94 3.0 distributor gear failure

82GT5.0 · Nov 2, 2008

This is my first post, I have a 1994 ranger 3.0 196000 miles ran really good until today when the dist gear failed in other words it wore out the teeth. That being said the gear and the shaft seem to be almost dry (no oil) is this common? Could there be built up sludge in the valley that would block the flow of return oil to the gears. Also the teeth on the cam look to be fine not worn anything like the dist. I also own 95 ranger 2.3 but this my first experience with a 3.0 Thanks for any help

Wicked_Sludge · Nov 2, 2008

distributors wear out, especially at that mileage. lube to the cam/dizzy is light...i doubt anything is plugged. the cam gear is probably fine as its made from a heavier material than the dizzy gear (theres a reason for that...the dizzy gear is easier to replace).

just drop a new dizzy in (or try to replace the gear if your feeling brave)...and your good for another 200,000 miles.

82GT5.0 · Nov 3, 2008

Thanks for the reply. I thought that was the deal but it never hurts to ask. I found a dist. rebuild for 75.00 I'll give it a try . still am amazed this thing runs as good as it does. again thanks for your help.

Wicked_Sludge · Nov 3, 2008

75 bucks is a good deal. plop it on there!

fixizin · Nov 3, 2008

If oil flow is poor in that region :icon_surprised:

, how do the metal filings from the worn gear get carried away?? :icon_confused:

It shouldn't be that hard to get oil to that area, so low and rearward... the bastiges... makes me want to drop an Audi V-10 in there, LOL!

Wicked_Sludge · Nov 3, 2008

fixizin said:
If oil flow is poor in that region , how do the metal filings from the worn gear get carried away??

ahh, ford thought of that too.....the gear is nylon :icon_rofl:

fixizin · Nov 16, 2008

Wicked_Sludge said:
ahh, ford thought of that too.....the gear is nylon

D'OH!!... well, I bet those particles are picked up quickly by the MAGNETIC drain plug! :icon_rofl:

FoMoCo... what'll they save a ha-penny on next.

351crownvic · Nov 19, 2008

this also is my fist post here on TRS but i am a avid member of RPS.. Here is some of my posts on that topic over at RPS... No one seems to believe me...

I think I know what causes this problem. Now I have had the same thing happen with my 94. What happened was the distrubitor gear had 2 teeth sheared off of it. I looked down the distrubitor hole and cranked the motor over and i didn't like what i saw. I have searched many junk yards and 3.0s looking for another distrubitor and here is what i found out.

NEARLY EVERY SINGLE 3.0 I HAD FOUND HAD THE SAME WEAR ON THE DISTRUBITOR GEAR THAT I HAD AND THAT ONLY MEANS THAT THE 3.0'S CAM CAN BE BENT AT THE REAR OF THE CAM CAUSING IT TO DIG INTO THE SYNCRO OR DISTRUBITOR GEAR INSTEAD OF MESHING WITH IT THE WAY IT SHOULD THUS CAUSING GEAR FAILURE!!!

The way i have seemed to extend the life of my gear is using the 5w30 that they recomend heaver weight oil puts more strain on that gear causing the cam gear to have to push harder aginst the oil pump/ distrubitor/ syncro gear causing more damage since its not meshing properly.

IN short the only way to make shure it wont happen is to replace the stock cam with a cam that has been checked and made shure that it is perfectly straight...
__________________

I still insist on the end of the cam being bent. I had 3 distrubitors in mine. I change them every few thousand miles to make them last much longer. It quit on me one day at the gas station. I got it home took distrubitor out and cranked the motor over.

I physicaly watched it, it is slightly bent. Thus constantly wearing away the same teeth on every single distrubitor that I have put in it. If it was a cam sensor the motor would have been a pile of iron.. Check it out for yourself next time u pull out your cam sensor and see that it is wore more on some teeth than the others.
__________________

Wicked_Sludge · Nov 19, 2008

if your going through dizzys every few thousand miles then something is very wrong with your truck. my truck has the original dizzy in it with 130,000 miles and when i had it out of the truck at 120K, it had absolutely no abnormal wear on the dizzy gear. dizzy failures on the 3.0 overall are no more common than they are on any other distributor-equipped engine and its not uncommon for 150-200K mile trucks to have the original dizzy. we had a guy here with over 300K on his NOS fed 3.0 and the engine had never been opened.

im not saying your cam isnt bent...or that there wasnt a bad run of cams that were all bent. im saying that either not all 3.0 cams are bent, or that a small amount of runout wont have any negitive effects on distributor life.

94 3.0 distributor gear failure

82GT5.0

New Member

Wicked_Sludge

New Member

82GT5.0

New Member

Wicked_Sludge

New Member

fixizin

FoMoCo is forcing me to buy a 'yota

Wicked_Sludge

New Member

fixizin

FoMoCo is forcing me to buy a 'yota

351crownvic

New Member

Wicked_Sludge

New Member

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Staff online

Members online

Today's birthdays

Member & Vendor Upgrades

Latest posts

Truck of The Month

Recently Featured

Follow TRS On Instagram

Latest Album Photos

TRS Events

25th Anniversary Sponsors

Check Out The TRS Store

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Sponsored Ad

Amazon Deals