4wd HEI distributor

[jaykump]

Has anyone purchased this distributor and had problems? I bought mine along with a new cam gear and got 30 miles before the cam gear was shreaded.......Why? Both parts were new and purchased from 4WD.

[blackwater]

Jay, first welcome to the board. Someone will probably move this post because it doesn't sound like you're in true 'review' mode here.

Anyways, I used the 4WD HEI and aside from the fact that they were selling it at the time with zero instructions, it has performed quite well. (Even do it yourselfers need some freakin' instructions from time to time...especially this one.)

This 'gear eating' phenomenon is not restricted to the 4WD HEI. I've read about it with the DUI and the stock dizzies.

[jaykump]

Are you suggesting it was installed incorrectly? or just a bad batch of gears.....and if so which gear is bad the ultra hard distributor gear or the soft cam gear?

[LYKOS]

There is a lot of talk about the dizzy gears on hei's on the FSJ forums also.


Apparantly all the HEI's are subject to this problem.

Bought mine off EBay and hav'nt installed it yet. Hoping it works.



ON TOPIC:

I'm sure someone from 4wd will be in contact soon enough.

[blackwater]

Are you suggesting it was installed incorrectly? or just a bad batch of gears.....and if so which gear is bad the ultra hard distributor gear or the soft cam gear?

No, I wasn't suggesting that you didn't put it back together properly, but I can't tell you whether you got 'bad gears' or not, either. My point was that this is not an unusual problem. One of our board members went through this with a 304 using a DUI dizzy. To the best of my knowledge he never did figure out what was causing the problem. (He's running a 350 now and the dizzy gear destruction problem is a big reason for it.) I know this is a suck answer. I've read that lubrication can cause it. I installed mine and I don't see any real way you could screw things up as far as eating gears if you properly seated the dizzy. (I certainly had my fingers crossed and so far so good.) It has to be some sort of lube or clearance issue. Bulltear.com has a lot of useful AMC motor tech. You might do some reading there, or maybe someone else will post up from here once this thread is moved. (Probably should have posted this in the CJ board.)

[adamcj-5]

Sometimes doubling up the gasket works. Also, shredded gears could come from a worn timing cover. I would double your gasket first and start there.

[jaykump]

No worries.....I have heard a worn Timing cover could cause this too. What I don't understand is why didn't the original gears do the same? Also has anyone heard if buying a matched set of gears the answer? I am hearing alot about the MSD gears.

[adamcj-5]

The MSD gears are stronger. This is a GM distributer so it could be a hair longer. Definately go double gasket. That should fix it. Your mesh is too tight.

[blackwater]

...Definately go double gasket. That should fix it. Your mesh is too tight.

Adam, if I remember correctly, the 4WD dizzy doesn't come with a gasket. I'm pretty sure it sits in the timing cover indentation metal to metal. He's not going to know how much clearance he needs.

[FUBAR]

you should definitely double gasket it.

if you're taking the timing cover off make sure and pack the oil gears with vasiline to prime them.

the reasons for dizzy gear destruction are oil starvation and cam walk. if you didn't experiance them before i doubt they're the problem now so try shimming the dizzy. i used an aluminum sleeve and a gasket so it wouldn't crush as much as two gaskets, but either can work. lube the gears very good before installation. bulltear does sell matched gears and the AMC experts on that board swear by them.

i'm the one that blackwater was talking about going to a SBC 350. my problem was when the machine shop rebuilt the motor they either used bad cam bearings or installed them wrong. they were so screwed up i couldn't tell if the gear or installation was the problem.

EDIT: the reason for double gaskets is that, as adam said, the shaft is too long. when it rides on the oil pump it get's pushed around. this movement makes the cam gears not mesh properly and they get chewed up. when the dizzy is shimmed, the slot still turns the oil pump but doesn't push down on it, it's just spins around, and doesn't "ride on" the oil pump.

[jaykump]

I put the original Dist. back in with new Gears from MSD.....So far I have about 20 miles and pulled the Dist and have zero signs of wear. I believe this confirms that the gear on the Bilet Dist was too Hard......Thanks everyone that gave some info.

Jaykump

[Hill, Bill E]

I had some other problems with my dizzy, (DA12) but the gears I've been checking every 50-100 miles (becuase of what I've read/pics I've seen) My gear is hardened steel, but no mesh/wear problems in the first 1600 miles. (mine is in a 258 Inline 6) I also had a new cam/bearings installed (complete rebuild) It's now running fine after changing the vacuum pot, mech advance springs and internal electronics.

[cj5kb]

Hmmm....When I installed mine it was metal to metal. I'll have to check to see if the gear is worn. I think I have about 400 miles on it.

As far as reviewing it I haven't had a chance to check gas mileage but I will say I have been able to switch from supreme fuel to regular. Before I had bad pinging on regular. I haven't noticed a power difference but part of that may be because I am preoccupied with how the Jeep feels since the Locker install.

[JPatten]

Bought this unit for my 304 about a year ago and have only ran it for maybe 200-500 miles and it ate my cam shaft gear this weekend. To me it appears the distributor gear was cut slightly wrong wearing the cam shaft gear.

[Kelse]

cj5kb

I am thinking about doing a locker,, they very pricey,, so I'm very interested in how the CJ-5 drives on dry pavement with a locker

Thankz :)

OPPS didn't / don't mean to Hi Jack topic,,

[cj5kb]

Overall it isn't bad...just different. The biggest thing is cornering at slow speeds from a straight line or stopping and proceeding into a turn. Can't keep the tires from barking. If I am in a parking lot or leaving a business on to the street I can count on the tires barking 75 percent of the time which I think scares anyone standing near. Don't know what this will do to my tire wear but it's not a daily driver anymore.

When driving at speed it is not noticeable when cornering. The only thing I notice at any kind of speed is when shifting or letting off the gas suddenly. The rear end kind wiggles.

Off road it is seemingly great. I've taken it out to Uwharrie a couple times. I haven't tackled any truly nasty stuff due to inexperienced passengers and not wanting to freak them out to much but the moderate stuff I did go over there was nary a wheel slipped.

[seejay-5]

Is this problem just with the AMC v8 or the six also? I just purchased the 4WD Hardware HEI for my 258 in my CJ-5 and was wondering if the straight six had the same problem ?

[Hill, Bill E]

Is this problem just with the AMC v8 or the six also? I just purchased the 4WD Hardware HEI for my 258 in my CJ-5 and was wondering if the straight six had the same problem ?

I have over 3000 miles on mine now, ('80 CJ w/258) and no gear wear or problems what so ever.

I had problems with the vacuum advance pot and springs. I'm the only one I know that had problems with the advance, so I chalk it up to a freak bad part/assembly.

[seejay-5]

The aluminum timing cover is the problem. After a while they wear out with the old distributor, and when a new one is installed, it has too much play. I'm afraid double gasketing is just a bandaid fix.

[jaykump]

After installing my MSD gears on a different factory distributor....I now have 500+ miles of hard trail and sand dunes driving. When I checked the gears they both look great.....4wd refunded my money on the distributor and cam gear. Thanks....although I had money stuck into changing the cam gear and oil flush and antifreeze.....I believe recently they have changed the part number on the V8 distributor.......I would never put on on my jeep again.