Stripped distributor gear?

[Pat Redman]

So my jeep die yesterday and started backfiring like a mad man. Thought I had a bad cylinder, but that all checked out. Was running out if things to check when I pulled the distributor and found the gear stripped. I recently put in an electric ignition. Could that have anything to do with it? How does that gear get stripped?

Pat
73 CJ5 with a 304

[OldGreen]

wore out maybe? I have a complete 304 with a good distributor if you are interested. I've decided not to use it when I rebuilt the 7.

[79chevy39.5's]

Check the cam gear too.... they wear over time

[Pat Redman]

I'm hoping I can just replace the gear. But if it gets destroyed again I may have to take you up in that. Because that means I will need a new cam and if I'm doing that might a well take care of having to put oil in it every time I fill up.

[mattawajeep]

Shine a strong light down the distributor hole and take a look at the cam gears before you buy a new gear for the distributor.

[Roman]

The Distributer drive gear on the cam can be accessed from behind the timing chain cover, right?

[Wrench]

I'll echo what a wise Tim told me once:

-pull your main bearing caps. I bet they have metal shavings in them.

I had the same thing happen to my 2.5. The dizzy gear shelled out, took out the cam and all my main/rod bearings. New bearings/cam/distributor fixed it. Then I smacked a magnet on the inside of my oil pan just under the large port where all the oil drops down from the upper end of the engine, hoping it might catch anything the oil filter misses in the future.

[Pat Redman]

Do I have to pull the engine to pull the bearing caps? I have never pulled apart an engine before.

[Wrench]

You have to remove the oil pan to access the main and rod bearings. If this requires removal of the engine, then "YES" is the answer to your question. You may have to remove the engine to swap the cam also. As stated, take a real good look at the cam. Chances are, the dizzy gear ate the cam.

I was able to do it with the engine still installed, but that was on a 2.5 with lots of room in the engine compartment.