Seating a new Distributor

A

AaronsJeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Hemet
Hey guys, I apologize in advance for what seems to be a basic install, but I am freakin stumped with this one. Yes I've done research on previous threads, but I cant find this particular one. It involves seating a new distributor here goes; The Haynes manual calls for the pulse ring to be locked in place under the camshaft sensor, to hold the the rotor in the number one cylinder firing position. But when you compae with true TDC, #1 is more towards the 5oclock position. With all of the experience here, how have you all seated the distributor? With the pulse ring locked in place, or the rotor @ 5oclock? Thank You in advance for your help.

95 xj
4.0 inline,
new plugs, wires, rotor, cap/distributor.
 
Is the rotor turning when you install due to the gears meshing on the cam?
I had a hell of a time getting the teeth lined up right to get tdc and correct spark (rotor) position for #1 cylendar. I had to advance the rotor back a bit to get it to set correctly.
 
Thanks for the response, yeah in theory that is what the pulse ring being locked in place is supposed to prevent, the rotor/teeth from rotating. But if I follow the manuals direction, which is locking the pulse ring, I dont see how the rotor willl ever end up @ the #1/5oclock position. And we also have to line up that slot @ the bottom of the distributor with the oil pump groove in the housing. So am I assuming correctly that you've never locked that pulse ring in place? I have done both ways probably 50 times since I've yanked that distributor, and I still cant get it to fire, so those teeth apparently still are lining up correctly from a timing perspective?
 
Oh you know this!!! Not to mention my gorilla like hands being squeezed down into that ridiculous location, yep I will try more cursing!
 
So I go back out redo it all at the #1/ 5 oclock posistion, put it all back together, go crank it and nothin. I reset the TDC manually, yank the cap, Its sittin right @ the 5oclock position WTF!!!! Is the pulse ring that freakin critical?
 
The manual says put the rotor at 5 o clock but from experiance just point it right at #1 terminal. Also are you sure you have #1 piston TDC on the compression stroke? I always use a compression guage when when setting the stroke unless the valve cover is off.
 
xjtrailrider said:
The manual says put the rotor at 5 o clock but from experiance just point it right at #1 terminal. Also are you sure you have #1 piston TDC on the compression stroke? I always use a compression guage when when setting the stroke unless the valve cover is off.
Click to expand...

Yeah, what he said. And curse.
 
Hey guys, I'm pretty sure I'm at TDC, I manually turn the motor until my rotor faces the 5oclock position, is that correct? At this point any advice is useful. In the manual under resetting the distributor, it specifically references having the pulse ring under the sensor to be secured @ the identified hole. 1 is for the 4 cylinder and the other is for the straight 6. I just went out and readjusted it again for the pulse ring, and there is no freakin way that it can line up @ the critical #1/5oclock position. But when I use the other method without the pulse ring it still wont fire up.:flamemad: :smsoap: :helpme: The reason why I went after this, was because of my XJ running like a POS and the check engine light came on and it blinked me a 54, which is that distributor pick up wire. Who knew that it would have led to this? Thanks guys for any and all of your input.:worship: :worship:
 
Well, everything from an appearence perspective, looks right on. I'm at TDC, and my rotor is facing the 5oclock position. New rotor, new distributor, new plugs, new wires, and it still wont start. Hell I even yanked the CPS a few times. Any ideas?:doh:
 
AaronsJeep said:
Well, everything from an appearence perspective, looks right on. I'm at TDC, and my rotor is facing the 5oclock position. New rotor, new distributor, new plugs, new wires, and it still wont start. Hell I even yanked the CPS a few times. Any ideas?:doh:
Click to expand...

But are you 100% sure you are on the compression stroke! #1 piston will be TDC 2 times each cycle, once on exhaust and once on compression. Make sure you are on compression otherwise the timming is 180 degrees out.

Do you have the fireing order right? Mixed up any plug wires? If it was running before and all you did was pull the dist. then something is not back together correctly.
 
Hey XJtrailrider, thanks for the follow up. Yeah the reason that I changed it was because of a code 54( distributor sync wire with an * which could mean that there could be more problems). I am going to consult with the fellas @ Chrysler tomorrow. I believe I may have an PCM issue. Thanks for your help.
 
