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1983 toyota distributor not turning

i've got the above pickup that broke down on me one cold morning when I tried to start it. The motor has just gone through a rebuild. Its got all new timing components new crankshaft with all new bearings, new pistons,rods, water, oil pumps, rebuild carb, etc. anyway my first diagnosis was a bad ignitor since i wasnt getting any power to the distributor or coil for that matter. But upon further inspection i found that my distributor wasnt turning when i took the cap off (thus no spark because of pickup coil in distributor). I know this sounds bad but i am hesitant to believe it is the timing chain because i'm pretty sure i would have noticed the sound, and effects of a broken timing chain. in addition it smelled like gas after cranking it for a minute, which makes me believe the fuel pump is still working. the fuel pump runs off the cam so the timing chain couldnt be broken in this case. has anybody ever heard of the distributor gear pin breaking on these motors or somehow a broken distributor shaft? any input would be helpful. The truck is broken down 3 hours from my current location and i am reluctant to get it towed if i can just drive over there and slap in a new distrubutor and time the thing. Thanks

-Kurt

Reply to
Kurtl
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Maybe find out if the cam is turning by looking down in the oil cap. If it is, your chain is ok. Is the distributor shaft turning at all?

just a couple ideas.

Reply to
ed

These toyotas have internal timing chains and not belts.

ed wrote:

Reply to
Kurtl

You can get a really good view of the distributor gear where it meshes with the cam if you simply remove the valve cover. There are 4 12mm head nuts holding the cover on, and underneath those nuts are metal/rubber grommet assemblies that will need to be pried or threaded off of the V/C studs. You may want to bring a large slipjoint channel lock plier to break the grommets free with, then you can spin them off (upon installation they instantly mold around the stud threads). You can save these presumably newish grommets for reuse if you are careful. You will need to move the EGR modulator, vacuum hoses and assorted vacuum control valves out of the way, so be sure to mark, photograph, or otherwise remember where they go for future reassembly. Bring a flashlight to see down into the head, the gear is about 6" down. Unplug the distributor connector to kill spark, then have someone crank the engine while watching both the cam and the dist gear to see what has failed.

Upon final reassembly of the valve cover you should remove the half-moon rubber plugs, clean the sealer off of them and their mating surfaces, and apply new RTV sealer right before going back together.

Toyota MDT in MO

Reply to
Comboverfish

They do, and they usually give good warning before they fail, in the form of horrible noises.

Put your hand over the intake when the engine is turned over. If it isn't sucking, the valves aren't opening and closing.

But the fact that it's a recent rebuild would make me VERY suspicious. I'd tend to go back to the guy the rebuild came from, and let HIM figure out what he screwed up.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

These things are usually pretty easy to find... A timing belt is the first thing that comes to mind...but it might not be that.

You can pull the distributor and see if the gear is stripped, or has come loose from the shaft. Perhaps the shaft is broken...It isnt turning anyway, so you havent lost anything by pulling it out.

Reply to
hls

I responded in generalities, without checking whether it had a belt or chain... In any case, a broken chain or belt is probably high on the list of statistical probabilities.

But there are certainly a lot of other things that it can be.

Reply to
hls

Well i went back to the truck and pulled the valve cover, turns out the distributor shaft froze completely and took out the distributor gear on the camshaft as well as the worm gear on the distributor itself. I happened to bring both a new distributor and a new gear. she fired right up after I put them in. What a relief. Thanks for all of the responses.

Reply to
Kurtl

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