Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines cam/distributor gear failure

hi, i recently replaced the 230 in my car with a 292. new cam, distributor out of the 230. ran great, no weird noises. 300 miles later it stranded me and i discovered the teeth on the distributor gear are stripped off, and one tooth off the cam to drive the distributor is gone. oil pump turns fine. are 292 distributors different, should i have had a bronze dist. gear? has anyone ever had this happen or know how it could happen? the cam probly isn't repairable right? thanks for the help. matt

I had that happen on a 235 engine when the distributor seized from lack of lubrication.It can also happen if the distributor has a bent shaft.Also not seating the distributor fully on the block can cause it to seize.
EvilDr235

There are a couple of possibilities. One, which many may disagree with is, when going with a new cam, it is not a bad idea to replace the distributor gear. The used gear may have had a wear pattern set, that did not work well with the new cam and in turn they ate each other up.

Depending on the new cam, was the distributor gear the correct material? Some cams require a bronze or similar material instead of the factory iron gear.

Last, from personal experience, a "high performance" oil pump can cause the gears to be eaten. Stock configuration pumps work well even for radical engines.

Dear Matt;

You may have installed the distributor wrong or it had a bent shaft as Chuck sugests, but you would have probably noticed that early on as it would have wiggeled around & been noisy. It probably didn't 'freze-up' as it would have spun in the block.

I would check with Larry (novaman/twisted 6)on the interchange issue, as he would know.

Bruce is right too, but you didn't mention a 'high volume' oil pump.

All that being said; I would bet that the cam had a bent or chipped tooth (now broken) from the onset that no one saw. Once running, it was just a matter of time before "self destruct".

If your running a stock oil pump & cam (next one) then a stock gear will be fine on the distributor. You might run your dist. on a Sun machine & make sure It's okay "just for drill".

What happened is really rare.

Good luck, John M.......

The will inner change. I agree with the above.It is always best to change The Gear. I have Ran Both The stock Gear and bronze With a High volume pump without any issues But The stock oil fine. A High volume pump is not really Needed Not even in a HP motor.And many say It does add more strain on the Dist gear. ONE other Question I have is The Gear You had installed on the New Cam Is it alum? And was it Heated before installing it on the cam? OR is it bolted to the cam. If NOt It May have walked Of the End of the Cam And this WILL cause Problems with the Dist Gear making it Fail before its time It can also Mess up the Dist it self. Been There Done That.When a Cam walked On me Many Years ago(17yrs)
Hope this helps }[oooooo]

Ps You may???? want to remover the timing cover to check the Gear and also The bolts that Hold the cam plate in place.check the plate it self to make that Is not broken.

If the cam gear is centered in the distributor hole, then I would think that the timing gears are ok, right? When my first 235 did this to me, the cam slid back and threw the timing off to where I could barely get it to run. Don't know if this is exactly what would happen with the later sixes or not....

You didn't say what year the 292 is, or if the dizzy is the old points type or not, but in the late 70's they started to have quality issues with machining the blocks, and they started trashing some distributors. They solved this by making the dist. shaft a 2 piece design, to take into account any misalignment between the parts. You may need to get an HEI dizzy with the 2 piece shaft in order to get it to work. Definitely can't hurt.

If pieces are missing, you will want to drop the pan and flush it so you don't trash the bearings, oil pump, etc.... with a chunk out of the cam teeth, it looks like its time for a new cam also.

thanks guys for the suggestions. the cam gear is centered in the distributor hole, the distributor spins good, and doesn't look bent. i think the oil pump is a stock one from napa. the casting # on the block say the engine is a 63-67. the timing gear is brass, or bronze, and i heated it when i put it on (had an aluminum one come off in the past)and no the cam isn't stock it's a clifford 264, i e-mailed them to see if they had any ideas. i'll let you know if they say anything different, or if i find out what went wrong. thanks again. i'm already going through "i can't drive my car" withdrawls. matt

You might also check the oil pump inside.I always take new oil pumps apart and clean them before installing them.You can find alot of junk in them from sloppy workmenship.A siezed oil pump can also cause the problem you had.
EvilDr235