and disconnecting the idler arm to drop the steering down. So I would think you can do it on your 6 also.
Thanks for the further advice "1970" where would novices like me be without guys like you guys on this site?
Tell me somthing though is the oil pump operated off the Distributor? I never knew that I thought it was operated elsewhere .
The camshaft has a gear that spins the distributor and the distributor does indeed drive the oil pump via the small shaft in the bottom.
If you haven't already turned the motor, which I would do as a last resort, since it can be hell to re-time it you don't keep track of where you are. If you drop the distributor into the hole, and are off by one tooth, it will not drop in. As it goes in, it will mesh with the gears on the cam and turn toward the left, I think. Verify that your distributor is close to the correct location, or would be when it drops the last bit. Then slowly lift the distributor up while turning the rotor to in the opposite direction of how it spun going on. If you keep slight pressure on the rotor while lifting, you will feel it "click" onto the next gear tooth. It may drop down that last bit after it goes back one tooth. IF that is not where it needs to be, then go forward or backwards by "clicks" until it drops in and is lined up where you want it. I think it will only drop in on every other tooth. Hope that helps, and is clear enough to understand. Could do it for you in 10 seconds if you were here.
You can try from the fuel pump opening and the drain plug but with enough patience and if its laying in the pan you might be able to work it out?? I also once dropped an oil hex drive into the engine but could not get it out. I dropped the pan and I was glad I did not turn the engine. The hex was laying crossed between the two front piston rods
Yeah, DO NOT START IT until you get that bolt out! Regardless of where the bolt is, you will be 100% safe if you drop the pan or otherwise get it out before even turning the motor by hand. You might be able to do serious damage by forcing the motor by hand if that bolt is somewhere sensitive.
Good advise all, Unfortunately I had to leave home in the middle of this mess unexpectedly, then went out of town for the holiday, Not sure when I will get back to it now, I work a partime job next 3 days and stuff going on the next 2 weekends, But I think I may actaully have a part retrieval magnet that my Uncle gave me?? I'll see what I can do with that, I thought about dumping the oil to see if I could access that way, ( drain hole) but if not will try from pump hole, if not next step pull the pan, Thanks again guys. Scooper, I understand exactly what you are saying and will try that it makes a lot of sence. I have a feeling I will have to retime the car though. I hope not but..., lesson learned.
I am thinking I'll get a big magnet on the bottom of the pan and try to "Grab" it with the magnet and pull it towards the area where the pump hole would have access with a magnet on a stick,
My dist never dropped right in even after turning the crank. I actually had to bang on the top of it to get it all the way in there. It was an unusually tight fit. (BTW, This was for a MSD dist into my 302)
Yeah I tried a litle coaxing with a hammer but didn't get aggressive, I didn't want to chance bedning the oil pump shaft, thanks for the input though
