what causes this? - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

special70gmc · 05-18-2005, 01:31 PM

what causes the grear on the distrubuter that meets the cam to strip out?
my engine died on me like 2 weeks ago ans i just pulled the dizzy out and found the gears on my msd probillit dizzy rounded over (that must be the problum duh

) so how does this happen and is my cam ok? is the rest of my $6000 motor at risk? or should i change the oil and try to forget it happened? thanks -kyle

**StingRay** · 05-18-2005, 02:32 PM

What kind of cam do you have? A roller cam with a steel gear will eat up a dizzy gear. You need a bronze gear with a roller cam. Likewise a bronze gear on a cast cam might not be the ideal combo either.

stllookn · 05-18-2005, 03:02 PM

If you destroyed the dizzy gear and all the metal is in the engine you had better tear it down and do an inspection before you risk more damage.

kxmotox247 · 05-18-2005, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StingRay

What kind of cam do you have? A roller cam with a steel gear will eat up a dizzy gear. You need a bronze gear with a roller cam. Likewise a bronze gear on a cast cam might not be the ideal combo either.

Yeah... what he said. I just bought a new GM distributor from a guy who wasn't able to use it. It came in a new gm crate motor with a roller cam. It's a $300 distributor but it has the special gear. I called my machinist to ask if I could use it with my cast cam and he said heck no. But he said to buy it anyway and we'd get a different gear for it. This was all news to me yesterday.

Here's the special gear for roller cams and the distributor I bought. I'm pretty sure you cam buy aftermarket gears too. Don't know if the price is any better or not.

http://www.flatlanderracing.com/distgmbb.html

Tx Firefighter · 05-18-2005, 08:42 PM

Summit sells a bunch of them. Looks like they start at about 35 bucks.

CLICK HERE

special70gmc · 05-18-2005, 09:19 PM

thanks everybody i pulled the cam today to check it out and it seems ok but im going to replace it anyway with a bigger solid lift cam the old was hydrolic flat tappit but i need to figure out what went wrong so it doesnt happen again it looks like the gears werent meshing corectly because all the teeth are worn on the front edge to a point untill the one side of the dizzy teeth snaped and broke off ill post pics tomarrow, but i was thinking that maybe since i put the new intake on 2 months ago that the hight of the ditributer in relation to the cam is wrong? causing the mesh to go wrong maybe? ill have to wip out the ruler and figure out is the dist ride height is correct thanks -kyle

4x4Poet · 05-19-2005, 05:30 AM

Does all that mean that the dist gear material matched the cam after all?

05-18-2005, 01:31 PM	#1
special70gmc Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: long island, new york Posts: 1,333	what causes this? what causes the grear on the distrubuter that meets the cam to strip out? my engine died on me like 2 weeks ago ans i just pulled the dizzy out and found the gears on my msd probillit dizzy rounded over (that must be the problum duh ) so how does this happen and is my cam ok? is the rest of my $6000 motor at risk? or should i change the oil and try to forget it happened? thanks -kyle __________________ 1986 c-10 swb 5/7 drop 20'' coys 1958 belair 2door Last edited by special70gmc; 05-18-2005 at 01:32 PM.

05-18-2005, 02:32 PM	#2
StingRay Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Saskatoon,SK,Canada Posts: 2,476	What kind of cam do you have? A roller cam with a steel gear will eat up a dizzy gear. You need a bronze gear with a roller cam. Likewise a bronze gear on a cast cam might not be the ideal combo either. __________________ Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada

05-18-2005, 03:02 PM	#3
stllookn Saving 1 truck at a time! Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kent, WA Posts: 6,465	If you destroyed the dizzy gear and all the metal is in the engine you had better tear it down and do an inspection before you risk more damage. __________________ '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 400/TH400 '68 C20 Longhorn 50th Anniversary 468/TH400w/buckets '72 C20 Halfhorn (Longhorn w/o cab and front clip) '69 Flxible Cruiser (look up ugly in the dictionary)

05-18-2005, 08:42 PM	#5
Tx Firefighter Watch out for your cornhole ! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Azle, Texas Posts: 14,162	Summit sells a bunch of them. Looks like they start at about 35 bucks. CLICK HERE __________________ I'm on the Instagram- @Gearhead_Kevin

05-18-2005, 09:19 PM	#6
special70gmc Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: long island, new york Posts: 1,333	thanks everybody i pulled the cam today to check it out and it seems ok but im going to replace it anyway with a bigger solid lift cam the old was hydrolic flat tappit but i need to figure out what went wrong so it doesnt happen again it looks like the gears werent meshing corectly because all the teeth are worn on the front edge to a point untill the one side of the dizzy teeth snaped and broke off ill post pics tomarrow, but i was thinking that maybe since i put the new intake on 2 months ago that the hight of the ditributer in relation to the cam is wrong? causing the mesh to go wrong maybe? ill have to wip out the ruler and figure out is the dist ride height is correct thanks -kyle __________________ 1986 c-10 swb 5/7 drop 20'' coys 1958 belair 2door

05-19-2005, 05:30 AM	#7
4x4Poet Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: "Under Montana skies." Posts: 1,836	Does all that mean that the dist gear material matched the cam after all? __________________ '71 GMC K20 Suburban, '71 GMC K10 Suburban, '72 Chevy C10 CST Suburban, '72 Chevy K20 clunker pickup.



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