Plagueis

Hello, everyone.

My father's got an 89 F-150, 4.9L L6 and he's looking to replace what he called the "distributor," which is the round canister-like object that had the coil cap on top of but pictured removed here:



He just wants to make sure on how to remove it, so that he doesn't break anything. One thing in particular he's interested in is a hole on the lower outside of this thing, which he was wondering if it's part of how you remove it. Are you supposed to insert something like an Allen key to pry this loose?

Any information is greatly appreciated.

farmer12

The only thing that holds that down is one bolt with a clamp on it at the base of the distributor. Pretty simple to remove, just make sure you mark where the base is set on the block and which direction the rotor is pointing before you pull it out, this has to be reinstalled in the same place that you took it out.

Plagueis

Awesome!

Does this bolt require a special socket or driver?

Thank you very much.

dr_bowtie

nope..mine was 1/2in...

why do you want to pull the distributor?

Plagueis

Cool, thanks for verifying that.

My father wants to replace that with a new one because he believes it may have been blown by the power steering fluid that splashed a bit onto there. The truck stalled in drive and hasn't been able to start since. The starter cranks and the fuel pump seems to be working with the usual sound it emits when the key is turned, so he's narrowing down from the most likely source first. We'll probably have this replaced today. I'll let you guys know what happens.

Plagueis

Well, we got out the distributor, thank the Lord. That half inch bolt was tight like crazy, and every path that needed access was obstructed by wires and components. However, when my father tried to disassemble the distributer to replace several inner parts, we got stuck. He got out the screws and the gear pin from the little hole above the arrow, but the gear itself refuses to pull or twist. A guy at Autozone said that the gear simply comes off to the bottom (towards right in picture) and that inner rod and whatnot comes out through the top (towards left). Is there something else besides the pin that holds this gear, or do you have to use a special tool like a wheel-puller to get it off?

dr_bowtie

nope just pulls off...

why bother with it though...here a ditributor is 60.00 with a core...you cant buy all the replacement parts for that cheap...I would just put it back together honestly and swap it for a new one...

Plagueis

Cool. Thank you for the clarification and suggestion.

My father was actually interested in replacing it if he could, especially since the "magnet" piece at the top is cracked. He has the replacement parts including that magnet piece, but since he has it out, he figured it would be convenient to put a new one in. I'll see how he manages from here and I'll let him know that he can get one here for that price. Would the distributor be sold by a private dealer on this message board or a sponsoring parts dealer?

dr_bowtie

Autozone or Advanced Auto or Checker or O'Reilys...they all have them....

Plagueis

Well, we managed to get the distributor reassembled and put back in but the truck still won't start. The starter cranks normally and there's plenty of battery power, but the engine just doesn't seem to want to start.

This first happened when the engine stalled out suddenly when it was in drive (automatic transmission) but at a stop with the brake depressed. Shortly before this, my father poured a bottole of octane right into the tank, but he assures that it couldn't have done any damage. Could the fuel pump go out in an instant like this? When he turns the power on, I could hear a faint whine plus a gurgling sound from the fuel pump. Is this typically abnormal? We noticed that there was no smell or residue of unburnt gasoline at the tail pipe, which was why the fuel pump was really suspected.