I'm a little embarrassed to ask but, should I need a hammer to install the distributor in my 95 Ram 1500 318? When I attempt to install, it lines up (stops wobbling all over), but refuses to seat down. It stays about 3/8 of an inch high. I have tried using the distributor clamp to draw it down, and lightly tapping with a hammer and block of wood. I thought that the tab on the rotor wasn't lining up but, it isn't even seem to be down far enough to engage yet. I have searched the forum but haven't found any distributor thread with this particular goofball detail.

Thanks.

 

Now I,m not totally sure on a Dodge but I know for sure on a Chevy the Distributor shaft is slotted to engage the oil pump drive shaft. And these 2 must be lined up to seat all the way down.

 

I thought that same thing but, there is some play up and down between the rotor shaft and the distributor housing. It's the housing that seems to get stuck because, I can still turn and move the rotor shaft up and down.

 

Nope, no hammer required. You probably got it slightly out of position -- lift it up just enough to clear the drive gear, turn a gear tooth's worth one way or the other, set it down again. When it's lined up it'll either fall right in or need no more than a nudge.

If that proves too frustrating, lift it all the way out, shine a light into the hole it came from, and look to see the angle of the slot and about how far off you have to start to get it lined up when it's fully seated. Then if it doesn't go, start over as in the above paragraph.

 

Ok, I thought I would post my findings to help the next Dodge newbie avoid the problem I ran into. This is a pic of the reman and original distributors side by side.


I did not have the original with me when I purchased the reman at AZ. And, it never occurred to me to compare them beyond an initial inspection when I pulled the reman out of the box at the store. I had seen some pics online and trusted that they'd brought out the right part. The shaft appears to be too long on the reman but wait... it gets weirder. The shaft length never created any problems since the upper portion just below the flange that gets held down with the distributor clamp is a different size. My caliper had a dead battery so I can't show the digital measurement but,

Here's the original


And here's the reman from AZ...


Note the original is under 2 inches and the reman is significantly (as far as machine clearances go) larger. I'm headed back to AZ for some resolution or closure, either another distributor (armed with the original and my caliper) or a refund.

Thanks for your advice.
Jake

 

That may one for the B block.

 

I think it's just not machined down to the correct size there. Right where I've taken the measurements with the caliper, on the original it's machined and on the reman it's just the cast. I just got back from AZ and they did give my money back. The guy was pissed that "Dodge screwed us again." Which isn't the case... the manufacturer of that reman part did though. O'Reilly, AZ, Advance and Napa all list the same part number on their websites. Summit and Jegs have other part numbers than "3899" and I'm going to check the price at the dealership too.

 

Just out of idle curiosity, why are you replacing your distributor?

 

So I wouldn't have to remove the broken fragment of distributor cap screw that's stuck in the distributor. And, since I had to replace the oil pressure sender and the egr valve it seemed like the perfect time (tons of clearance behind monster intake manifold); it was only $70 for one with a lifetime warranty and my truck has 234k. But, it looks like I might have to get that screw out of there, get a new distributor seal and just reuse the original distributor.

 

I did the same thing myself a month ago, broke off a new distributor cap bolt when changing my cap and rotor.... have a look over this, may help you out a bit... https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...r-r-and-r.html

good luck!