Tried to Start my Truck Today...

[plumas.placer.miner]

I gotta say that I am impressed that you got back out there and are making another go of it!

Sometimes you just have to step away and let go of the frustration for awhile to see the larger perspective.

Good work sir! Keep at it.

[Nailhead]

I gotta say that I am impressed that you got back out there and are making another go of it!

Sometimes you just have to step away and let go of the frustration for awhile to see the larger perspective.

Good work sir! Keep at it.

Thanks Brian!

I'm not sure my accomplishments amount to much more than knowing where to hook up a tow strap, though.

It's on hold until: 1. Some sort of inspiration comes over me. 2. Someone shows up at my house who knows what they're doing. Until then, it sits; I don't want to add "starter rebuild" to the list of expenses pertaining to that gear failure.

I rate both of these rather unlikely.

[Direwolf82]

Not sure if this will be helpful at all or just annoying.
My dad has an m37 that he rebuilt the motor on years ago. He had trouble with timing when trying to do the first start up, after messing with it for a while it became apparent that a timing mark was off, 30 something years later and it's still a tooth off of the official timing mark but running perfectly.
He's not a vehicle mechanic by trade but he does know what's going on for the most part, meaning I think the rest of the motor went together correctly and he found an anomaly of some sort.
Weird things happen, possibly there were parts replaced in it's previous life that weren't quite right? I try to remember that story when working on things, think outside the box I guess.

[Nailhead]

Not sure if this will be helpful at all or just annoying.
My dad has an m37 that he rebuilt the motor on years ago. He had trouble with timing when trying to do the first start up, after messing with it for a while it became apparent that a timing mark was off, 30 something years later and it's still a tooth off of the official timing mark but running perfectly.
He's not a vehicle mechanic by trade but he does know what's going on for the most part, meaning I think the rest of the motor went together correctly and he found an anomaly of some sort.
Weird things happen, possibly there were parts replaced in it's previous life that weren't quite right? I try to remember that story when working on things, think outside the box I guess.

That's definitely a possibility at this point. I'm not discounting anything.

[m38inmaine]

The crankshaft pulley is mounted in rubber, it's possible that the outer portion has slipped and now the timing mark is off. Perhaps someone can post a picture of the timing mark in relation to the key way so you can see if it is correct. The engine has to be @ TDC on compression stroke, air pushing out the plug hole, and timing marks lined up, rotor button pointing @ #1 plug wire on the cap, also the rotor turns counter clockwise. It's much easier with the military distributor as they all mount in the same orientation and easy to tell if it's in wrong. If you are sure you know the orientation of the distributor body is correct and timing marks are correct, you could pull the oil pump shaft, turn the rotor pointing to #1 cap position and hold it there, insert the pump shaft and try inserting it until it goes in all the way mating with the distributor, will probably take several tries, verify the rotor is still pointing @ #1, of course you will have some adjustment of the distributor body to make small corrections. Might also be worth searching the net for pictures of the civilian distributor to get a general idea of it's orientation.

[brute4c]

Thanks Jon.

No points, so that isn't working against me. Is a dwell spec usable with a Pertronix?

No...its a setting for points...instead of doing gap one can do the dwell angle instead...

[Nailhead]

The crankshaft pulley is mounted in rubber, it's possible that the outer portion has slipped and now the timing mark is off. Perhaps someone can post a picture of the timing mark in relation to the key way so you can see if it is correct. The engine has to be @ TDC on compression stroke, air pushing out the plug hole, and timing marks lined up, rotor button pointing @ #1 plug wire on the cap, also the rotor turns counter clockwise. It's much easier with the military distributor as they all mount in the same orientation and easy to tell if it's in wrong. If you are sure you know the orientation of the distributor body is correct and timing marks are correct, you could pull the oil pump shaft, turn the rotor pointing to #1 cap position and hold it there, insert the pump shaft and try inserting it until it goes in all the way mating with the distributor, will probably take several tries, verify the rotor is still pointing @ #1, of course you will have some adjustment of the distributor body to make small corrections. Might also be worth searching the net for pictures of the civilian distributor to get a general idea of it's orientation.

Thanks for taking the time...again!

I did not know that distributor turned CCW. I'll have to take some time to ascertain how this new development might be factoring into this whole FUBAR scene.

I'll have to examine the crankshaft pulley for evidence it has slipped on its hub I did use a strap wrench on it to either hold it in place or turn the engine over. I don't remember which.

In any event, I lined up the timing mark with the valve cover off in order to make sure the crankshaft was on the proper stroke, and cam & timing mark lined up properly, IIRC (lobe down, both followers on low part of cam profile, if that's correct).

I took a couple pix of the distributor orientation before I pulled it, but that has done me absolutely no good so far. An issue I keep running into is the mounting system on this distributor: a simple pinch clamp like I'm used to would allow this distributor to function regardless of clocking. Find the sweet spot, clamp it down. The stud-&-slotted-plate on this one restricts its orientation and has made finding said sweet spot a lot more difficult. Impossible, actually.

Alright, my heart rate is rising and I'm starting once again to be tempted by perversely satisfying scenarios of the Red Menace's sudden and explosive demise, so I'm going to step back from this question for the time being. I get ed off just thinking about it. Coffee doesn't help.

Anyway, I really do appreciate all your help (and everybody else's).

Stay well everyone.

[Nailhead]

No...its a setting for points...instead of doing gap one can do the dwell angle instead...

Ok, thank you.

[Nailhead]

Today I decided in an apparent need to obliterate the positive effects of a beautiful spring day to attempt to get my truck running. Again.

Some things left alone should continue to be. Let sleeping torments lie.

I found that I could turn the distributor any way I wanted with the distributor mounted. I pulled the rotor and found I could spin the shaft. I then pulled the distributor and found that its shaft does positively engage the slot in the oil pump, and doing so only slightly increases the effort needed to turn the shaft.

I have to conclude then that the distributor is ok, and the root of the problem is either with the gear on the oil pump, or perhaps the oil pump shaft itself (is the slot that drives the distributor machined into the oil pump shaft itself, or is it a separate component that is crimped onto the oil pump shaft, and has come loose?). I don't remember precisely what that end of the oil pump looked like.

Perhaps the problem is with the gear I replaced? I reinstalled the key before I fitted the gear, so that ain't it.

The only thing I know at this point is that my motivation to take the front of that engine apart yet again and buy another new gasket is below the threshold of detection.

[m38inmaine]

If you can somewhat freely turn the distributor rotor( with the distributor body locked down) 360 degrees by hand something is wrong for sure. Should not be any need to remove the front cover again, to inspect/or replace the drive gear all you should have to do is remove the crank pulley. I would remove the oil pump and distributor first and give them a close inspection, something has broken free or stripped allowing the rotor to turn freely.