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Hi gang, as I stated in my previous post, I’m trying to install a new ICM and P/U coil in my ’90 3.1. I researched my ’90 Helms manual & it seemed like a very straightforward thing to do, that is until I pulled off my cap & rotor. According to the Helms my dist. is supposed to have a clip & retainer, they actually show a “picture” of the dist. But the problem is mine doesn’t look anything like that. It looks like this: (“I borrowed” this picture from a previous post by Doward)

I checked my buddy’s ’87 and it looks just like mine.

Questions:

1) Can I remove that “Thing” (it’s actually a magnet) with the 3 rivets that sits on top of the P/U coil without having to pull the distributor??? I sprayed WD-40 on it and tried pulling it but it won’t budge. I’m afraid of applying too much force and breaking it.
2) What is that magnet thing actually called??
3) Distributor shims, (for future use) is everybody using V8 Chevy parts for this?

ThankX again

zoomzoom

Sorry about that, can't seem to be able to attach the image but here is a link to the previous post with pictures, the part I'm trying to remove is the one that sits right below the rotor has three rivets and is magnetic (the picture only shows two of the rivets):

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ld/passide.jpg

I also found the old post with the shim info; Moroso part #26140

Cool!

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Ok guys how about a little help please. I know a bunch of you have rebuilt the distributor on your V6's, I need to know if anyone has managed to remove the magnetic piece (reluctor) from the shaft without having to remove the dist. I need to change my pickup coil & can't do that until I pull that darned reluctor out of the shaft.

ThanX

camaro_junkie

I didn't bother rebuilding the distributor, I just bought a whole new one with the module and all. I did however put a new p/u coil on my old distributor. I don't think you can do this without removing the distributor. Just take the whole thing out, remove the spring pin on the gear, pull the shaft out, and replace the p/u. Remember to mark everything's position so that it goes back in exactly as it came out. Also IIRC the p/u is held on by a snap ring, so be careful when you remove this because I broke off a little piece on the dist. that holds the snap ring in place. Also, it's recommended that you put some dielectric compound between the dist. and module (probably for preventing rubbing due to vibrations).

Let me know if this is detailed enough, or if I answered your question.

Doward

You can not rebuild your distributor, or replace the pickup coil, without removing the distributor.

The upper reluctor (the 'magnet') ring is part of a shaft that goes all the way through the distributor, and is held in place with a roll pin that holds the distributor gear onto it.

You will have to pull the distributor out. The first time I attempted to remove mine, it was STUCK. and I do mean STUCK. I completely removed the hold down clamp, and actually had to unbolt my hood to stand on top of the engine, and pull that damn thing out. It was just that sludged up.

Hopefully yours won't be that stuck.

On a side note, now that I have gotten it out that first time, apart, and cleaned the hell out of it (brake cleaner and some 400grit sandpaper will be your friends), it's nothing at all to pop the distributor out.

I firmly expect that every 10k miles, I'll be pulling the distributor, to clean it, if nothing else.

Good luck!

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camaro_junkie, Doward, thanks for the response, it answers all my questions perfectly. I appreciate your help.:hail: :hail:

Doward, I did read your post regarding you dist. being stuck & what you went thru to get it out. That is the reason I was trying to avoid pulling mine out.............seems like Murphy's law was written expressly for me..........that old Mr. Murphy sure likes to visit me a lot.

ThanX again

TomP

85-89 2.8 distributors will "appear" to be stuck to the engine- the cold start injector's connector must be un-clipped. The connector is what holds the distributor in. Just squeeze the silver wire clip of the connector "inward" towards the middle of the connector; that releases the clip, and pull the injector plug straight off.

Don't try to pull the magnet/reluctor off the shaft. Yank the dist and do it the "right" way. For ease of re-installation, bring your #1 cylinder up to top-dead-center of the compression stroke. Our 2.8/3.1's #1 cylinder is the frontmost PASSENGER SIDE cylinder- just about every other GM engine out there uses the frontmost driver's side cylinder as #1- not ours. Verification? The frontmost passenger cylinder is the closest cylinder to the timing chain.

CJ, the dielectric between the distributor and module isn't for protection against rubbing; it's to help the transfer of heat from the module into the the distributor. Without that stuff the module will burn up and be useless fast. I've always used the white heat-sink-grease; it usually comes with a module in a small tube, I buy an extra tube for $3 from the local Radio Shack. (Ask the idiot salesman for "heat sink grease", they should be able to find it.)

And I agree about being careful with the snap ring that holds the pickup coil on! Wear safety glasses. When I popped my first one off, it flew across the room with crazy speed- glad it didn't hit me in the eye.

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Thanks for the advice TomP.

Since I’m going to have to pull the dist. to change the pickup coil, I’ll get the shims & take care of that while its out. I’m trying to get them locally so I don’t have to pay $7.00 shipping on a $3.00 part from Summit.

camaro_junkie

In response to TomP's reason for putting the dielectric between the module and distributor, I have thought up a new mod (not just for V6s!). Hook a CPU fan up to the module to keep that baby cool. Estimated gains are in the range of 0.01hp.

Also, I've taken the distributor out a couple of times and never unplugged the cold start connector *shrug*, hope I didn't break anything. It's the hot start my car has problems with anyways.

