Distributor not spinning.. help

Scott Miller

Scott Miller

Junior Member
Hey gang, I've been driving my '31 coupe from Atlanta to Tampa and all was going well until the car sputtered to a stop unexpectedly yesterday. A quick inspection revealed that the distributor was not turning, at all. I pulled the distributor on the roadside and the dizzy itself spins fine, not frozen up, however the drive in the bottom of the motor was not turning when we would turn the motor over ( I was looking in from the top with a flash light.) As I tear the car down to remove the side cover, what should I be looking for in the lower end?? Any help would be appreciated, Im in a garage I can work in but would love to be able to drive the car home if at all possible.

-Scott​
 
If it is the timing gear, your cam and valves will not work while you turn the engine. You can check by removing the side timing cover. All it takes is a few missing teeth.
 
Pull the side cover. There is a gear drive at the bottom of the distributor shaft. Sometimes the pin sheers off, or the tab breaks. If it a pin, you might be able to limp it along back home by using a nail or something to pin it back together. Or someone may have a replacement.

It just lifts out. See what is broken on that item.

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just a guess. maybe the cam gear is broken or stripped. open the side cam gear cover and turn the engine and watch if it turns
 
You don't even need to take off the side cover to see if the cam is turning, if you know "normal cranking sound" you can tell just by cranking ----or just taking out a spark plug and looking on ----if you can see the valves moving the cam gear is good, if the #1 valves move but #4 doesn't your cam broke, if all the valves move take off the valve chamber cover and remove the drive gear for inspection --it also drives the oil pump.
 
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Thanks for the input guys i never thought about the timing gear but it does make perfect sense. I'll dig into that and report back. Thanks so much everybody!! :D
 
Insert your timing pin in the pin hole. You will be able to feel if the timing gear is turning.
Good Luck!
Dave in MN
 
Well fellas, it turned out that the fiber timing gear was half stripped. I trailered the car home and ordered the parts today. Hope to get everything buttoned up by next weekend depending on how long shipping the parts takes.

Thanks to everyone who gave advice. It really means a lot!
 
That happened to me on the Kansas Turnpike on the way to a Regional in Des Moines a few years ago. The guy in front towed me off (really upset the toll booth lady). It was cool and rainy but found an awning in front of a Holiday Inn. They were kind and let us change it out. Took about an hour. The one that failed was a swap meet item that looked good. Henry Ford called them gyp parts.

Hope you get yours changed. You might want to change oil because the pieces are in the pan.
 
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