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BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER.... A's, G's & E's


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    Electronic distributor install problem

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    Electronic distributor install problem Empty Electronic distributor install problem

    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:54 pm

    So I opted to put the Mopar Electronic distributor on my new van's 318.

    following all the directions... noted the location of the rotor and the vacuum advance nub before taking old distributor out...


    but when I put the new distributor in the shaft will only engage the oil pump drive when the rotor is about 30 degrees out of phase with the position of where the old rotor was pointing. Looking at the shaft on both dizzies while they are out of the engine confirms that the rotor and end of the shaft are indeed out of phase on the two...

    what now?

    Do I need to pull the plugs and bring #1 up to TDC with the old dizzy in and note the location of #1 wire... then do the same with the new dizzy and just rotate the housing until the rotor is pointing at the #1 wire on the cap?

    or did I get the wrong replacement? Shouldnt it be in phase with the old one?
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:19 pm

    Here are pics of the two installed, fully seated in the block.

    old
    Electronic distributor install problem Olddizzy

    new
    Electronic distributor install problem Newdizzy
    donivan65
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    Post by donivan65 Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:20 pm

    The important step is making sure the rotor WAS pointing in the same place on the new one as the old one when you put it in,,,,,,AND,,,the odds of the oil pump shaft lining up would be slim, so you should of just cranked the engine while holding a little pressure down on the distributor until they lined up and fell in place. It don't matter where that oil pump lines up, let it decide where it wants to fit in. But if you are mixed up now,,,,you need do that #1 TDC thing,,,,,if you did not crank the engine, pull it back out, put the rotor where the old one was,,,,,crank the engine until it falls in place,,,,,,,
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:24 pm

    donivan65 wrote:The important step is making sure the rotor WAS pointing in the same place on the new one as the old one when you put it in,,,,,,AND,,,the odds of the oil pump shaft lining up would be slim, so you should of just cranked the engine while holding a little pressure down on the distributor until they lined up and fell in place. It don't matter where that oil pump lines up, let it decide where it wants to fit in. But if you are mixed up now,,,,you need do that #1 TDC thing,,,,,

    engine hasnt moved... I can put the old one back in and have it point to the right place... drops right in... looks just like the original picture of the old dizzy.

    the new one will NOT drop in with the rotor pointing at the same place as the old one.
    however
    the new one WILL drop in with it pointing to the wrong place as pictured.

    cranking the engine while holding the rotor in place until it fell in would screw it all up royally.
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    Post by donivan65 Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:31 pm

    It wont drop right in,,,,,as long as the teeth mesh, you are in time,,,,,its OK to crank it,,,,,you are just turning the distributer shaft when you are cranking the engine until the distributor FINDS the oil pump and snaps in place,,,,so its like a 2 step process,,,,,,
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:34 pm

    donivan65 wrote:It wont drop right in,,,,,as long as the teeth mesh, you are in time,,,,,its OK to crank it,,,,,you are just turning the distributer shaft when you are cranking the engine until the distributor FINDS the oil pump and snaps in place,,,,so its like a 2 step process,,,,,,


    but the rotor needs to turn in time with the pistons going up and down... I'm not quite seeing how turning the engine over with out turning the rotor in time would NOT effect timing. It has to.
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    Post by donivan65 Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:36 pm

    As soon as you feel the rotor grab when you are lining it up, you are in time,,,,locked and loaded,,,,,OK to crank the engine and waiting for the oil pump shaft to snap in place and the distributor to bottom out where it belongs,,,,,,while you are cranking,,,,,
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:39 pm

    donivan65 wrote:As soon as you feel the rotor grab when you are lining it up, you are in time,,,,locked and loaded,,,,,OK to crank the engine and waiting for the oil pump shaft to snap in place and the distributor to bottom out where it belongs,,,,,,while you are cranking,,,,,

    thats just it..the rotor will ONLY grab and hence allow the distributor to fully seat into the block when it is pointing in the wrong direction.
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    Post by donivan65 Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:45 pm

    As soon as the rotor won't turn as you are putting the distributor in, you are in,,,,,you need to go down an inch,,,,,the gears are in 3/4" its just that last 1/4" of the oil pump that needs to line up,,,,,Then the other thing is, the gears are slanted,,,,you need to start like an inch before so as the gears twist going down, it ENDS UP where the old one was pointing,,,,,,
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    Post by donivan65 Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:51 pm

    Now maybe,,,,if that black rotor is at 1 oclock and that white rotor comes in at 4 oclock, then you need to allow for the twisting of the gears,,,,,,start the white rotor at 10 oclock and when it finally goes in, it ends up at 1 oclock like the original black one,,,,,
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:05 pm

    donivan65 wrote:Now maybe,,,,if that black rotor is at 1 oclock and that white rotor comes in at 4 oclock, then you need to allow for the twisting of the gears,,,,,,start the white rotor at 10 oclock and when it finally goes in, it ends up at 1 oclock like the original black one,,,,,

    thats just it... the 318 dizzy doesnt have a gear on the dizzy shaft.

    its a different set up from a SBC or SBF.

    I got the answer from another forum.

    The dizzy drive gear sits in the block, not attached to the dizzy shaft. The dizzy is driven by a slot in the middle of the gear. That gear can be raised and rotated until the slot will line up with the new dizzy shaft key when the rotor is pointing to the right spot.
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    Post by Guest Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:14 pm

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    Post by jkr Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:58 am

    when all is set properly : #1 piston on top dead center of compression stroke the slot for the distrubtor should point to the first bolt for the intake on the drivers side. this will place the vacume advance in line with the back of the block like in your first picture. possibly what happend was the oil pump shaft stuck to the old dist when you lifted it out. just put it in and move all the plug wires one hole. # 1 is usually marked on the cap and by doing the first two steps the engine will be fine to start.
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    Post by donivan65 Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:51 pm

    That sounds like a good answer,,,,on that black rotor,,,,,is that where it just happened be when you took the cap off or did you have the engine set up at TDC and that was pointing to #1?
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    Post by Guest Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:04 pm

    donivan65 wrote:That sounds like a good answer,,,,on that black rotor,,,,,is that where it just happened be when you took the cap off or did you have the engine set up at TDC and that was pointing to #1?

    thats just where it happened to be, so the new one had to point in the same direction.

    I got the oil pump drive gear to come out (putting a screw driver in the dizzy drive slot at the top and rotating it so that it rode up on the cam gear, then rotating it a couple of teeth at a time until the rotor lined up when the dizzy went back in). Put the new dizzy in, the electronics control module, a new starter relay while I was at it.... and now she runs tip top.

    I need to move the electronic control module. I had mounted it to the radiator support, but after a short trip around the block I found that area gets too hot. I'm going to mount the module outside the dog house behind the drivers seat, drill a hole in the side of the dog house(using a rubber grommet to seal it back up and keep from chafing the wires) and route the wires through there. But that comes tomorrow.

    Right now its time for a cold beer.
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    Post by Guest Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:36 am

    You gotta watch those rebuilders too. Most don't know that that drive gear slot MUST line up with that first intake bolt when the engine is at TDC. You just can't drop that gear in and think it's okay.

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