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Hello All, so in my quest to get my new vette running tip top, my next item up for fixing is the distributor squeak.
I have not pulled the distributor yet, I have watch a few vids on how to mark it, and line it up to go back in, however, what if I need to change bushings on my shaft?
And....can/should I even attempt to do that? I read a few posts about sourcing some lucas bushings, called a few auto suppliers here, but they have to order them in and told me it would be less to get them online myself.
Just drop a new distributor in? Worth it to replace bushings?
The noise is exactly like this (forgive the guy for having a ford) and the noise does change when i pull on the distributor, albeit i have to put alot of force on the distributor to make it change its tune, unlike in this video.
If it were me I would just get a new distributor, BUT, first pull the one out that is squeaking & try to find the source of the squeak, Wear marks would be the easiest to spot. If your distributor is so worn that it is squeaking then there is more worn stuff in it and before you got it all replaced you could have had a new distributor bought. I had that happen once with a new crate engine from Autozone, the rebuilder apparently milled one head or decked one side of the block so the heads were sitting at different heights. This made the intake sit lower on one side which in turn put stress on the distributor. Once I found the source of the noise I cut a dist. gasket in half & stuck the half gasket under one side of the dist. which put the dist. straight again. You could try the same thing to see if the squeak goes away. I just suggested this to another member on here but apparently he never tried it. It may sound goofy but it is a real possibility.
I will pull it and report back. if its clearly worn i'll post photos.
I am a tad bit intimidated by the distributor. i'll be sure to mark cap, and the base, on the engine so I can at least get it back in the exact same spot.
Originally Posted by Midnight 85
If it were me I would just get a new distributor, BUT, first pull the one out that is squeaking & try to find the source of the squeak, Wear marks would be the easiest to spot. If your distributor is so worn that it is squeaking then there is more worn stuff in it and before you got it all replaced you could have had a new distributor bought. I had that happen once with a new crate engine from Autozone, the rebuilder apparently milled one head or decked one side of the block so the heads were sitting at different heights. This made the intake sit lower on one side which in turn put stress on the distributor. Once I found the source of the noise I cut a dist. gasket in half & stuck the half gasket under one side of the dist. which put the dist. straight again. You could try the same thing to see if the squeak goes away. I just suggested this to another member on here but apparently he never tried it. It may sound goofy but it is a real possibility.
That is the best way, but keep in mind that even though you mark everything and remove it, when you drop it back in it may not go down all the way because it is hung up on the oil pump drive. If it does not go all the way in and you know everything is back the way it was, it is okay to just bump the engine over a couple of times to get it drop all the way in.
Actually, you should be able to just loosen the dist. hold down and just leave it slightly snug so the dist. does not move, then start the engine & see if the squeak is gone. If it is then you will have to go ahead and take it out. BTW, nice color on your "new" Vette, but I am a bit partial to black also.
Either Advance auto or Autozone use to sell the rebuilt Delco Remy distributor housings for around $35.00-$40.00 , you could get one of these and just switch all the part over to the new unit.....WW
If you shop around you can find complete NEW distributers for less than $75 ready to drop in. I saw small cap HEI's on sale a while back at the local speed shop for $60...ready to go.
when you pull it, as long as the engine does not turn over, all ya gotta do is keep the rotor pointed at the same spot. Not a big deal at all. Remember the rotor turns as it comes UP and goes DOWN. Where it ends up is what matters.
Update on distributor squeal / squeak and adding in other issues
Update:
- I have a new dist on order.
- squeal is getting worse
- car seems like its a bit sluggish compared to before when the squeal wasn't so loud, however, that also corresponded to me fixing my air conditioning and driving with air condition on full blast so...so if air conditioning affects power then that might be it.
- should I be able to squeal tires at a light? I can't.
adding some new condtions, because they may all be related to the distributor?? and I thought i should mention it::
- after being left for 10 hours, cars blows some black smoke when started. stinks bigtime. goes away in less than 90 seconds, faster if i rev engine a bit to clear the pipes.
- before when the dist was chirping very quietly, every once in a while the car would have a hard start condition where it would turn over, but it wouldn't start. to start it, i had to give it some gas, and it would fire up, but i would have to keep my foot on the pedal to keep rpms up.
------>> from this point it would settle into a nice 600 or 700rpm idle.
