I have the '93 FSM of course, but the distributor seems to be one of the few things different from 91-93.

Does anyone have the test procedure for a 91 3.0 dist?

 

....and if mine does test bad are any of the aftermarket ones any good? I'm not going to install a $520+ OEM distributor into a $500 truck.

Rock auto has Spectra, Cardone, WPS and Autoline reman Nippon/Denso. Ranging from $100 to $165.

 

The bearing seized on my stock distributor which spun the drive gear and pulled it down on the shaft.

I bought the Cardone 84762 from Rockauto to replace it July 2013 for $143. Its $110 now.
The drive gear was installed off on the shaft. It was off enough that I ran out of slot adjustment either way(I tried setting it a tooth off). I ended up grinding the slot out instead of waiting a week or two trying to send it back.

The cap and rotor looked like cheap crap. I put on my used Toyota stuff instead. No other problems otherwise but it only has 35k miles on it .
I bet they are all made buy the same company. My Cardone housing has "JE" cast on the inside of the housing.

A interesting note on the seized bearing.
Originally my distributor leaked oil. The oil came up into the housing and dripped out of a hole onto my alternator. That oil had to come through the bearing which should have kept it lubed.

At 270k I put in a rebuilt motor and the distributor stopped leaking. At 300k the distributor seized. I tore it apart to find the cause and that bearing was dry and seized. This reminds me that I need to pull it out and manually lube it.

 

GDR, thanks for the info on the Cardone. I guess we know they work, just check to be sure it's assembled correctly. Ha!



So no-one has the test procedure for the '91 3.0 dist? Crud, I hate to just throw in a new one just because. But short of finding one to try out of a good running 3.0 not sure what else to do.

The problem is the timing jumps all over the place, it dances around about 2 deg I guess, then will jump over 5-10 deg and do the same thing over there, then back and forth and just wont hold still. Same difference with the diag pins jumpered or not.

My truck is throwing the knock sensor code, the dread code 52! I know that will retard the timing, but will it cause the timing to skip around like crazy also?

The dist bearings do feel like they are on the way out, but it doesn't feel excessively sloppy.

 

Can you tell us what the difference is? Are you sure you have the right page? (The 22re distributor is different from the 3VZE distributor.)

The only tests I know of are air gap and coil resistance. I doubt the coil will be off "a little," so if you get anywhere in the 125-250 ohm range it's probably okay.

But "jumping around" sounds more like a bearing problem, and neither test will pick that up. I suppose you could push the signal rotor toward and away from the pickups, measuring the gap at each time.

 

My distributor.....notice a little puddle of oil sitting in there....I figure that can't be normal, but don't really know. As you can see it's a different design than the one in the '93 FSM, pg IG-24 shows it.

From looking at rock auto it looks like 88-91 uses the same distributor.

 

If you are looking to buy another distributor, a remain from Rock Auto or a AM one should be fine. For the cap & rotor, I would get OEM. Its about $40 for both.

 

Looks like I may just end up buying one. I would like to be able to know for sure it's the cause of the jumpy timing before spending $120. I feel, like most everything I've ever done on this engine, that a new distributor wont change anything.

I guess with the original distributor I at least know the bearings are on their way out so it wont be a total waste.

I'm hoping it's either the dist or the KS (wire) that's causing the issue. It is throwing code 52 so I know there's a problem there.

Can someone tell me if jumpy timing is normal on these engines? I figure the ECM is always making adjustments to timing but isn't jumpering the pins in the diag box supposed to stop that so you can set timing?

When I jump the pins the timing does move back about 5 deg, idle speed drops and the engine light starts blinking. So I know it's doing something! I've read lots of posts on here with ppl saying jumpering the pins does nothing on their trucks.

 

Yes, it should set it to base timing. You were wise to check the CEL to confirm you had a good connection (and got the right terminals, etc.)

I don't think people say jumpering does "nothing." When I've done it the timing was already at base (because of temperature or whatever), so at that moment jumpering didn't change the timing.

 

So when jumpered should the timing be rock steady??? Or at least not be moving around 5 deg back and forth???

I disconnected the wire to the KS and checked the timing, no difference, still jumpy. I was thinking it may at least eliminate the problem if the KS is giving the computer a bad signal or something. But no change, except it threw code 52 when I revved it a little while watching the timing. Timing then went to about 5 deg.

So not jumpered it was at 15, jumpered at 10 and then down to 5 or so when code 52 popped up. But jumpy all the time, just guessing on the exact deg because it moves around too much to tell, just guessing the average. Bla.