You should be able to get it out, but as cmckenna pointed out remove the TB and plug wires for some more work room.

 

Do yourself a favor. Just yank the dist, and do it that way. Removing it from the engine to work on it will accomplish two things. You will be FAR more comfortable while working on it, and, you will have MUCH more room to drill. Trying to 'save time/work' by doing it on the truck, will more than likely actually cost you time/work. Bite the bullet. Pull the Dist.

 

haha heyyou, I think you talked me into it I have the little bballer back home now, just gonna have some lunch then we're headed outside. They get to play in the pool while I get to sweat over a hot motor....not fair

Anyways heres a couple more pics

I found a way to work on it comfortably!


the old and new rotor buttons


Inside of the old cap... it was gettin time for a new one anyways



And my current $%^@-up....

 

Make certain you have dielectric grease for all of the spark plug connections. Oh, and be careful with that board across the engine. Wiggle too much or slightly lifting it with your front side could result in something getting pinched!

 

ya vw it's not pinching anything, I made sure of that...

before I take this off, is this ok for marking it? I have a mark on the dist and on the manifold accordingly... I've never taken a distributor out before, closest I've came is loosening the clamp and turning it to adjust timing on my old camaros

EDIT: I also marked the location of the notch on the shaft on the plate in the bosttom of the dist.


thank god for my wife and her collection of make up mirrors! Now that I can see something back there it's a ton easier!

 

Make up mirror??? That looks like a rather handy little weapon to have..... have to talk to the wife.... from a distance..... not sure if she will appreciate the idea.

If you have everything marked, so that you can put it back in EXACTLY the way it comes out, you should be good to go. Just make sure no one bumps the engine with the dist out.

 

thanks for the info heyyou, I have it ready to pull out now but was kinda holding off to see what you guys said...

and ya that mirror is verrry handy, I've used it before while workin on the truck. Long as I don't break it and wipe the grease off, I should be good

 

I did it the same way using plywood and, it took me a few minutes of drilling and tapping. It wasn't too bad time wise to finish.


The only issue is if you can't get the diz aligned right for whatever reason. The timing of the dwell and Hall sensor will be out of timing to the PCM sync value thus requiring moving the diz around or resetting the sync value at the PCM level.


CM

 

The distributor (body) on these trucks can be turned any which way and it will not affect the timing. All that matters is that it is stabbed back where it was prior to removal.

 

I know what your referring to- yes, on the older vehicles this was the case however, while it doesn't control the timing in the same manner as on an older vehicle that uses vacuum advance, if you rotate the distributor, the terminal will either be behind or ahead of where it should sit normally. Regardless of the diz rotation, the coil timing remains unchanged but, since the dizzy now sits off the alignment mark, the spark traveling into the cap, into the rotor will not be aligned to the terminal 100%. That's part of the problem- cross-arcing if it's out far enough to, latency issues etc.

It will also change the timing relationship relative to CAM position on the Hall sensor which is critical to time the CPS to the CKPS respective to the EFI system thus changing the sync time intervals in relationship to the injector pulse width thus messing up the timing between those systems.



So, while it most certainly will not advance or retard the timing as that is controlled by the PCM by means of turning the coil ON / OFF, by other means, it will impart a negative affect on the timing.


CM