Distributor wont go all the way down on new motor

craigwhite89gt · Feb 8, 2006

As topic says i jus got a 306 built with Fcam .. Stockcrank .. Aluminum heads... 1.6 RR .. if any of this matters .. But I took the distributor from my 89 motor and it wont go all the way down... It feels like the shaft is bottoming out...and there is about 1/8" gap - 3/16" Any ideas??......

dastang2 · Feb 8, 2006

yeah, get a 1/4 socket and turn the oil pump shaft until the distributor slides on it. that is the problem

PRO50SC · Feb 8, 2006

Try rotating the motor by hand and it should drop in.

craigwhite89gt · Feb 8, 2006

well i had my father try turning the oil pump and he said he still cant get it to go all the way down, (since the car is at his house).. we have the motor set with number 1 cyl up and crank on 0 .. ive never had this problem with my old motor...

PRO50SC · Feb 8, 2006

Are you using the same drive rod or a different one?

craigwhite89gt · Feb 8, 2006

same thing that was in my 89 .. I belive the motor i jus got built may be a bit older block but im not certain.. I could feel the gears line up and then it drops down.. But not all the way .. you can feel the shaft like bottom out with about 1/8" in to go

PRO50SC · Feb 8, 2006

Hmmm, no help for ya there. Sorry

craigwhite89gt · Feb 9, 2006

Thanks im gonna keep tinkering with it and go ask some ford techs what they think...

TC93 · Feb 9, 2006

Might sound crazy but the oil pump shaft maybe in upside down. The stock shaft is flat on one end and the other has a tapper. The flat end should be in the oil pump and the tapper end up facing the bottom of the dist...

Black1987Stang · Feb 9, 2006

Myke86GT said:
Might sound crazy but the oil pump shaft maybe in upside down. The stock shaft is flat on one end and the other has a tapper. The flat end should be in the oil pump and the tapper end up facing the bottom of the dist...

Never heard of that, mine fit in both ways.

According to a Mustang book I have by Willian Mathis it says..."If you have upgraded your oil pump driveshaftto one of the aftermarket or Ford Motorsport heavy-duty oil pump driveshafts, often it will be necessary to cut 1/2" off the enf of your efi distributor to accomodate the longer HD shaft" Soo sounds like you have an aftermarket oil pump rod?

FORCED2DV8 · Feb 9, 2006

Are you getting the distributor to engage?? With the dist, in when you turn the motor over does the dist turn?? If so and its still not sitting down all the way, you may have to modify the end of the dist. housing. OR maybe search for a smaller dist, or the one made to go with that setup, if there is such a thing.

pistonhead351 · Feb 9, 2006

is it a stock distributor or a remanufactured one? when we built my brothers motor we had the same problem. it ended up being the pin hole on the gear of the reman dist. it was about an 1/8 inch off where it should of been. try using the stcck gear if you still have it.

Rick 91GT · Feb 9, 2006

What is the distance from the bottom side of the gear to the bottom of the dist?

Who built the motor? Do you know what brand pump shaft it is?

It is not uncommon to have to trim the dist a little when using a ARP shaft, the FMS and the PROBE shafts tend to have enough recessed area. The dist requires a clearance between the shaft and pump once the dist is installed, this should have been checked or set when the motor was built.

When I build a customers motor and do not have there dist I mok it up with a stock one, and send the measurements so they can adjust if they need to. It is nearly impossible to adjust the clearance or check the clearance once the front cover and oil pan are on.

vristang · Feb 9, 2006

When I built the 408w I had the same problem. Ended up cutting the end of the dist. At first I thought I had purchased the wrong dist, but after scrounging around at the local Napa store, I did not find any dist that was the correct length.

Until reading this thread I had assumed that I had the wrong dist. for my application. Now I think that it is because I used an ARP shaft.

jason

Jozey · Feb 9, 2006

i had to trim my ARP shaft just little not much and worked like a charm

90lxfoxbody · Feb 9, 2006

if your car is fuel injected - check your fuel rails! i bought a new billet distributor and it wouldn't seat right for anything. i found the problem, it was stuck against the right hand fuel rail. i loosened the two screws holding the fuel rail to the intake then it slid right in, then tightened the fuel rail back down once i had the timing set.

Jack's95gt · Feb 9, 2006

On my engine rebuilt I install a new oil pump and shaft and the distribuor bottomed out on the clip on the shaft. I ground a bit off the bottom of the distributor shaft and it runs fine.

craigwhite89gt · Feb 9, 2006

Grinded about 1/8" off and worked~~ Check my other thread tho for my new list of problems

5spd GT · Feb 9, 2006

So you all are grinding the bottom of the distributor off about an 1/8" inch? Sounds kind of "riggy"...but I guess if that is what needs to be done

Rick 91GT · Feb 10, 2006

5spd GT said:
So you all are grinding the bottom of the distributor off about an 1/8" inch? Sounds kind of "riggy"...but I guess if that is what needs to be done

That is pretty much standard when using any aftermarket dist or a ARP shaft. I use the Ford Shafts because they have a deeper recessed area for the dist to go onto on the top side. I have had to modify a few stock ones as well.

Distributor wont go all the way down on new motor

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