installing a jeep 4.0 distributor

[brokejeep]

Can anyone tell me how to install a distributor on a jeep 4.0? I have read several different places that you need to line up certain holes so the sensors are all lined up??? Please help me understand the process to get a 4.0 properly timed. Thanks in advance

 

[Jeremy]

you can only put it in one way. and you cant adjust the timing.

 

[brokejeep]

So you sayin I just stick it in and it will start.... cause thats not the case so far. I've heard it needs to be indexed so the camshaft sensor and the crank position senor are lined up.

 

[mbryson]

It's a horrible pain in the arse.

 

[DaveB]

Put the engine in top dead center then drop in the distributor so that the rotor is pointing at spark plug number one (often there is a number one on the distributor cap if not number one is the spark plug at the front of the engine). Find top center by taking out the number one spark plug, put a finger over the hole and have someone bump the engine till the compression pushes your finger off the plug hole. Then look at the timing mark on the dampner and line it up to the 0 mark. The distributor is held on with a bolt that sets the position of the housing but not the rotor. The gear on the distributor is a spiral gear so drop it in offset a bit from where you want it to end up. The distributor shaft also runs the oil pump and you will have to align the pump shaft to the distributor or it won't go in all the way. You can rotate the pump shaft with a long screwdriver.

 

[Jeremy]

maybe i just got lucky. i just pulled the old one out and dropped the new one in. i did line up the rotor on the new distibutor the same way the rotor on the old distributor was lined up. and it dropped right in.

 

[brokejeep]

I have done exactly as described above. Still no start. I know you need to align the camshaft sensor and the crank position sensor so they communicate. If the pcm does not sense the two are lined up itwill not send spark.

 

[Milner]

Put the engine in top dead center then drop in the distributor so that the rotor is pointing at spark plug number one (often there is a number one on the distributor cap if not number one is the spark plug at the front of the engine). Find top center by taking out the number one spark plug, put a finger over the hole and have someone bump the engine till the compression pushes your finger off the plug hole. Then look at the timing mark on the dampner and line it up to the 0 mark. The distributor is held on with a bolt that sets the position of the housing but not the rotor. The gear on the distributor is a spiral gear so drop it in offset a bit from where you want it to end up. The distributor shaft also runs the oil pump and you will have to align the pump shaft to the distributor or it won't go in all the way. You can rotate the pump shaft with a long screwdriver.

I have done it several times just like this....Even a '90 dist into a 95 motor. Set it to TDC and go....I like to put a pencil in the spark plug hole to help me see the piston come up.

 

[Jeremy]

did it run before you removed the distributor? maybe there is another problem.

 

[brokejeep]

It did run before the distributor was removed. It sounds like it sparks two times then the spark is gone, I have checked I do have spark my injectors are spraying??? I will continue to try and hope it works. When it did run it sounded like it was not timed right it was sputtering on acceleration. That was the whole reason for emoving the distributor. Anybody know of a trustworthy shop in the West Valley area????