Tom challenges the Butcher! Dist gear failure report...

Tom Wells · #1 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 05:22 AM

Well, the Butcher no longer has an exclusive lock on one type of failure. Sigh.

I drove my 521 stroker to the Fling. At 812 miles, the engine said POP! and quit. A post mortem revealed the distributor gear was worn away.

BACKGROUND:

The engine started out as a new crate motor from Ford. It came with a bad rod (chronicled elsewhere in an older post) which resulted in installing a new set of Eagle rods (gratis from Ford) before the engine was final assembled.

Then I had the engine builder remove the Ford solid roller cam and install a Crane hydraulic roller cam and lifters. He assumed the distributor gear that came with the crate motor was hardened steel. Apparently it was not.

QUESTIONS:

Is Ford responsible? Do their 514 crate motors come with cast dist. gears?

What about the oil pump? Is it one of the dreaded high volume units that overloads the cam/distributor gears? How do I tell by looking at it?

RATS!

Of course, I had to rent a car, drive Columbus to DC and back four times (425 miles per leg) including twice with a trailer and endure the thought of not being able to drive the car for ?? weeks while it is being repaired. Not to mention the costs of all this.

Hey Andy, it happens to all of us! Suck it up and get the thing back on the road (and track)! That's what I'm gonna do. I only got to drive it for five days - I need much more time in the saddle. Besides I just ordered a set of wheels for my Victoracers...

AND FINALLY:

Infinite thanks to DV for his hospitality, the loan of his shop and his duallie and the incredibly good time Kay and I had at the Fling, along with all the other Cobra folks, especially the Capital Area Cobra Club members. We'll be back!

And that's one of my stories (sob),

Tom

bonyhadi · #2 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 06:34 AM

NOPE, Ford is not a fault, your builder is, the old assume rule applies. So sorry for your problems, it was sad to see that red beauty in DV's garage when everyone else was out playing. Good Luck in getting it fixed pronto!

cobrashoch · #3 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 04:38 PM

Tom - Did Crain recommend a bronze gear for that hyd. roller or a hardened gear? I blame Ford on this one but indeed your mechanic should have known better on the switchover to. I've only ran solid rollers and use only bronze gears on the the distributor gear. I've never ran a hyd. roller but I'll bet a hyd. roller cam is made from the same billet material as a solid roller. As for the oil pump, I don't think its even part of the problem.
The only downsides to running high volume pumps are they soak up a bit more horsepower than stock pumps and they bypass more oil, and that makes the oil hold heat in the pan. I use a Melling(SP) high vol. in my engine. Also be aware that a hardened distributor gear is a high wear item and needs to be replaced every 20,000 miles or so. So keep a eye on it on your list of engine to-dos.
Hope the damage didn't get into the cam gear. If it didn't the fix may be "less" painfull if you shut it off soon enough.
cobrashoch

Tom Wells · #4 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 06:42 PM

Hello Ron,

I'm kind of with you about pinning the tail mostly on Ford's donkey. I don't really know whether they'll stand behind it or not - I put in a call today but haven't had a call back yet.

The Crane instructions say to use hardened steel for mostly street, bronze for racing (and replace it regularly) and NEVER cast iron, which is apparently what Ford supplied. I believe that the Ford roller cam originally supplied with the crate motor would have worn out their distributor gear in exactly the same mileage - I agree with you that the materials are most likely identical between the two cams since they are both rollers.

I have bit the big bullet and ordered a new Crane cam along with a Crane hardened steel gear. Summit says it is in stock so miracle number one may happen - meaning the parts may actually be sent to me and be the correct ones. The engine should come out Monday and go to the shop on Tuesday. I'll keep the old parts at least long enough to see if Ford wants a look at them.

I only drove the thing 812 miles, but I'm thoroughly hooked! And the first one wasn't even free (veiled drug reference

)!

Regards,

Tom

millennium200 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 08:14 PM

Just turned 6000 miles on my 514 with stock cam and rollers and all is still well. I do not think if you had left the stock ford cam and rollers in that you would of had to walk to Ohio. I do not think you can blame ford for this one.

Tom Wells · #6 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 08:21 PM

Hello millennium200,

Can you tell what material your distributor drive gear is made of?

If it's steel, then Ford sent me the wrong one. If it's cast iron, then Ford is off the hook!

Regards,

Tom

millennium200 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-27-2002, 08:40 PM

I do not have a clue. With all the gear failure that I read about, I am afraid to look.

cwmcobra · #8 (**permalink**) 06-28-2002, 08:23 PM

Tom,

What a "good news/bad news" story. You made it to the Fling....congratulations on pulling that off. I know you had a tough time making it happen. The distributor gear failure is a major downer. My opinion is you should blame the engine builder for not confirming the material and making sure it was right. As you know, I installed a Crane hydraulic roller cam system in my 521 as well. Now I work for Eaton and we make the Crane lifters and I know about the camshaft materials and compatible distributor gears. I knew a steel cam needed a steel gear and that's what I bought from Crane. Of course, I built mine from Ford's short block and use an MSD billet distributor with that steel gear. MSD sells a steel gear that is less expensive than the Crane part, but I figured I should run what Crane recommends.

I'm not near to being on the street yet, so have no experience with longevity, but if I was asked to rank my risks, the distributor gear would not be one of them. I hope I'm right and, if so, so will you be after having that Crane gear installed.

Keep us posted on the status of your rebuild.

Regards,

Chuck