Distributor wobble

[syclone809]

Has anyone ever seen this or know what causes this? I had a misfire in my engine so I replaced coil, cap, rotor, wires, I still have tach flutter and the misfire, distributor clamp is secure, it just wobbles like its bent, ultimately I'm going to replace the distributor nd module, but I would like to know the cause or any experience similar. TIA

 

[BMFB]

Re: Distributor wobble

I hate to do this

WTF do you mean its wobbling? you mean physically, like you can grab the dizzy and shake it around, and twist it? If so you may have installed the C bracket upside down, and its still loose. Other than that, I have no idea

 

[syclone809]

Re: Distributor wobble

I hate to do this

WTF do you mean its wobbling? you mean physically, like you can grab the dizzy and shake it around, and twist it? If so you may have installed the C bracket upside down, and its still loose. Other than that, I have no idea

Exactly what I thought WTF, Picture a bent axle trying to turn, it wobbles like its loose, but it wont turn by hand or move if you pull up on it, only when the engine load turns it when running, if I push down on it I can feel it spinning off-center and the timing changes. I've showed several people, they neither heard or seen this before, so I figured I'd ask here. I haven't messed with the dizzy itself, I'm assuming its the original, just changed the cap and rotor only. Thanks for your suggestion on the C bracket..

 

[Quickstop [UK]]

Re: Distributor wobble

video -> you tube.

It's pretty basic - bent shaft like you say, but how, or it's misaligned. Teeth worn?

You should pull it and post pics.

 

[SY2455]

Re: Distributor wobble

Hopefully this will help you out. What you may have going on is this and it's easy to check. The distributor housing is a 2 part construction with the main part of the housing being the part that goes down into the engine. The 2nd part is the flat stamp steel plate that is staked to the main part. this is the part that your module is bolted too. When this plate becomes loose you will get what you have until the stamp steel plate wears the house enough to come off or take out your components inside the distributor cap.

These truck are package really tight, but if you can.
1. Lay across the top of the engine so you can get a good look at the distributor.

2. WARNING on this step: Do not get overly aggressive with it. While watching the distributor body part that go into the engine, grab the distributor cap and check to see if there is any movement side to side or front to back on the distributor cap.

3. If you find movement, then you have 2 things that you can do.

4. Remove the distributor and take it apart so you can restake it or it's time to buy a new distributor.

The only reason that GM made the distributor housing this way was to save money knowing that it would last about 150,000 miles on the avg and that is beyond the warranty period. This problem had me going for 4 days on another truck that I had about 10 years ago. At least you have a alum housing to deal with. Sometime later GM went to a plastic distributor housing for the 4.3 engine :rant:.

 

[syclone809]

Re: Distributor wobble

video -> you tube.

It's pretty basic - bent shaft like you say, but how, or it's misaligned. Teeth worn?

You should pull it and post pics.

Let me know if the link works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwjHrjvHX-g

I'm going to pull it this week, I will post pics of the shaft and the gear, I'm curious also to know if it's the gear worn out.

Thanks for the additional info Sy2455, I'm going to buy the reman from autozone

 

[SY2455]

Re: Distributor wobble

Let me know if the link works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwjHrjvHX-g

I'm going to pull it this week, I will post pics of the shaft and the gear, I'm curious also to know if it's the gear worn out.

The link works good, That is the same thing that I was dealing with in posting # 5. Try what I posted there.

 

[syclone809]

Re: Distributor wobble

The link works good, That is the same thing that I was dealing with in posting # 5. Try what I posted there.

Thanks again for the very useful info, i would never have thought of the stamped plate breaking loose, i will update this in a few days with pics or end result.