69Tool 16 Report post Posted September 7, 2014 Hello, Last weekend I was out of town in the convertible and on my way back, the car just basically died after backfiring a few times. It was running really well up until that point. The motor is a 302 and has not been rebuilt. It has about 75000 miles on it, is it normal that a gear on the camshaft would be damaged in this way or is there something else that would cause this. I had distributor problems earlier in the summer and then went with the Run-Ready and it was fine up until last weekend when it failed. Thoughts? As a replacement, I have decided to go with the XE256 by Comp. I just hope that it isn't something else other than years of wear that caused the issue. Thanks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RPM 1,190 Report post Posted September 7, 2014 Why do you think the problem is the cam gear? What have you done to diagnose the problem? Have you removed the distributor cap to see if the rotor turns? If it doesn't it could be the shear pin in the dist gear. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Protowrxs 111 Report post Posted September 7, 2014 If it is an actual cam gear or dist gear issue then it could be roller cam vs dist gear issue. A roller cam does require the correct distributor gear to keep from killing each other. Just saying. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
69Tool 16 Report post Posted September 8, 2014 The distributor rotor can be turned and when we pulled the distributor you can see the cam gear is damaged, the distributor gear is still like new. I was trying to add a picture but it wouldn't upload. Trying again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
69Tool 16 Report post Posted September 8, 2014 Ok, my Mac was giving me misinformation on the size of the file, here is a pic of the cam gear. As I said, the rotor gear on the distributor is undamaged and like new. The new "run-ready" distributor was in the car and running very well for a month or so. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rsanter 152 Report post Posted September 8, 2014 Has the distributor been changed or updated to a newer one that should have been in a roller cam car? You know the engine has to come out ans be taken apart to clean everything out and if it was me I would be putting new bearings in Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
69Tool 16 Report post Posted September 8, 2014 Yes, I had to install a new distributor a couple of months back. I bought an original distributor with points etc., installed it and it failed about a month later, as the plate was sloppy and couldn't maintain a good idle, inconsistent timing etc. That's when I bought the run-ready distributor and installed it. Again, got a good month out of it before this happened. I have it at a garage now and they said they will flush it but that it would be fine with the new cam. Over the winter I suppose I should pull it and go through the entire motor... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Max Power 74 Report post Posted September 8, 2014 Quite often the cam gear fails because something got into th eoil pump and locked it up, but given you have been changing things a lot lately, my guess would be that your replacement dizzy has a steel gear on of for rollers and your cam is a non-roller iron, which will end in failure. You are gonna have to rebuild at this point, be sure if you are going to use that Comp cam that you get a suggestion of what gear to run. And don't let them sell you a composite one. They fail. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
69Tool 16 Report post Posted September 9, 2014 Thanks. The comp cam I have is the Xtreme Energy 256, a hydraulic flat tappet and the distributor manufacturer states "The drive gear installed on this distributor is compatible with flat tappet or hydraulic roller camshafts. If it is to be installed with a mechanical roller camshaft, a bronze or other such compatible gear for the 0.500" shaft will need to be purchased and installed." The motor has been flushed, and we are now assembling the camshaft etc. Hopefully this will last me a while, but we did have snow here in Calgary last night...:huh: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeStang 247 Report post Posted September 9, 2014 Dont Forget to add some ZDDP additive or some STP Engine oil treatment to add some Zinc into the oil and use a straight 30wt motor oil for cam break in...Have done it like this on EVERY Comp cam I have ever installed and never had a problem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ricks 70 stang 13 Report post Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) I had the issue of the distibutor gear going to pieces. Flat tapped and cast gear. The problem i had was the location of the gear. Bottom of the gear to the location where the distibutor sits has a length to be set of 4.031" Min to 4.038" Max. This worked for me. My attachment is a Adobe file and it doesn't want to load. Rick Edited September 9, 2014 by Ricks 70 stang Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
