Leak at distributor mount...

Took the car to the shop to have the new clutch installed (thanks to the info here, I told them there needs to be 1" between the surfaces of my "dog bowl" flywheel, and the flywheel bolts need to be sealed to avoid oil leakage).

Anyway, upon arrival, I noticed some drips of oil under the car (surprisingly, the car does not usually drip oil from anywhere). As usual, the first thing I thought of was the most recent change (I installed the DUI distributor about a week ago). Sure enough, there is oil leaking from the mounting point of the distributor (thought that o-ring looked a bit thin). What is the best way to address the oil leak? A thin gasket is going to raise the distributor (and the gear already sat about 1/16"-1/8" shorter than the one on the stock distributor.

Thanks,
Pete

The gear position is critical if its not within .015 of factory spec , expect the cam and Dist gear to fail , I have had to correct this on the DUI Dists as well , sorry

I had this same issue when I installed my DUI. I tried a gasket but it just leaked past the gasket. After going round and round with it the final fix was to secure the dist hold down extremely tight. Worked for me.

8) if the "O" ring looked a bit thin compared to the OEM "O" ring, then replace the DUI "O" ring with one that is a bit thicker.

rbohm":2ef2kfdg said:

8) if the "O" ring looked a bit thin compared to the OEM "O" ring, then replace the DUI "O" ring with one that is a bit thicker.

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I attempted this but could never find an o-ring that was thicker than the OEM one that would still allow the dizzy to slide in. Maybe someone else may be more successful?

Gene Fiore":1g0kzydh said:

rbohm":1g0kzydh said:

8) if the "O" ring looked a bit thin compared to the OEM "O" ring, then replace the DUI "O" ring with one that is a bit thicker.

Click to expand...

I attempted this but could never find an o-ring that was thicker than the OEM one that would still allow the dizzy to slide in. Maybe someone else may be more successful?

Click to expand...

you said you thought the o ring on the dui distributor looked a little thin. perhaps going to an OEM ford o ring will do the trick.

wont fit , Another DUI mistake

Called the shop up right before closing, and they said they "just finished." Tech said everything with the clutch went "like a breeze," and it was "immediately obvious" what the problem was when they took it apart (apparently the problem was related to the pressure plate- they said it was literally "broken" and I'll see what they mean when I pick her up tomorrow). Mentioned the car shifts "like a dream" now (and they were impressed with the way the T-5 works with the 6cyl).

They did not mention the oil leak specifically- but did say they were able to "fix everything" (which I assume includes the leak, since its the only other thing I indicated when I dropped it off this morning). I'll be curious to see what they did (have a feeling they torqued the mount bolt down- I tightened it, but didn't go super tight.

My LiveWires and looms arrived today as well- so things will soon be looking nice and clean under the hood!

As for the DUI- yeah, if I were starting from scratch I'd go another route. I'd say the tech article on the host site needs to be updated to mention some of the issues that are all over the forum!

Well, the clutch is fixed (although you have to let it almost the whole way out to get to the point where it engages). I'm going to have a look at it this evening.

The distributor still leaks- guess I'll have to find a thicker O ring or come up with some other solution. Maybe I'll just call Performance Distributor since they created (literally) this mess. I don't want to install any kind of gasket- because I don't want to raise the gear any further, but its not like you can put a bead of silicone in there either (since you have to be able to turn the distributor to adjust timing). Arrrgh!

At least there is no shudder in the clutch anymore. The problem was a "collapsed pressure plate." Two of the springs in the pressure plate were actually broken.

"...springs in the pressure plate were... broken..."
"...the pressure plate... was... "broken"...
wonder why (toward deeper diagnosis)?

"...let it almost the whole way out to get to the point where it engages..."
they could not adjust appropriately? Y?

First off, figured out (and resolved) the source of the oil leak. I decided to remove the distributor last night (both to think about installing a gasket and to see the pattern on the distributor gear).

Looking at the hold down clamp, I realized it didn't really go on TOP of the hold down collar... Sure enough, when I measure the stock distributor, the diameter of the hold down collar is 1.68" (the DUI's collar measured 1.54"). Went out to O'Reillys and found a GM style distributor clamp (had to modify with a cutting disc to get it to fit, but in the end it looks good). Went out for a 30 minute drive- not a drop of oil leaked.

Also, noticed that the marks on the gear indicate it is positioned pretty much perfectly (same tooth pattern/location as the stock distributor). So, the distributor seems pretty much sorted for now- but I still need to yank it again and send it out for recurving. As a couple people have mentioned, the advance is not set quite right- when there is low load on the engine it feels like it is advancing too far.

Regarding the clutch... I had a chance to look at everything last evening. The mechanic felt the last pressure plate was either defective- or installed incorrectly. Of the three "fingers," two of them had springs out of sorts (one was broken, one had disconnected). As a result, the plate was crooked. Not surprisingly, the flywheel had hot spots and a small fissure- which they were able to resolve when they resurfaced it.

