Distributor noise?

DaryRon Steffey did pass the time by typing:

Look in the base of your distributor. If it has oil/sludge the bushing might be worn out. Usually they just tick when badly worn.

Mine went south at about 100,000 miles. At 100,000+ on my ZJ, a squeeky belt is normal. :/ Especially when it's humid outside.

If the ZJ used V belts I'd say worn pulleys, but I'm not sure that serpentine pulleys wear that way.

You are describing a belt problem. It could be a bearing issue, most notably with the idler pulley, but it is normally the belt that is making noise.

Since you ruled out that the belts were not bad, it leaves open the possibility that they are bad. (the whole double-negative thing ...)

It is within the realm of possibility that the distributor is wearing out. This will be confirmed when it siezes up and the vehicle ceases to operate. If you know that the noise is coming from the distributor, I would replace it.

Jerry

May sound obvious but did you check belt Tension?

My CJ7 had the same sound, especially on a damp morning. I had to learn the correct tension to make it happy.

Billo

While is certainly is within the realm of possibility, a new belt runs about $5, and a new distributor is going to be about $150. And, I drive an '81 that had the original distributor as recently as 2000, so I tend to discount the distributor as the problem. (My distributor got replaced because I installed a fuel injection system, and it required a different kind of distributor, else I would still be using it.)

It's still alot less than a distributor.

Everyone offers good advice, and it seems like the belt is the consensus failure. Question is, how do you get belt noise from the distributor on a

I have ruled that the area that the sound seems

Sure, it doesn't happen often. However, distributors DO fail, and WILL leave you on foot when they do. I am not about to assume from my proximity that it is just a belt noise, and advise some poor dude that he ought not worry about it.

Jerry

The OP already said he'd narrowed it down to the distributor area, and it's pretty common for them to squeak when they wear out, despite the fact that it's never happened to you.

It most likely needs a distributor.

Well, he did say "seems". Engine compartments can throw sounds around I've found and make it tricky to find a noise. I've had pro mechanics tell me first some noise was in the tranny and then come back a couple of hours later and tell me it's in the valve train.

He also could try some of that belt spray stuff which stops squeals. That along with getting the proper tension would help try to eliminate the belt.

Billo

I hear you, but my take is that he has diagnosed incorrectly. The distributor shouldn't get dry bearings already. It may have been submerged, and this fact would change my position on the matter, and I would also go along with the distributor diagnosis. But, given the real world, the belt(s) and/or the alternator bearings are more likely to make a squealing noise than the distributor.

Bill, I know I saw something about some 4.0 distributors that oil-starved the bushing and wore it out pretty quickly. Darned if I can place the info but there were some problems with the distributor in early 4.0 engines. The 87-88 FSM for my MJ has several bulletin sheets about them.

I also went thru 2 distributors - worn shaft and bush> It's just that I've never heard of distributor bearing failure,

Maybe he has misdiagnosed it, but given the fact he's had his head under the hood, and you haven't, I'd believe him. :-)

It's not the norm, but it's still very common to have a distributor make the noise he's describing, many times well below the 100k mile mark. Rhythmic, sometimes intermittent, sometimes louder, sometimes really quiet. "Bird chirp" is a really good description, and if you ever heard one, you'd know immediately that it's not a belt type squeak.

BTW, even cheaper than a $5 belt, how about removing the belt altogether to see if the noise is still there. If it is still there, you've eliminated a shit load of possibilities and it didn't cost nuttin'!

You just haven't worked on enough 4.0L Jeeps. :-)

I am having a similar noise as you describe on the Wife's minivan, and I recently replaced the distributor. I was thinking I need to get her some new belts, but maybe my distributor is toast.

I was putting off working on the belts because I am lazy and they take more effort to replace than the problem they present.

If I took the belts off all together, and started the motor and heard the same noise, the only thing to consider at that point will be the distributor, right? (I wrote that before I read all of your post, then I scrolled down and noticed you came up with the same test. I think there will be two posts here on Monday to describe the results of taking the belt(s) off and checking for noise.)