dist gear stripped

[truegraw]

well i pulled my dist and the gear on it was ate up pretty bad, also the gear that turns it inside the engine has bad places on it also. what is it gonna take to change these gears, am i gonna have to pull the engine? any info would be greatly appreciated.

[fast65]

From my experience it's not too difficult to change the auxillary gear (the one inside the engine), there should just be a cover on the front of the motor that you have to remove and then you should be able to access it, of course there's a little more to it than that, but it's not too hard. Do a search on how to do it and you should be good to go. Also, buy a bronze distributor gear and save yourself some trouble down the road.

[truegraw]

would you have any ideal where i could find some step by step on this process?

[SVOeric]

think it's in any cheapo haynes manual.

short version is the aux shaft is setup identical to the cam.

so you pull off the belts, water pump pulley, the crank pulley, timing cover then timing belt. The shaft you need to replace is right behind the aux pulley.

so remove the gear, take out the bolts on the plate that hold it in, and the aux-shaft should pull right out.

If you get stuck, send me a PM, and I'll send you my phone number. I'd offer to come help in person, but I just haven't had the time lately.

[truegraw]

thanks abunch, gonna get this trucks brakes right and then ill crack into the svo. so i deffinatly want both gears bronze, will i need 2 replace any bearings? can i drop oil pan without pullin engine, 2 clean out the broken metal? could this of had something to do with the oil pressure drop after car is warm or it falling on its face around 5k rpm? thanks Eric, ill hit ya up if i get stuck.

[deathbypsi]

Esslinger makes a Billet aux shaft kit that has a replaceable aux shaft gear and comes with a new bronze dist. gear. I used one in my first 2.3t Ranger drag truck. Its a 250.00+ part. Works great but with a bronze dist. gear mine was toast in less than 5000 miles. The teeth were razorblade sharp and I went back to stock Ford parts.
The stock aux shaft gear isnt replaceable.

Do whatever you have to do to get pan off. I havent tried to remove a pan on a 2.3 Foxbody before so I cant advise.I would also replace the oil pump pickup tube.

[SVOeric]

I'm pretty much with Brian on this one...
I think about half the time this happens, replacing the oil pump is good insurance it won't happen again.

I've tried dropping the oil-pan with the engine in, and have decided it's faster to just yank it, and be done with it.

[Gator]

Works great but with a bronze dist. gear mine was toast in less than 5000 miles. The teeth were razorblade sharp and I went back to stock Ford parts.

Thank You. I have been saying this for years.

For roundy-rounders, a bronze gear is just fine.

[deathbypsi]

I have sent Comp Cams a few emails over the past year about having them look into making one of their composite dist. gears for the Lima motors. I have used them in SBF's and they are amazing. Still waiting for a reply

[Horsewidower]

Thank You. I have been saying this for years.

For roundy-rounders, a bronze gear is just fine.

X2.

The only time you want to run a bronze gear is with the billet Aux shaft.

Its best to get a matched set when changing the aux shaft and dizzy gear. If you're going new with the Aux shaft go with a new gear. If you're going for JY used stuff, get both the aux shaft and dizzy gear from the same car. The gears get lapped in together over time, so don't mix and match.

[NavySVO]

It is also recommended that you set distributor shaft end play to keep things aligned and the tooth faces from wandering

[4themasses]

I had this problem on my 84 and couldn't figure out WTH was happening. Took awhile to look into the engine and pulled the Aux. shaft and it was chewed to hell. No idea how that happened but went and pulled one out of the scrap yard, replaced and was all good. Very simple to do. I was about 23 when I did it with about zero exp. tearing into engines.

[truegraw]

called a Ford dealer today, of course they said they didnt have the parts im needing anymore. Guy has me worried now, said that he wouldnt advise trying to change the gear on the dist? wth, seems like that would be a no brainer not sure why he would say that. Esslinger also said they were out of the $265 kits they had and to keep checking back but they would have more soon. looks to me some of the teeth on the dist gear have been gone for a little longer than others, could this of made me loose hp above 4000 rpm, seemed to be falling on its face lately? bye the way the Ford dealer said when they carried the whole dist it sold for $600!!! ouch

[SVOeric]

well you can buy the whole distributor for $60 at auto-zone, or any of the other parts stores..
the aux shaft can be found in any mustang, ranger, or anything else that had the 2.3. usually you can run across them on ebay too. or post a wanted ad, bet someone here might have a spare.

[Horsewidower]

You need to check a different dealer. Most of the supply of aux shafts were sold to a reseller, and a helpful parts guy at the Ford dealer can get them. Replace the shaft and the dizzy gear.

You don't have to replace the whole distributor just the gear. Push the pin out and pull the gear off the dizzy, then replace with the new one.

Or, given how cheap the distributors are, just buy a full reman. If I recall, the difference in price is small. Try some of the vendors here, I don't know if they have the distributor, but its worth supporting the folks that support us. Failing that, I know some of the internet parts sellers have them.

I didn't have the problem when I was running diesel oil, when I went to a new synthetic, I started having the problems. So maybe you want to check the zinc content in the oils that you use. Seems that this problem is on the rise after the changes to oil content over the last couple of years. Maybe coincidence, maybe not.