84 Caprice distributor is stuck,can't adjust HELP!!! :(

[ChvLvr]

I took the adjustment bolt OUT...but the distributor will NOT move even to pullit out...she be stuck.The car runs fine otherwise..except for a little misfiring ( the reason I went to adjust the timing).Why will it not release?????

[TommySS]

Seized.

Get some PB Blaster and spray it liberally around the base. Do it while the engine is hot. Then let the engine cool and spray it again. Wait about 30 minutes and put the strap wrench around the base of the housing (the wide part of the distributor).

That should loosen it up.

Recommend you get a strap wrench and put it around the housing

[ChvLvr]

TY....I will try that immediately. But first I have to get it started now,I drove a friend to a Ford lot.....now my car won't even start (no word of a lie..it has been tainted) I think the cat is gone (brand new) from the amount of fuel not being burned properly thru the carb...might be time for a 350 now.any sugestions?

[TommySS]

Did you reinstall the distributor hold down bolt? If not, the distributor might be loose now (explaining the no-start condition).

[ChvLvr]

I did some troubleshooting and found my coil litteraly burned and melted a bit.I also found the distributor shaft was a bit bent, not much, but enough to cause problems down the road,so I am poicking up a brand new one for $145 CAN. gotta love friends at Lordco . what would cause the coil to heat up so bad?

[TommySS]

Wow. Never had one burn up. When I replace he cap/rotor I always made sure the rubber disk was coated w/dielectric grease.

One purpose of the grease is to act as a heat sink.

If the center terminal of the cap wore down to nothing, that would cause it to stop running.

[ChvLvr]

Actually therubber disc was untouched by heat..it was where the metal square that surrounds the coil and enters into the coil,right at that point is where it melted. The cap is unscathed.It seems only one end of the coil blew. I have a replace ment, but I HAVE to know why it happened(it will drive me nuts not knowing the science behind it).Thanx Tommy you bin a great help man.too bad your so far away,I'd buy ya a beer.

[TommySS]

Thanks for the kind words.

Don't know why the coil burned up on ya, but I checked my service logs and at about every 100k miles I put a new one on mine.

Could be a short from worn insulation.

The resistance could also gotten way outta spec (for any number of reasons) and took a lot of extra juice to work - causing an overheat condition

In any event, you're back on the road. Good stuff !

[ChvLvr]

Tommy have I got a story for you,I took my car to an apparent Licensed Mech. nice shop the whole works 1 1/2 years ago, I took the car off the road for a year since then ( just wasn't running right) so now..lol i start working on it and found all the after mentioned problems..wellllll the idiot put my distributor in backwards as in 180 degrees off ,foly huck man I paid this guy money,so i get the distributor turned around and hooked everything back up again with the OLD parts,adjust the timing and carburator....now she purr like a kitten..INCREDIBLE.

[TommySS]

Amazing.

Anytime I need to pull a distributor, I bump it to #1 before taking it out (and marking everything).

The easiest distributor to R&R is the old MoPar ones. They have a slot so it's either in or 180 off.

I'm glad you're up and running again. I gotta get a new engine and the requisite service parts (balancer, flex-plate, fuel pump/rod, etc) for mine.

It's not cheap, but it can be a lot of fun.

I'll keep everybody informed

[ChvLvr]

NO purr like a kitten no more..the NEW distributor got bent and screwde up now...grrrrrrrr good thing my in-laws just gave me a Caddy. thanks for the help on the Caprice.