LT1guy

iTrader: (1)

I've run into the "stuck distributor" problem before, but not on a 2.8. It does help things tremendously to unplug the cold start injector harness as Tom P said. I used the Moroso shims for a SBC as listed above, and I'll stress the fact that this alone did as much for the car as the whole distributor rebuild itself (did it later). Redraif's distributor, which I think is typical, had over .030 endplay, which is now at .012.

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Ok since we are on the subject, how about the reluctor (you know the magnet thing that goes right below the rotor), how do you know if it's bad? I've checked with AZ, Kragen & NAPA & they don't show a listing for it.

TomP

It'd only really be bad if the magnet was cracked. Have you seen my bit of writing about how to adjust the pole pieces to be close to the reluctor by the same distance? If you follow that procedure of mine, you'll wind up with a strong "pulse" for the pickup coil to, well, pick up.

I had actually asked a while ago on the tech board regarding remote-mounting the module. There's no real reason I can see for it being inside the distributor, aside from proximity to the pick-up coil. Not sure if extending the pick-up coil wires an extra 2 or 3 feet would hurt anything- and apparently the topic was over people's heads, because I only got one or two responses.

But that seems like the ideal situation... remote mount the thing, get it away from engine heat, and you could bolt to something big like the firewall (talk about a heat sink!), or have more room to put a fan on it, etc.

For a listing on the reluctor, try http://www.carparts.com .

camaro_junkie

I guess to check if extending the pick-up coil leads would hurt you'd have to do a couple of calculations. First, you'd have to get a good estimate of the currents/voltages that are generated in the coil, then you'd have to calculate the resistance of the leads as they are and as they would be at 2-3feet. If there's a big difference in the resistances compared to the currents/voltages then it wouldn't be a good idea. Another thing you have to worry about is noise. It would probably be a good idea to shield the leads. If someone had time to do this, the they could actually tell if it is worth it.

edit: Oh yeah, about the reluctor and all. I bought a new distributor made by CarOne or something and it had a redesigned reluctor set up. It looked a little better than the stock one.

zoomzoom

ThanX for the response, you guys rule!!!

:hail: :hail: :hail:

I’m picking up the parts to do the full distributor rebuild & will set the gap on the pole pieces as per TomP’s advise.

Reason for all this is that among many other issues the car was putting out some really weak spark. I tested it with a spark tester (the kind that has an adjustable gap) and it was putting out this weak thin, orangey spark.

So I got:
1) New high quality Alternator (My tested bad)
2) Accel Super Stock Wires
3) Accel Remote mounted coil (Summit# ACC-140008)
http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...0008&x=12&y=13
4) New Cap & Rotor

So I installed everything & no change, I then installed my new coil in my buddy’s ’87 with his really old wires, cap etc. and the thing puts out this nice thick white/bluish spark.

So I figure, it’s time to rebuild the dist. & see if that takes care of the problem, will post results when done.

camaro_junkie

Let us know if you fix your problem. If not do a search on weak spark in the V6 forum. There's lots of information there.

TomP

CJ, good point about shielding the leads. After all, that's just a magnetic pulse; any radiation would throw off the signal. Hm; I wonder if that's why the module's inside; to avoid any EMI from the plug wires.

Sweet, ZZ! That's the coil I used to have! I replaced it with an MSD Blaster SS just because I bought an MSD 6AL box, and wanted everything to match. Where'd you mount yours? I mounted mine on a bracket I made; it put the coil between the top of the alternator and side of the throttle body. The bracket hung off of the top of the alternator bracket, using two screws from the factory bracket. Probably a bad place for vibration (laughs) but I never had a problem with it!

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Well as I knew it would happen the dist. was stuck (& no, I don't have a cold start injector, it's a 90, LOL).

So I pulled and I pulled & nothing, it wouldn't budge, so I got this little hammer & tapped & tapped on the main shaft and it still wouldn't come out ....so I tapped harder and it finally came out!

So I removed the gear, pulled the main shaft & went to remove the clip that holds the pickup coil in place and a chunck of the housing came off with it. I guess all that tapping wasn't such a good idea

Well I looked at the housing and that area where the clip goes is actually pretty thin and porous (I now, its a P.O.S. cast housing) so it's no suprise that the tapping didn't help it any.

Couln't find a decent price on one in any of the local junk yards so I got a rebuilt unit from Kragen's.

Seems like the housing problem is common, notice how they attach the pickup coil in these units (click on the picture to enlarge):



Anyway I'm going to install it tomorrow, will post again.

<b>BTW,TomP- </B> My Accel coil is mounted to the firewall but my 3.1 isn't exactly installed in an F-Body...........more on that latter, don't want to get banned.

camaro_junkie

That dist. in the link is the one I bought. Notice the different construction of the reluctor compared to the original. I also broke off a chunk when taking off the clip... I warned you.

zoomzoom

camaro_junkie, yup, you sure gave me the heads up on that one.

How many miles have you put on it & do you like it so far?

camaro_junkie

Are we talking about the dist. or the car? For the distributor, my cars got other problems, so it's hard to tell if I like it. I haven't driven very far on it because I only drive my car once a week, maybe.