distributor tore itself apart?

[94GTMustang5.0]

89 Mustang LX, 5.0 5 speed.

I currently have been battling a cranks-but-no-start issue with my car. It has been determined through troubleshooting that the problem was either my TFI or PIP sensor, I have been busy with school so i have not been messing with the car much.

Last night, for the first time in days, i go to the car and decide to try and crank it for fun. Everything was connected properly, and of course as usual it just cranks constantly and doesnt fire. I go to remove the battery and place it back in the garage, and when i opened my hood i noticed something rather strange....

The first picture of what the distributor looked like before, the day i had bought the car and everything was working.

The second picture is what it looked like when i opened my hood last night.
(Keep in mind, I removed the cap myself. When i opened the hood initially the cap was still attached.)

The TFI has rotated about 45 degrees and is now facing the back of the A/C compressor.
How could it have done that?

I NEVER even touched the distributor before this. The bolt was never loosened, i only removed the cap once before this to check the rotor.

What is the deal here? I looked down inside the distributor and found two broken wires - a red and green one. both are obviously broken off of something, and there are chunks of what appears to be some kind of insulation all throughout the bottom of the distributor. It is tan in color.

I'm getting fed up with all of these problems, i tried twisting the distributor back and it wont budge. what could have caused this?

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

here is another picture, of what the inside of the distributor looks like. to the left of the rotor, you can see the exposed tip of the green wire, obviously broken off from something.

 

[Rick 91GT]

Looks like the hold down came loose, which will allow the dist to rotate... Check the hold down, right now it is just severly out of time and will never start. Pull the dust up to make sure the gear and shaft are in good shaft. After insepcting the dist if all is good bring the motor up to TDC and drop the dust back in and set the timing... should be good.

The green wire I don't remember, Ill have to look at schematics at the shop...

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

the red wire inside is also severed too.

So ill probably be buying a new distributor?

And how would the hold-down have come loose? is that the single bolt that holds it in?

 

[gtcobra302]

One time I had something fall down in the oil pump ( new pump, 2 days on it)(pretty sure it was a bearing out of the oil pump, I think it came apart internally) which completely stopped it from turning and inturn twisted the oil pump drive shaft around and around form top to bottom until it broke and it moved the distributor not that much though.

 

[BlackGT89]

That's what I was thinking, the hold down probably loosened up some way and let the distributor turn until it hit something. You could probably trade it in at Autozone for 60 bucks just to get you back in business.

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

well the only reason i need to get it running is so i can do a compression check to look for a bad head gasket.

Fixing one problem to diagnose another.
This car is great huh?

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

can a compression check be performed on a cold motor?
I cant get the thing started to bring it up to temp.

 

[Rick 91GT]

can a compression check be performed on a cold motor?
I cant get the thing started to bring it up to temp.

It can but its best to be warm... The key is to make sure the cylinders are balanced so a cold test may still suit your needs.

Hold the TB open while you pump it 2-3 times, and take a reading, after you take alll eight cylinders add about a tsp of oil to the cylinder and restest, see if your readings go up...this will tell you if the rings are worn. The oil will seal it up a little and raise the readings.

I would also preform a leak down test if you think something is wrong with the motor..

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

i need to do the compression test to check for a blown head gasket.

i thought i heard someone mention that compression for a stock 5.0 should be around 150 warm and 80 cold

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

i swear to god, i hate this car. it has been nothing but problems. I am 19 years old and just started college, and i have barely gotten two weeks of use out of this thing.

I bought a 5.0 because of its legendary reliability. I love mustangs to my core, but I am slowly diverting away from them.

I cannot seem to win with this car, i took another look inside the distributor. All of the wires down inside it are torn to shreds, the insulation on the pip sensor is in pieces.

A new distributor is $109 from autozone with a new TFI, which i probably need too.

And all of this bull**** im going through, is just so i can get the bastard started, so i can do a compression check for a bad head gasket!

on top of that, i think the clutch is starting to go out!

If someone offered me $1000 cash for this car right now, id take it in a heartbeat. The car is entirely worthless, and it is slowly tarnishing my entire viewpoint on mustangs in general.

 

[2000xp8]

Unless you want more headaches, do NOT buy that autozone distributor. Buying an AZ Tfi is bad enough, then couple it with their distributor and you are really in trouble.
Get a used factory one, or an msd.

Stuff happens, knock off the problems one by one. Getting frustrated just leads to poor repair decisions. First fix the distributor.

Why do you think you have a blown head gasket?
It only happens a few ways on a stock car, you overheated it, or the car never had the coolant changed, it got acidic and ate the gaskets.

 

[BlackGT89]

The MSD distributors are very expensive for a student and they aren't perfect either for that matter. At least the AZ distributors are a reman Ford part.

 

[2000xp8]

The MSD distributors are very expensive for a student and they aren't perfect either for that matter. At least the AZ distributors are a reman Ford part.

There is a difference in a ford reman, and an autozone reman. Completely different standards. The housing is still ford, that's about it.
Nothing lasts from autozone.


I do agree that the msd's are not perfect and they are expensive.
That's also why i suggested get a used original.
Trust me, use anything electrical for AZ, and you will eventually pay the price.

I even used to think i could get away with AZ stuff for my work van, ya right. Figured it was old and i wanted to save a few bucks, not like i was still putting this junk on my mustang.
Well, all the money saved, turned into money lost.
Each and every thing failed and i had to go get ford parts.

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

where can i find a remanufactured ford distributor?

 

[2000xp8]

where can i find a remanufactured ford distributor?

Probably ford, but it will likely cost you an arm or a leg, maybe both.

Use ebay, junkyard, even try car-parts.com, and sort by distance.

 

[94GTMustang5.0]

any particular car i should pull one from? I noticed they have iron or steel gears...does it matter which one I use?

 

[jrichker]

any particular car i should pull one from? I noticed they have iron or steel gears...does it matter which one I use?

Cars with roller cams use a steel gear. Normally that means 85 -95 5.0 Mustangs have the correct steel gear.


If the car has an aftermarket flat tappet cam, it probably is an iron gear.

Using a steel gear with a flat tappet cam is not recommended. Neither is using an irom gear with a roller cam. You must run like metals together to avoid problems.