Extreme wear on distributor gear in brand new vortec 3.0l

[alldodge]

This happens when a roller cam is used. Need to get a hardened or composite distributer gear. Just google it, there will be many sites and gears available.

 

[Grub54891]

Not to steal the thread, but-why would a roller cam cause this? Is the set of the gearteeth different?

 

[alldodge]

Not to steal the thread, but-why would a roller cam cause this? Is the set of the gearteeth different?

Its not gear teeth its the cam gear is hardened and can be made of different materials. The disey is along for the ride but the hardened cam gear, a bit more load, oil pump and next thing you have is a worn disey gear if it to is not hardened or composite,

Google it, all kinds of info out there

Here is a good read
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2009/07/properly-matching-your-camshaft-and-distributor-gear/

 

[Grub54891]

Thanks Dodge. We had one at the marina that did the same thing.Replaced the dizzy, and then he traded in the boat, so I don't know if it held up for long. But it had several hundred hours on it before the issue showed up.

 

[billbr]

Anyone see a distributor gear wear like this? This is a brand new GM Vortec 3.0l base engine from Michigan Motorz with the Delco Voyager EST ignition (installed by them). This was after only 6 hours of gentle break-in, with an oil change after the first 4 hours. The only reason this didn't leave us stranded was because the electronic advance was out of tolerance and I was sent a replacement distributor. Otherwise, another 6 hours or so, and we would have been adrift somewhere in Puget sound. I also posted to the OMC forum, but there are a lot more experts here. Thanks. Mod EDIT: From your other topic:

I posted earlier about a problem with timing advance on a new base engine I bought from Michigan Motorz. They sent me a new distributor and it's advance curve looks much better now. However, when I took a look at the distributor gear, I noticed that about half of every tooth appeared as though it were filed off. This was after a gentle break-in of about 6 hours, with an oil and filter change after 4 hours. I then pulled the new distributor and saw that it showed a visible amount of scoring on the teeth after only 5 minutes of running while I was setting the base timing. I've attached photos of both gears. Any ideas on what could have caused this kind of wear? It seems obvious to me that the cam gear is causing this and it somehow was either defective or damaged. My guess is that Michigan Motorz installed the original distributor without any assembly lube, and galling occurred before oil was able to come up to pressure. Has anyone ever seen this before? I believe that, at a bare minimum, I'll need to replace the cam and lifters. Looking at the condition of the lobes and lifters should provide more insight as to how this could have happened. Michigan motorz won't discuss root cause until they receive the original distributor back. I'm afraid they may not honor their warranty. We'll see. It's a good thing that the original distributor was defective, as I would have had no reason to look at this until complete failure left me stranded in the middle of Puget sound.

 

[alldodge]

Hoping for another answer?
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...-on-distributor-gear-in-brand-new-vortec-3-0l

 

[billbr]

Yeah, I was. Sorry if I breached etiquette. I figured that this forum had a broader audience, since it had over 10x the number of posts, and probably has 10x the number of people reading this than the OMC forum.

It would be great if I could just replace the distributor gear with a hardened version, but I looked all over for any evidence that GM ever put in a roller cam in this engine and came up empty. I guess the best thing is to just try that and pull the distributor after a few hours to see if that fixed it. That would be a whole lot easier than putting in a new cam and lifters.

Thanks for your help.

 

[alldodge]

No offence or etiquette down, most of the same folks look at all the areas. This one gets more hits because there are more Merc's then OMC. That said, someone else may have a better opinion, give it some time, they will come around

Won't be the first time I was wrong

 

[DeepBlue2010]

As AllDodge pointed out, that is becuase of your roller cam. You need to use Bronze grear. Mitchigan Motorz knows this also but they goofed. Call them and ask about the cam they used then call the factory and ask abou tthe recommended gear material (most likely will be Bronze) but more importantly ask them about the recommended interval to change the bronze gear if any.


As of now though, you have some metal shavings in your oil and who know where they will end. If it was me, I will request sending me a whole other engine and they can have the one they screws up for a rebuild. Glad to see another Puget Sound boater here, welcome aboard

 

[Redrig]

Yup, the dizzy gear material has to be compatible with the cam , or disaster will happen .

you are lucky you caught this early.

 

[Rick Stephens]

I had an oil pump on a Ford motor that was shaving metal off a gear, result would seize up the oil pump on fairly tiny pieces of said metal and shear the roll pin that holds the disty drive gear on. Oil pump being before filtering. It would happen in some of the most inconvenient places and times. Finally rebuilt the motor and got rid of the source. But something to keep in mind.

I can't find where there was ever a roller cam used in the 3.0L. I think this is just a case of mismatched components. Obviously the cut of the cam gear is eating the disty ear. Can you get a good enough look at the cam gear to see if it is getting damaged as well?

 

[southkogs]

I deleted the other topic billbr. That'll keep the conversation funneling through one spot.