What about pulling the distributor and setting it back down 180 degrees and placing it to get you closer to the timing mark?

To me it sounds like the motor (long block) might have been replaced and with so they could have placed the distributor gear (Don't know the name) in the incorrect position.


Can you show us the issue in a picture of why you can't turn the distributor into the correct position (what is hitting the intake).

 

The distributor cap retainer screws, screw in to 2 screw bosses that extend out from the distributor, these are what come into contact with the intake manifold, and prevent it from turning very far at all. The distributor is a really tight fit back there! I guess that pulling the intake, and re-indexing the drive gear will be the next thing that I try, it will also eliminate the posibility of an intake leak.

 

Also if the bosses just nick the intake you could simply cut a notch or pick it up just enough to get it to the other side, but I would think you have already thought about that.

If you do end up going to pull the intake then you might as well do the timing chain and ensure the correct position......Just my 2 cents.......It is a classic issue with engine stumbling if the distributor is not indexed correctly.

 

Thanks for your input Hydra, the one thing that I wish that I knew for sure is how critical that #1 mark on the cam position sensor is. On a lot of vehicles it would just be 1 of the 8 positions on the sensor that triggers the coil to fire, but on this 5.2 Chrysler marked the #1 position for some reason? I'm just not familiar with this style of cam position sensor at all.

 

I will still stick by Post #2, Sentence #1.

Unless this motor has been ran through the ringer and reassembled... that's not it. It doesn't get 180 degrees out of normal on its own. We can only guess when remote diag considering we don't know the history, workmanship, etc. We can only go by thousands of personal experiences before hand and rarely if ever is there a timing, cam issue.

Sensors? Yep. Battery and misc? Yep. Major or more than that? Nope. If it is not a sensor or a vacuum issue, pay the dealer $45 to tell you what is wrong with it. Well worth everyone's time in gold at this point.

IndyD