Went for a drive this afternoon to get out of work mode and about 15 miles from home, lost all power. Roadside diagnosis is the distributor shaft was no longer turning. I had just replaced it last week to fix an intermittent timing issue due to slop in the shaft. It was replaced with a re manufactured one via Orielly.

Got it towed home by Brother in law. Pulled dist and the gear is worn badly where it meshes. Looked at the cam gear through the dizzy hole and yep it is also very worn and thin where the gears mesh.
The original dizzy gear was fine, no issues at all so either I did something wrong during the install or the replacement dizzy was defective in some way.
Looks like I need to get in way past my comfort zone now and will probably take it somewhere to get fixed.

What could have caused this? The engine was running very good, great idle, great pickup and no issues at all with the new dizzy until this.

Errr frustrated..





Brett

Here is a shortcut solution

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1922

i see you have a 5.0, is it a roller cam engine? if so and you put a distributor with an earlier distributor drive gear that is cast and not a steel drive gear as the roller cam requires, the gears will destroy each other

I'm thinking by the time I get the parts, pay to have them installed. I could be looking at dropping Zilla's motor in for the same or cheaper.

I dunno,, my mind is still absorbing this and figuring out how to deal with it for the best long term solution and cost consideration.

All that iron went somewhere. It'll take some life out of that 5.0.

Were it me, I would be thinking peace of mind. In my head that means that motor comes out and gets gone through meticulously until I am certain there is no shrapnel left inside. Whether you decide to drop a motor in there in the interim is up to you. I don't know if you rely on your Bronco as part of your commuter pool.

Think of this as an opportunity to build a very nice strong motor that will likely last you the life of the truck.

Just drain out the oil and force compressed air though the pcv hole, that oughta get er out!

Well maybe not, but anyway sorry to hear about it, that sucks. You should definitely yank the engine.

Looking at a cam replacment as well as a engine flush.
It currently has an
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/cam- ... =1044&sb=0
215 lift on both exhaust and intake with .533 of lift and 270 duration. A Hydraulic roller
Comp cams states it 1800 to 5000 rpm,

Is there something else I should be looking at? I have an edelbrock performer rpm manifold on it and 1405 cab. I might go EFI in the future ( year or two at least)

Thanks for any suggestions
Brett

My Tired old motor I put a cam in and flushed it out .. Ran great for a couple years until I could get enough money to build a new one
I have a Comp Cams High Energy 208 (I believe) Runs great great bottom end up to 5500
If you get a new cam or build a new motor get the 351 (Late Model) firing order so you can put EFI on in the future without any ECM mods
good luck

Right now, I am running a performer RPM manifold and was thinking about changing to a regular performer manifold and changing the cam to edelbrock from Comp cams .

Will this gain me much in low end power vs the RPM one I am running now or is it not worth the change and I should go with what I had in there originally.
Performer manifold –
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2121/?rtype=10

Manifold Gasket -
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-7220/?rtype=10

cam and lifters part number 2122
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/EDL-2122/

Do I need new springs if I change cams?

Also will be getting water pump gasket, Timing chain cover gasket, Thermostat housing gasket and other front end parts I'd need.. Anything else I need if I go after changing the cam/manifold/lifters..

Thanks again for all your help
Brett

Get a cam made just for you, no break in as it is done before install with lifters and in Colorado.
http://www.camresearchcorp.com/index.php
sucks about your gear mesh problem.

replace the timing chain while you have it apart. cheap insurance.