Noise under distributor

M

Maughan

Member
Need a little help here. I've got a 1968 1200c 4x4 with a 304. Today I was finishing up a carb rebuild, and I started it up. It runs great, but now there is what sounds like a noisy bearing coming from somewhere under the distributor. I've read on this forum of when the front cam bearing fails that it starves the distributor gear from oil. Is that what's going on here? Is there any other ideas to explain the noise??
 
I would pull the dizzy and look for odd wear and make sure the bronze end bushing is there and still ok. For cam bearing failure drain the oil after some driving and check for debris in the oil and in the filter. Hope it's not major. The cam gear is lubed by splash from the cam etcetera.
 
Does that noise sound familiar?? By the way, I should have added that I removed the pan a year ago and found bearing material. I put in a oil pressure gauge to see where I stood and I've got text book pressures, so I ran with it. Now after reading more here I wonder if the bearing I found was number one, therefore the noise is coming from the distributor gear. When I pull the distributor what will I need o look for?
 
Look for wear towards the outer tooth face indicating that it is riding up on the gear and also wear in the minor diameter. With the dizzy out see if you can see the inner side of the cam bearing. Use a dental like mirror and see if you can see the lower loaded half of the bearing. Bet you'll see problems of they exist.
 
And when you have the distributor out make sure it spins freely. A bad shaft bushing will make some weird noise when running.
 
At the risk of being chastised for resurrecting and old thread, do replacement distributor bushings exist? Mine is toast and really dont want to run it and crap up something else. Any suggestions?
 
Thanks Robert. I'll check with our local shop today and see. If they have something I'll post up a part #.
 
Not sure if you'll find any at a local auto parts store. Give bill of hamilton fuel injection a call as I believe he makes them since each fuel injection kit he sells comes with a rebuilt/modified distributor.
 
Thanks Jeff. I'm actually gonna try some IH shops here locally. I've had some luck with them having some odd parts. Please let me know if bill has something that'll work. I appreciate your help.
 
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