However, now that the dist chirp is getting louder, I have noticed that sometimes after i have to put my foot on the pedal to help it start, i have to keep the revs higher for longer. if i stop revving it up to say 1000 rpm, it will fall down to 400 and it may or may not stall. If I hold the gas pedal down to help it along long enough, it gets up to the 600 or 700 idle.
To diagnose fuel, last night i braved the fuel pressure testing kit i purchased. I am not a mechanic, but view this vette as a way to learn these things and I am open to trying anything...so I watched a guy on youtube named chrisfix and while he has a later model c4, i got the drift and did it on my L98.
key on, pressure 40, held with no leakdown for 10 min,
running, pressure 38,
key off, pressure had leaked to about 20 in 1 hour.
overnight it had fully leaked off to zero.
I did the fuel pressure diaphram test, had good vacum on the hose, no fuel in the hose, and when i pulled hose off, fuel pressure jumped to 45. went back to 38 when i put hose back on.
i googled this, and apparently those numbers are fine and the fact it leaked to zero overnight doesn't mean much performance wise, however I gather one thing it may mean is that I have a leaking injector? would that cause the black smoke? at startup for a minute or so?
also, i replaced the fuel pump relay, it clearly wasn't the cause of my woes. and yes...i know......i will not continue to randomly replace stuff anymore...
To summarize,
- fuel pressure test checks out based on my numbers (i think?)
- car puffs black smoke at startup, really stinks
- puff getting worse as dist squeal gets worse
- needs to be helped to start with gas pedal, more often, as dist gets worse, may be a coincidental relationship.
- car seems to be losing a touch of power as the squeal gets worse, though i was driving with ac on now that i fixed it yesterday. (should I be able to squeal the tires from the lights? I can't)
- the more i write this the more i realize i just need to get this new dist in and go from there.
- i think i'll be allright with the dist, there are a few videos on how to find top dead center on cylender 1 using your thumb, key to turn over engine, and then...from there i still need to figure out how to line up the new dist before dropping it in.
- if the dist doesn't fix allll the problems, my next thing was to pull apart the throttle body and check the idle control valve.
From the condition of this vehicle when I purchased it 4 weeks ago, this car was completely, totally, neglected by alllll of its owners back to 1987. EVERYTHING i have touched has been filthy, interior, exterior, and under the hood. As such, I suspect I have multiple issues to work through and I am pretty stoked to figure it all out. In the mean time, the car runs and I can go have fun with it.
Regards and have a fabulous day everybody. VikingTrad3r
Originally Posted by leesvet
If you shop around you can find complete NEW distributers for less than $75 ready to drop in. I saw small cap HEI's on sale a while back at the local speed shop for $60...ready to go.
when you pull it, as long as the engine does not turn over, all ya gotta do is keep the rotor pointed at the same spot. Not a big deal at all. Remember the rotor turns as it comes UP and goes DOWN. Where it ends up is what matters.
Last edited by VikingTrad3r; 09-25-2014 at 09:37 AM.
Reason: typos
damn, you seem to anticipate a hard time. Again, this is easy.
Pull the old distributer AFTER you have removed the cap. NOTE where the rotor is pointed. DO NOT BUMP/CRANK ENGINE OVER FOR ANY REASON. Drop new dist in the exact same place. Done.
It REALLY IS that simple.
Thanks. That helps alleviate the jitters. sounds like it will be no trouble. My aversion to touching a distributor goes back to when I was 18. which was 20years ago. I had a 1979 jeep cj5 and i messed with the distributor. before the days of watching a youtube video to sort something out. i ended up getting it towed and fixed.
I certainly appreciate your instruction and vote of confidence.
I don't want to scare you but I probably will, a squeal in the engine could also be the start of a spun bearing, not likely but the next time you drive it keep an eye on the oil temp. It should run a tad hotter than the water temp. If it is excessively high, let us know.
That said, I am going to venture to say that the distributor is bad enough that it is affecting the way the car runs. I also think you will be needing some adjustment of the timing, and tps to get it to start without throttle usage. Just keep us posted on events
Thanks. That helps alleviate the jitters. sounds like it will be no trouble. My aversion to touching a distributor goes back to when I was 18. which was 20years ago. I had a 1979 jeep cj5 and i messed with the distributor. before the days of watching a youtube video to sort something out. i ended up getting it towed and fixed.
I certainly appreciate your instruction and vote of confidence.
Regards,
VikingTrad3r
YW,
Push THRU the fear.
Seriously, as you lift the old dist up and out, it will turn the rotor because the gear is a helical cut....curved teeth. Pay attention to where the rotor tip starts and where it is when you finally get it clear of the gear/engine.
