followup distributor questions

They have both the gear and the 'screwdriver' on them.

The gear ties them into the camshaft and the 'screwdriver' goes into the oil pump top to fire up the oil pump.

So basically the cam turns the rotor shaft via that gear which spins up the oil pump via the 'screwdriver.

You can put the distributor in any way by just turning the oil pump slot so the 'screwdriver' end fits in.

There is a 'clean' or 'factory' way to set them. On this engine that means the rotor and vacuum pickup point to the front drivers side of the engine.

The 'only' reason for this is to have a 'standard' where a stock set of plug wires won't cross each other so you don't get misses. The wires install nice and 'pretty' and don't cross.

Mike

DaveW wrote:

OK, I wasn't trying to be cute or anything when I asked if it wouldn't just be easier to turn the base of the distributor to set the timing right at this point. I think I got the distributor in there pretty close, but that the slanted gear caused the distributor shaft to spin a little bit as it seated, so I think I can just finish up by rotating the distributor base. Sometimes it's hard to read people's responses out here in more ways than one. I didn't mean to be a smart-@ss about "wouldn't it be easier to just..." and I *think* that what Mike is saying above is "Yes, if your distributor is in place now and hooked up and not off by a whole lot then do not bother lifting it out again and getting the gears to re-mesh, but rather just rotate the body of the distributor to get it timed correctly." Not sure if his "ouch" was in response to my backfiring through the carb or to my "challenging" Bill's advice on lifting the distributor out and putting it back in. Mike, I have a timing light but I have never used it before. I bought it soon after I bought the Jeep because I had a gift certificate and saw the light at the store pretty cheap and figured I'd grab it. Why do you say I need the guy who owns it? Because he'd know how to use it? Or because somehow setting the timing here is going to be a 2-man job? Thanks again to everyone for all of the input.

"I can hammer it back into shape later." :wq!

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 07:13:28 -0400, Shaggie wrote:

Mike, actually I'm about 95% sure that's what you're saying. You've been really clear in your responses to me. What's confusing me is that some people are posting things like how they dropped their distributor in and it was off by a tooth or two and they pulled it out and put it back in several times, as if it was critical to somehow get it in there lined up with "the right teeth" which doesn't seem to make a bit of sense to me at all. There have been (as expected) some conflicting responses to my questions which can confuse things (or at least can confuse me.) As far as the shaft is concerned, the important things (I think) is that the end meshes with the oil pump and the spiral gear meshes with the cam (hard to mess that up) and that it seats correctly. After that, like you said earlier as long as the rotor is pointing to the terminal on the cap that is wired to cylinder #1 when piston #1 is at TDC on compression stroke (and other cylinders wired to the right terminal ( 1-8-4-3-6-7-5-2 order, clockwise) then it should be good enough to start the Jeep up and then set the timing with a timing light. The shaft and the housing/cap assembly are kind of two different steps in the process and are entirely two different steps if you don't care about where your plug wires are run. Get the shaft to drop in and mesh with oil pump and cam, them you could turn the housing around 20 times if you feel like it to get #1 terminal to line up with the rotor when cylinder #1 is at tdc on compression. Then wire up your tangle of wires. :-) I'm trying to keep #1 at the front on the driver's side, by the way. The only drawback I see for me to not pull the distributor out at this point and reseat it is that I may have to turn the housing a little more in the clockwise direction than I might like which will leave my terminals in sub-optimal positions for my pre-cut wires. Mike, please correct me if that last statement of mine is incorrect. Thanks again.

"I can hammer it back into shape later." :wq!

Shaggie did pass the time by typing:

Acually it does if you have the 4.0 HO I6 engine from 92 on.

The distributor on the I6 only has one hole and zero adjustment, it only goes in one way unlike the older distributors that have a lower clamp.

You do have it figured right.

The only reason to put the rotor in any one spot is just to fit the stock wires nicely.

I have left 'lots' of them 'off one tooth' because it was too much pain to go back in and turn the oil pump, etc. Being off one notch doesn't mess the wires up too much.

My 'ouch' was the thought of what the fire was doing to the new carb. Soot city...

Using a timing light isn't rocket science, I am sure you will figure it out.

Well, off to finish packing, I am going mud running for a couple days.... :-)

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Shaggie wrote:

Lets not confuse the shit out of the poor guy now....

No need to talk apples and oranges or about his VW engine that had to have the distributoer clocked only one way.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

DougW wrote:

I am not that confused.

Theoretically, you are absolutely correct, but in practice, I am more correct. It is certainly POSSIBLE to do what you said, but in all practicality, it never happens that way. As a matter of houskeeping later on, the distributor must be installed in the right place. There are two places that qualify as the right place, and the second of those requires changing the wires around.

I think you might be a tad confused. Mike is right, you can place #1 anywhere you want. If you picture looking down at the top of the cap as if you're looking at a clock on the wall (the clock being the dist cap on a 12 cyl engine with firing order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,..12) You have the rotor pointed to no 1 when the crank's sitting with the #1 cyl at TDC on comp stroke. You don't turn the engine over at all but you lift the dist and turn the rotor to point to the 3 o'clock position. You pull all of the wires out of the cap and plug the #1 wire in the 3 o'clock position, #2 in the 4 o'clock position, etc. it's exactly the same thing.

So, I don't understand what you're saying about it never happening this way, in fact with most shade tree mechs it often happens this way. They pulled the dist and wires and have no clue as to where #1 was originally on the cap so they start where ever they want. Nothing really wrong with that except for the tune-up guy that goes to connect his timing light/scope and hooks on the wire that is the factory #1 position.

I guess that I am making the rash assumption that the distributor cap actually has #1 marked on it, and that one might actually expect the #1 cylinder to be connected to it.

If I avoid making such an assumption, or multiple assumptions - as the case may be - then it is certainly possible to put the distributor any way one wants it to be, or take it which ever way it lands. But the method of putting it in the "right" way is not difficult, and the confusion that can result later from doing it the "wrong" way can be huge.

I understand fully the idea of looking down on the top and placing the rotor in the right direction without regard to the mark on the distributor cap that tells one where the #1 plug should be connected. My point is that should one observe that mark, then there are things to consider that will make that mark true or false.