distributor question

[Mark Sims]

is it possible for a motor to fire up and run, although it runs like shit- if the dist. is off one tooth at the cam gear? first time out for me this year after winter lay up. I had the dist out to prime the oil pump. The timing marks never came close when I tried to time it. Will a motor even run with the dist. one tooth off? I have checked the firing order,wires,cap. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you

[Blown 472]

yup, did you put a timming light on it?? or just twist it till it started running better??

[Rexone]

Yes it is possible but it will run poorly because the timing will be so far off.

[Taylor LP]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that unless some kind of obstruction physically stops the distributor housing from turning in the manifold, it wont matter if it's one or more teeth off, as long as you reset the timing to spec after you drop it in.

[Rexone]

That's correct. I'm assuming there is an obstruction since he said the timing marks aren't close (not sure what that means exactly except something isn't right).
Simple fix. Get the engine on TDC with #1 on compression. Pull the cap and observe where the rotor is pointing compared to #1 dist terminal. If it's not slightly past #1 do the following. Pull the distributor and set it back in so the rotor is pointing slightly past the #1 terminal on the cap (advanced). Make sure the dist is seated in the oil pump drive (sometimes requires tapping the starter). Tighten the dist down. It should fire at that point. Put the timing light on it and dial the timing in, end of problem.
[ June 20, 2003, 06:55 PM: Message edited by: Rexone ]