Hi All,
I've currently got my 90 Dakota 3.9 down for distributor/oil pump intermediate shaft bushing replacement. I had around 30° of play on the distributor, truck was backfiring, no power, etc. The gear that meshes with the cam to run it was pretty worn out, but I can't tell if the camshaft gear is worn or not. I'm hoping not, of course, but I haven't seen anywhere where someone has replaced a camshaft that was worn out as a result of the bushing going bad and the intermediate shaft gear chewing up the cam gear that meshes with it.

Anybody have experience with wear on this gear on the camshaft that meshes with the distributor/oil pump intermediate shaft? I am hoping to be able to drop the new bushing and shaft in without having to replace the cam. I'm waiting on the C-3053 installation/burnishing tool to put the new bushing in.

 

I will move this to the 1st generation Dakota sub-forum.

 

I put this in the larger forum because this distributor shaft is basically the same across all the Dakota V6 and V8s, I believe, so I was hoping for feedback from anyone who has had experience with what I described.

BTW I used the C3053 driver/burnisher tool to install the bushing today. I had to force the bushing onto the end of the tool I got on Ebay, but it seemed to work fine after that. Anyway, once I got the intermediate shaft in, I had very little play against the camshaft. I'll finish up tomorrow and let you all know how it went.

If there's anyone in So Cal who needs this tool, let me know.