If it helps, take a pic of the rotor BEFORE you lift the dist up. I'm MORE concerned with the electrical wire plugs and such than I am your ability to stab the dizzy correctly. Those plugs may be brittle and cracked, so be gentle. Also look the wires over closely. Be very careful not to pinch wires under the cap when you set it down and tighten it.
Take the cap OFF the new distributer to stab it in.
It might take a couple tries to get the rotor to end up where you want. As you start to drop the new dist down, you will have to wiggle the rotor a hair to get it to find a tooth on the gear drive and mate up. That's the KEY to this....it will want to turn as it goes down. That's normal. Curved teeth, remember...
The ONLY "got to" is the new rotor pointing at the same place as the old one did. That's the "got to" in this deal.
As I said, I may take a couple tries but you WILL get it. Just don't crank the engine over or my good advice will be for not.
Not to worry,. there is not anyone here that's never screw up something. Enough double negatives in that sentence to be clear?
Okay, replacing the old dist. with a new one will be just a tiny bit different. Do everything like you were told to do earlier but before you put the new distributor in note the position of the very bottom where you can see where the oil pump drive rod sits in the bottom of the dist. Once you see it's position, take a long screwdriver and a flashlight and look down in the dist. hole. See how the drive rod is positioned and use the screwdriver to turn it to match the position of the dist. gear. Once the dist. is engaged with the cam gear it should slide all the way down, touching the intake manifold. If it is not all the way down, have someone bump the engine over one little bit at a time while you are twisting the rotor, do this until it drops all the way to the intake. DO NOT try to start the engine until the dist. is all the way down with all the marks aligned the way the old one was. Keep us informed on your progress. I hope I made this procedure clear enough for you.
One thing to remember is the distributor doesn't drop straight down , you actually have to start the distributor in about one tooth forward of the point where you want it to end up..As you drop the distributor down and it engauges the cam gear it rotates counterclock wise 3/4" as the gears engauge.. I just thought I would mention this because it causes problems for some people that haven't done this before......WW
still waiting on my dist to arrive so i can get rid of the bushing squeeeeek.
in the mean time i pulled my throttle body to check my IAC and give it a good clean.
It was nasty black with carbon, and the gasket was broken, not sure if sucking air in that gasket would be bad or not.
however i broke this in this picture. its from the passenger side of the throttle body. am i to splice this back together with some windshield washer hose or what? what does this thing even do? egr?
my shop manual is on the way, i ordered one off ebay.
You're going to find that those hard plastic lines will break if you look at them wrong, they are heat soaked & brittle. Yes regular vacuum line will do just fine and the broken gasket is a must fix. As long as you are waiting for the dist. you might as well start going over all the vacuum hoses to see how many are bad. The area down under the charcoal canister, (underhood, left front, just behind parking lights.) Those hoses are usually REAL nasty down in there and all you have to do is touch them and your hands are immediately black. I use the mechanics rubber gloves working in there. You will have a better running car by just eliminating vacuum leaks.
For the rough idle and hard start, seems to have been solved from doing the following:
- I cleaned my throttle body
- I replaced my TB gasket, which was leaking (vacuum leak?)
- used MAF cleaner on MAF
- replaced the Idle Air Control IAC.
- I cut my intake as one of the 'free hp' mods. no idea if it actually works but it actually does seem to have my oompf at higher speeds
- fixed that vacum hose by putting sticking the broken ends into rubber hose as a bridge.
Car is running WAAAAAAAAYYYy better. no issues on start, no issues hunting for idle, no issues when coming to a stop sign or red light.
Dist is still chirping away, havn't dropped new one in yet.
I am going to venture to say that the distributor is bad enough that it is affecting the way the car runs.
This is a very true statement. Any issues with the firing and the voltage supply will affect the way the car runs. There arent many components inside but all have to be working properly. I just replaced my pick up coil and I was amazed by how well the car ran after. It solved slow/hard start, improved idle and seems to have more power. The pick up coil isnt exactly a tune up item and your new dist. should have a new pick up unless its just the housing.
09-22-2014, 05:39 PM
87 coupe, L98, squeaky distributor bushings
..WW
EVERYTHING i have touched has been filthy, interior, exterior, and under the hood. As such, I suspect I have multiple issues to work through and I am pretty stoked to figure it all out. In the mean time, the car runs and I can go have fun with it.