As far as the pedal feel goes, the clutch engages and disengages perfectly, its just that the engagement point is almost immediately (engagement point is about 1.5-2.0" from the top of travel). This was where it engaged when I had the last clutch installed, btw. Tonight I'll be getting out my '65 Shop Manual and going through the clutch adjustment procedure.

End of day, a few things concern me about the mechanic... but that's pretty normal. If it weren't for the need to resurface the flywheel, I would have done this job myself (could have just taken in the flywheel to be resurfaced, but its hot, I got lazy, and just wanted it fixed). It seems to be hard to find someone who knows how to work on a 49 year old car- plus no one is going to pay as much attention to detail as I will when working on my car (of course, I did initially miss the distributor clamp being the wrong size for the DUI).

Congrats on getting her back to regular running Pete

1-2" of "free play" in the pedal is generally acceptable. Of course you can always increase it by shortening the adjustment rod at the throwout fork exiting the bellhousing. A couple threads shorter can make a significant difference in the feel. How much free play you want is somewhat subjective. You generally want at least an inch or two to be sure the throwout bearing is not in constant contact with the fingers on the pressure plate...riding on them full time will wear the out the bearing prematurely. Too much free play and you might not have full clutch disc disengagement from the flywheel and wear out a disc too early.

You can often hear the throwout bearing spinning (if too little free play). OTOH you'll either feel the clutch grab really early in the bottom of the pedal stroke with too much free play, or you'll get some gear grinding or indications that the disc is not fully disengaging from the flywheel with the pedal stroke. There is generally a decent amount of adjustment in between to get the pedal feel you like so try a full turn on the adjustment nut shorter first and see if you prefer that.

If using the classic 3 finger PP they can be a crap shoot if it's a rebuilt. I once salvaged a PP on the verge of more catastrophic failure. Pivot pin on one finger had worked loose all because they used teen-iny cotter pins to keep them in place pulled and replace all with suitable sized pins.

Glad to hear you can crank the Willie, or your preferred artist..."On the road again..." :vert

I could definitely hear the bearing spinning with the old clutch (sounded sorta like keys jangling). Get just a little of it with the new clutch. Going to adjust one turn and see if the feel is improved (not surprisingly, your advice meshes perfectly with the shop manual :^).

This weekend's project will be installing a fuel pressure valve and gauge. O'Reillys has both, so I think I'll install the pressure gauge first (to confirm that I am indeed getting too much pressure) and then I'll install the adjustment valve.

For now, I'm enjoying "chatter free" shifting in 1st and Reverse!

Whew, it is STILL hot here in Texas!

I installed a pressure gauge and regulator in the fuel line today- and then adjusted the clutch (turned out there was almost 0 free play in the pedal).

I installed the gauge first- just to see how much pressure the fuel pump is putting out... The answer was just a touch over 9 lb.! Then I installed the pressure regulator (good thing I installed the gauge- when the regulator reads "4" the gauge reads "7"). I eventually ended up setting the regulator at 2, which puts the gauge at a hair under 4 lb. (is that low enough, or should I be cutting it down to 3 lb?

Engine seems to idle just the same, but there is less "odor" in the exhaust. With the car running in the garage, backed in, garage door open (I'm already brain damaged enough :^), the exhaust seems a lot less noticeable than it used to be. In fact, I had it running about 5 minutes while I set pressure and checked for fuel leaks... Usually, just backing into the garage causes the carbon monoxide detector in the laundry room (which is right off the garage) to start intermittently chirping, but after 5 minutes the detector didn't make a sound.

I then adjusted the clutch, and settled on just over 1" of free play at the top. The shop had adjusted it to have virtually zero free play (which is why the clutch was disengaging so high).

Finally, I think I have this thing running about as smooth as it is going to. Thanks to everyone (especially Frankenstang) for all the helpful advice. With the new distributor, wires, and pressure gauge (mounted so its right in front of the air cleaner), the 6 is looking about as good as she can!

Now to take her out for a drive once it cool off a bit (Stevie Ray Vaughan might complain about flooding in Texas- but right now I'd be happy for some wet weather).

8) 3-5psi is plenty of fuel pressure for a carbed engine, so at 4psi you are good to go.

Thanks- will stick with the 4 lbs.

Took the car on a 40 mile drive this evening. On the 20 mile trek out, the car didn't miss a beat- engine felt great and the clutch has never been better.

Had dinner and on the way back there were a couple issues. First, she popped out of 5th to neutral (for a couple seconds I thought something had come apart in the new clutch- then I realized it had just popped out of gear... never did that before and didn't do it again the rest of the way).

The other odd thing that really worries me is- when cruising at 75mph and 2,100 rpms- I got a couple "kicks" (kinda like a random miss). Since I didn't have the A/C on the way out (and did on the way back), I cut it off thinking maybe that was the problem. However, after another couple minutes, it gave another kick. All the plug wires seem tight, and it NEVER did that with my stock distributor. It gave one more kick while coming into the neighborhood and accelerating in 2nd. Then in the driveway it actually stalled as I sat idling (started right back up- I had turned off the headlights). It did kick a couple times the other night when I first installed the Live Wires (but it was always at low speed when accelerating with the A/C on).

