Ranger Keeps Breaking Distributor gears, Extremely Odd

SykoRanger88 · May 9, 2009

my ranger not long after i first got it died on the road due to an ate up distributor gear, replaced it with a new distrib, then it got ate up again, replaced it with another distrib and the little shaft that drives the distrib since that gear that drives it was all chewed up, so with the new distrib and new distrib drive gear it lasted about a year and now it ruined a distrib again and im doing to have to get another one of those shafts that drive the distrib. my question is why the heck is this happening? this is a very odd thing to happen to 2.3s i would think, its got me stumped, anybody have an oil circuit schematic for these rangers or something? i need this truck to drive and its just broke down now, and we dont wanna replace shit again for it to break all over again. ANY HELP will be greatly appreciated!!!! thanks

Caulk04 · May 10, 2009

Is it all original? Could a previous owner have installed a different cam? Maybe it needs a different type of dist gear (material wise).

Mark_88 · May 10, 2009

When you insert the dizzy, there is, or should be, a rubber band (seal) on the base that fits into the hole...the part that the rubber seal sits on should (as it does on my Ranger) sit flush with the surrounding metal. If yours is not quite sitting flush, that means the dizzy is actually too high and the aux gear is going to chew it up as you are seeing...

Before you do anything, take off the distributor cap and check that the base of the dizzy is actually flush with the surrounding metal. If it is not...that is your problem. If it is...unfortunately, the problem is with the aux shaft.

Sorry, I don't have a schematic of that, but you may find one in the library resource that we have posted somewhere on this board...I will see if I can bring that up and post it for you...

Edit: Got it...and there is a pic of the aux shaft and replacment instructions if needed...

Library link

At the website, use auto as the user ID and auto as the password...

Pretty easy to navigate once you're there, but if you have difficulty try these steps:

1) Click on the icon on the right, for Auto Repair
2) Select the year (88 in your case)
3) Select ford.
4) Select Ranger
5) Select the second listing for 2.3 FI
6) Select Repair Procedures
7) Select Engine and Engine Overhaul
8) Then choose Engine...

You will then see a content on the left with a whole whack of things to choose from...go down the list on the left and auxiliary shaft is one of them...

Enjoy!

SykoRanger88 · May 10, 2009

damn theres more to it then i thought, i know when i replaced the first shaft that broke i just covered the replacement shaft i got from the junkyard in oil and popped it in and threw it all back together, ima show this to my dad and put it on my flashdrive maybe or print some of that stuff from the library out and just get another shaft from a junkyard and try like hell to find a gear off a distributor i know people usually scoop those up at junkyards but i dont feel like buying another brand new distributor just cause the gear is stripped, my distributor,cap,rotor,and module isnt even a year old, well thanks a bunch for the help and info ima let my dad know and hopefully get to it.

Mark_88 · May 10, 2009

You're welcome...hopefully it helps...

Did you check to make sure the dizzy was seated properly? That could be your problem if it is sitting up too high...also, was the truck running for any length of time or does it just run till it chews up the gear?

SykoRanger88 · May 10, 2009

im not sure what you mean by dizzy, are u talking about is the distributor seated down as far as it can go in the block? it lasted about a year after i replaced the distrib gear shaft, and the distrib,module,rotor,cap and it finally took a poop on us few days ago, my dad towed it to the shop and pulled the cap and he could turn the rotor all the way around in a circle, so its obvious that its happened again, im just trying to get some ideas and info in my head, when it broke down i thought it jump timing real bad, but it turned out to be worse, i might take some pictures when i work on it just for heck of it to see the damage and such, id like to try and prevent it from happening again but i REALLY dont wanna have to lift the engine up and stuff just to pull the pan off and check the pump and screen and everything.

4b316 · May 11, 2009

Have you checked the oil pump?It sounds like a restriction or bent oil pump shaft.We have a Distrubutor if you need one or two or three or.....

SykoRanger88 · May 11, 2009

4b316 said:
Have you checked the oil pump?It sounds like a restriction or bent oil pump shaft.We have a Distrubutor if you need one or two or three or.....

no i havent checked the oil pump, in order to do that i gotta disconnect the tranny and everything else and lift the engine up to get the pan off then i could check it, im not trying to go through all that, and i doubt my dad has time to either even though i would kinda like to check it, my distributor is about brand new, im just gonna need a new gear off the end of one, hopefully i can get one from a junkyard since i dont know any stores that sell the gears separate.

SykoRanger88 · May 11, 2009

alright i let my dad know that everyone said it would be recommended to pull the pan off and check the pump, screen and all that and he agreed and said that fords have a bad habit of doing that and hes not suprised so i guess thats what were gonna do, ill try to take some pics while i do so...

kmack · May 11, 2009

howcome i cant figure out this website. it seems like it has a big database.

kmack · May 15, 2009

hmm that site doesn't work on my laptop for some reason.. when i go into the repair manual there is no drop down menu on the side.

Ranger Keeps Breaking Distributor gears, Extremely Odd

SykoRanger88

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