You need to make sure your at TDC without looking at the rotor. pull the plug and place something over the hole that wont get sucked in but will blow out while on compression stroke. I use a peice of rubber that I carved into the shape of a plug, it fits in the threads snug but once it hits sompresion stroke it fires out and I know the next timing mark line up on the balancer is #1TDC. I just set the distributer in my 89 motor, takes a few tries but it happens after a bit.
Good luck, Jeremy
 
Jeremy, that's actually a great idea, up until now I have just used my finger in the #1 hole, (less the plug), and then put it all together. You know I wonder if I should ignore the TDC mark and go with the compression stroke? But you really need to think about that idea, I would buy it. Now its acting like the timing is really bad, and a big back fire at the end as it attempts to start. I wonder if I am relying to much on TDC and not the compression stroke? Your thoughts?
 
My brother managed to get a GM 140 aluminum 4banger to run 180 degrees out of phase. Holy mother of gawd, was that ugly.

I'd bet you're on the wrong side of the cycle.

I replaced the distributor on my 94 XJ several years ago, and on a friend's 94 YJ a couple of years later. I marked the rotor position on the old distributor, and matched the rotor position up on the new one. I did have to reach down and turn the oil pump slightly, it moved a bit before I got the new distributor down in. As the distributor on a 4.0l is locked in place, it's a pretty easy swap. Both of them fired right up afterwards. Unfortunately, this won't help you, you've already got the old one out, and turned over the engine.
 
AaronsJeep said:
Jeremy, that's actually a great idea, up until now I have just used my finger in the #1 hole, (less the plug), and then put it all together. You know I wonder if I should ignore the TDC mark and go with the compression stroke? But you really need to think about that idea, I would buy it. Now its acting like the timing is really bad, and a big back fire at the end as it attempts to start. I wonder if I am relying to much on TDC and not the compression stroke? Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Don't trust the TDC mark on the HB. I made this mistake with a aftermarket HB and the mark was 20 degrees off! It was messing with me to the point of extreme fustration. Drop a 1 foot long piece of fuel line down in #1 and then rotate the engine by hand until you reach true TDC with someone watching and feeling the hose until you get it at TDC.
 
LMAO, yeah I guess anything is possible. But after feeling for the compression stroke, then adjusting to TDC, and confirming that the rotor is facing the #1/5oclock position, seating the distributor, having it all line up, put it all back together. And it still wont fire up, but it gives me a great belch/backfire, you must be correct. Do you suggest manually turning the motor another 180 degrees, and then resetting the distributor? Your help and knowledge is greatly appreciated.:worship: :worship: :worship:
 
xjtrailrider said:
Don't trust the TDC mark on the HB. I made this mistake with a aftermarket HB and the mark was 20 degrees off! It was messing with me to the point of extreme fustration. Drop a 1 foot long piece of fuel line down in #1 and then rotate the engine by hand until you reach true TDC with someone watching and feeling the hose until you get it at TDC.
Click to expand...
x2. Unless it's brand new or you know that it hasn't slipped. I paint a line on a new one for a quick way to check if it's rotated. If you've got it at TDC compression #1 then all you need to do is drop the distributor in with the rotor aligned with the pin/welding rod/whatever and you'll be good to go. You might have to cut off the mounting ears if you haven't already. When properly indexed the rotor should be just past the #1 plug terminal on the cap. If you cut the ears off the distributor it doesn't matter which way the the rotor is pointing as long as the plug wires are in the right place.
 
Aarons Jeep: Try rotating your plug wires on dist cap one position when it's installed in the 'wrong' position. That way if it fires up you'll atleast know your problem. thats how my 89 is sitting right know, has been for years.So my #1 plug wire is now at the 6 o'clock position not the 5 o'clock. Just a thought. Good luck!
 
Never trust the Harmonic balancer. I grabbed one off a another renix I had and the timing mark was off several degrees. If worse comes to worse you can pull the valve cover and check to see if it is compression stroke or not. I just slide it in to see how far the rotor turns while going in and then set it that far back for it to fall on number one.

I used to use my finger to tell where compression stroke was, was allways kinda a pain to turn the crank with one hand and hold one finger in the hole(watched a video like that once) untill my buddy showed me his cool invention. He used a threaded rod to fit in the spark plug hole and taped a baloon on the other end, made things real easy to see even if you where on the other side of the motor.
It is possible the cam sensor in the distributer it bad, could even be the wrong rotor for the sensor.
Jeremy
 
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