Any ideas? Is this why I need to send the dist off to fix the curve, add adj vacuum, and possibly repair the mechanical advance if the weights are sticking? The only other odd thing it has done is- the other night when I adjusted the timing when I first started to loosen the hold down bolt it tried to die on me. Does this thing need a ground strap? My other thought is I run my headlights and the distributor directly off relays from the battery. With the headlights, foglights, and A/C blower going, perhaps the voltage is dropping (my voltage gauge does drop to 12v when idling with the headlights and A/C blowing- but at 75mph the gauge stays right at 14v).

Thanks,
Pete

8) if you dont have a ground strap, install one. as to the voltage drop, are you still running a generator or have you switched to an alternator? if an alternator what amp output are you using? you need the 55amp model at least.

Varilux":1ib20ec6 said:

Whew, it is STILL hot here in Texas!...
...Now to take her out for a drive once it cool off a bit...

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Pete, that would mean waiting till October and sometimes November here in Texas :rolflmao:


Seriously though, I like Rich's advice....4psi for pressure regulator, and making sure you've got good grounds.

IIRC main ground straps come off the battery negative to the passenger side of the block. Then one from the passenger side rear of block to the firewall. Some also have a jumper from the block to one of the mounting bolts on the starter. I've placed or replaced all three of those ground strap location with 4ga battery cable thick leads.

I'm thinking you might have a faulty plug wire...possibly one of the new live wires. Hopefully not, but manufacturing has to keep the QC guys in business I think you mentioned you picked up an over the counter wire set while waiting for the live wires. I would of course check all the plug connections as it seems you've done, but also consider replacing a wire at a time with a substitute and see if the "kick" goes away. If its an infrequent and random miss this could be tedious to root out. It does sound abit like a random miss based on your description, and that makes me think wires for one.

Another thought...did you replace the spark plugs and/or enlarge the spark plug gap. I forget the DUI recommended plug gap, but it's larger for most all electronic ignitions vs points. If you haven't serviced the plugs recently it wouldn't hurt to pull them, clean them well (given the excess fuel she was burning), and verifying the gaps. Good luck

EDIT: Another quick thought...those high voltage coil-in-caps on HEI style dizzys can run pretty hot. Given the temps we've been running lately you might to check the unit is greased correctly. I believe there is supposed to be a fair amount of heat dissipating grease applied somewhere? in the HEI setup, but can't immediately recall where (could be coil to cap surface, could be on the module : ...never was much of a GM guy )...hopefully the directions or some experienced with DUI/HEI can offer a pointer on that.


PS...we could use a 'Texas Flood'...it's been too dry for too long, and I'm totally green with jealousy of you having A/C I was hoping to get that done this year, but at this point it will likely not happen till the spring.

Thanks all... I've identified the alternator (which looks pretty new) as a 55amp. My main beef with the Live Wires is they seem like they would pop off the plugs easily (you have to really seat them, and if you tug on the wire at all you feel the wire popping off the plug).

I had the plugs gapped at 0.050- based on the recommendation I saw in another thread I've ordered some Iridium plugs (NGK 7510) and plan to gap them at 0.045. Earlier in the year, I replaced all the ground and power cables with 4 gauge (IIRC), because the battery cables that came with the car had the clamp-on ends (which I understand is hard on the charging system).

I also discovered the mechanic somehow managed to move the exhaust pipe at least 3" to the side of the car so that it now rattles against the leaf spring- so I'll be sorting that out in the future as well (he mentioned the exhaust clunking when I picked it up- said he "tried to tighten it up"). It was perfect when it went in the shop- so that's the last visit to Kanes.

Fortunately, I plan to install dual headers and a GT dual exhaust later in the year (I have the GT valence already painted and ready to go). The aforementioned A/C is a complicating factor there, because the bracket needs to be extended. For now, I just want to get the ignition nailed down and solid!

Varilux":2jddhcsm said:

My main beef with the Live Wires is they seem like they would pop off the plugs easily (you have to really seat them, and if you tug on the wire at all you feel the wire popping off the plug).

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A good snug boot can be a good thing for keeping out contaminants and keeping plug, cap and wire leads clean, but it can make for a difficult fit initially till the rubber stretches out some. I've got the high end Mallory 8mm wires, and the heavy rubber boots were definitely snug on installation. A dab of dielectric grease on the plug tip and mainly on the ceramic can make it a little easier for removal and installation.

If you have any wires in particular that fit the plug or dizzy cap tips too loosely, I have taken a pair of pliers and gently compressed the connector by squishing around the outside of the boot. Obviously you don't want to over crimp as it can make it a bear to remove later.

Don't know how much you drove it before the Live Wire install, but a poor fitting or defective wire might still be my best guess at this point, for the intermittent "kick" or miss...hopefully no outright ignition component failure. Good luck