distributor question

i dont know if all distributors are the same but on my 85 300zx when i changed it you had to get the gears to mesh and line it up and all. What would happen if the distributor gear was off one tooth or five. Would it still start or run rough?

Might start then it would be oput of time of course and will not run correctly.

Would it run well enough to drive or would it be like missing out?

Depends on how badly you messed it up. Could just be down on power, or it could run like total crap. Remember, the Z31 uses the distributor to calculate crankshaft position for fueling as well.

Every distributor I've ever messed with had a helical gear like your Z.

Depends on how badly you messed it up. Could just be down on power, or it could run like total crap. Remember, the Z31 uses the distributor to calculate crankshaft position for fueling as well.

Every distributor I've ever messed with had a helical gear like your Z.

Well I changed the distributor in hopes that I could solve the crank angle sensor problem. The new one didn't have a wire harness or the cap on top of the spindle. I put the new one in and constantly took the distributor out and put it back in, trying to line it up and make sure I had it in just as I took it out. However, the car is still having the same issue as before, where it runs like crap after a couple of minutes and the car had the crank angle sensor as a code.

What wire harness? The small bit with 4 (I think) wires is the CAS. If you swapped yours on, then of course the code will still be there.

Otherwise, you need to check the harness and such. I'm sure there is a page of the FSM devoted to testing the CAS itself, as well as the wiring to the ECU.

I wouldn't even know what the CAS looks like. The only thing I switch over was the black plastic piece that spins around when the car is running that sits on top when you take the distributor cap off, and a bunch of wires.

The spinny thing should be the rotor. The CAS is underneath the rotor.

The spinny thing should be the rotor. The CAS is underneath the rotor.

Ill try to get a pic but is it the little black box underneath the metal cover?

The rotor will spin around and contact the terminals on the cap/wires. It pops on and is held in place by a single screw.

The CAS is underneath the rotor. I've never removed mine, so I can't say for sure how it fits in the distributor. "Little black box under metal cover" sounds right.

Then that was never changed. I didnt have to switch the little black box.

Then you either got a bad unit, didn't line up the distributor correctly, or have another issue causing your CAS code. Time to start checking wires and such.