1973 Mercruiser 140 HP Woes

B

beericks

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
46
Yes its me again....Guess what just happened again? I lost my distributor drive gear again. I had about 10-20 hours on the new gear and it stripped of some teeth again. The firing order was mixed up (I had it set as 1-3-2-4 instead of 1-3-4-2) and it was out of time for 15 of those operating hours. I had a shop time it and fix the firing order and then the gear went out on me on the lake. Would the firing order and the fact that it was out of time lead to a premature failure of my distributor drive gear? The cam gear looks like it is worn but not missing any teeth. What should I do?IMG_0664.jpgIMG_0665.jpgIMG_0663.jpg
 
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fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Re: 1973 Mercruiser 140 HP Woes

Use a flash light and look at (check) the cam's distributor drive gear. That's a LOT of wear for a 15-20 hour old cam gear and I'm guessing the dizzy gear wore out until it finally chomped onto the cam, breaking the dizzy gear.

I'd check the dizzy shaft bushings too, if they get wiped out the dizzy shaft will wobble around, possibly causing the bad wear pattern. Rock the shaft in the dizzy housing side-side and see if you can feel slop, you shouldn't be able to feel the clearance between the shaft and housing.
 
CobiaXL

CobiaXL

Banned
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Mar 8, 2010
Messages
353
Re: 1973 Mercruiser 140 HP Woes

Cam gear worn is why that happen,too much play in the shaft creating a death wobble.
 
B

beericks

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
46
Re: 1973 Mercruiser 140 HP Woes

okay thanks guys. I looked in my manual and it looks like more than a job that I can handle since I do not have an overhead hoist or a hub puller for the crankshaft pulley. I think this boat might just have gotten expensive on me :( I dont have any bushings on my distributor. The shaft just is in the dist housing and has the gear on the end that I have pictured. With a flashlight I can tell the cam gear is worn. I was hoping for the best and got more heartache. this is my distributor http://www.boats.net/parts/search/M...7668/DISTRIBUTOR ASSEMBLY AND COIL/parts.html
 
B

beericks

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
46
Re: 1973 Mercruiser 140 HP Woes

I took my boat to a mechanic today and he thinks the distributer bushing is okay but thinks the cam is pretty chewed up so it looks like I will book some shop time and tear into this bad boy!!! In the manual it says to take off the oil pan. Why cant I find the gaskets for the oil pan anymore? And if the distributer bushing is also bad where can I find one of those? They are obsolete :(
 
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