Hi all ,I am a newbie here , any help would be appreciated. the 93 pickup started running rough and stallin.idling in the driveway I noticed rattling from the distributor,when you put your hand on the distributor ,you can feel the rattle. is this gear driven? I tried to set TDC with a wrench on the balancer,when the marks line up,the rotor points to plug # 5 (or 4o'clock position),360 % later,it points to about 10 o'clock,and I cant get it to point to #1 plug.Is this an indication of a worn distributor shaft?I cant do any thing with timing untill I'm sure #1 is at TDC.thanks

 

What sort of engine? Guessing a V6 from your description.

 

yes it's a v-6

 

Save yourself a lot of work; get a timing light. http://www.harborfreight.com/xenon-t...ight-3343.html

The distributor is gear driven, but you did NOT all-of-a-sudden jump a tooth. (If you had, it would be off by about 27 degrees, and would be unlikely to run at all). Hook up the timing light following the manual, and see where you are.

You suspect loose parts in the distributor. What you'll be looking for, then, is the timing mark jumping around, as it fires with different advance each time around.

Good luck!

 

thanks Scope.I have looked at the timing with a gun,and cant get the marks to lign up at all(advancing and retarding distrib.wont line up either).Manual says !0 degrees before TDC.another thing,about two weeks ago ,the boy was out driving it,and he called for me to bring tools as the power steering mounting bolts had worked loose,throwing the belts.Could this have maybe caused the timing belt to jump,if there was some resistance as the other belts jumped and jammed??? IDK. thanks all for your input.

 

By the way this is the boy's truck n he don't tell me anything untill its to late.Another wkend under the hood!!!!!