kilroy
Member
Short of breaking it into pieces, any ideas on how to remove what's most likely the original rotor on my 2000 260DA? It's frozen/rusted in place, and seems to want to stay that way...
Distributor rotor rusted in place
- Thread starter kilroy
- Start date
Larry
Well-Known Member
- Oct 19, 2006
- 1,284
- Boat Info
- 2004 42 Sundancer
Hydraulic platform
Cockpit air
KVH M3
- Engines
- 450hp Cummins
If it just will not pull off, you could try using a hacksaw and cut a vertical slice in the plastic, but without damaging the cam itself. Then use a large screwdriver in the groove you made, give it a twist to open the rotor up and now pull off.
kilroy
Member
Thanks for the quick responses. Given that I can't even see the rotor without using a mirror, maybe I'll try the dremel and cutting wheel.
JimG
Well-Known Member
- Nov 4, 2008
- 6,085
- Boat Info
- 2007 310 DA
Kohler 5ECD
- Engines
- Twin 350 Mags
Raw Water Cooled
V-Drives
I think I would just break into pieces... Grab it with a pair of channel locks. Gonna replace it anyway.
kilroy
Member
True enough... one way or another it's coming out!
Bob & Sue
Active Member
I'd try something like a nail claw puller with a small piece of wood or plastic to protect the housing before cutting it all the shavings are going to fall into the distributor when you cut it if I had to cut it off I'd pull the distributor out of the engine first.
This is an example you can get them at any HD or HF.
http://www.amazon.com/Task-Tools-T4...wer-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1374674188&sr=1-22
This is an example you can get them at any HD or HF.
http://www.amazon.com/Task-Tools-T4...wer-hand-tools&ie=UTF8&qid=1374674188&sr=1-22
patokapirate
New Member
- Jan 1, 2011
- 71
- Boat Info
- 1992, 270 Weekender
- Engines
- 7.4, Quadrajet carb, Davis Unified Ignition, Bravo 2
The rotor and sensor wheel on my boat was glued to the top of the distributer shaft with red locktite. The factory manual actually reccomend this for the thunderbolt 4 ignition. I was able to pry off the wheel and distributer with 2 screwdrivers. I have since replaced the entire thunderbolt ignition with an aftermarket system from performance distributors.
kilroy
Member
Went back to the boat today and used a channelocks to break apart the old rotor to get it out. sanded some of the rust off the distributor shaft and put a bit of dialectric grease on it before installing the new rotor. Runs like a top now. Thanks for all the tips.
kilroy
Member
There was no locktite on the old rotor, and it doesn't really make sense to me that there should be. The distributor shaft is slotted at the top and this lines up with a spline on the inside of the rotor, so it can only go together one way, and the distributor cap holds it down from the top. Once it's in place it's not going anywhere. In addition, with the amount of rust that was on the shaft, I would guess I'll have to break this rotor to get it off the next time it needs replacing ;-)
Last edited:
oldmanram
New Member
I had a similar problem with my rotor , after searching a few forums I found out it was either rusted on or glued on , mind you this is a 2007 5.0L tks carb motor, that I bought just a year ago with 280 hrs on it. It was a 12 year old boat at that time. Anyway I wanted to give it a tune up and when taking off the distributor cap I noticed it had black paint on it ??? No this couldn't be the original dist cap ? YES it was !!!
I tried using 2 screwdrivers 180 degrees apart , just bent the reluctor wheel to heck
I tried using a leg of a wheel puller , and smacking it up , nothing
So I heated the rotor up with a heat gun, about 3-4 minutes , all around. I then wrapped it with a rag to catch falling pieces.
Then took a wood chisel and split it in half , in line with the protruding electrode, by heating it, it split easier, the reason to split that way is it exposes the keyway on the distributor shaft, and thus is easier to get the broken pieces out of the keyway. Emery cloth on the shaft to clean it up ( RUSTED ) a light coating dielectric grease, align the rotor and gently push on till seated, one gentle tap with a soft blow hammer to make sure it was seated, a light tap , if it feels solid, it's seated properly. Put the cap on and clean up the mess. I have never used soo many tools to change a rotor in my life, I'm now 60 years old and have been working on cars since I was 15 !!!
I tried using 2 screwdrivers 180 degrees apart , just bent the reluctor wheel to heck
I tried using a leg of a wheel puller , and smacking it up , nothing
So I heated the rotor up with a heat gun, about 3-4 minutes , all around. I then wrapped it with a rag to catch falling pieces.
Then took a wood chisel and split it in half , in line with the protruding electrode, by heating it, it split easier, the reason to split that way is it exposes the keyway on the distributor shaft, and thus is easier to get the broken pieces out of the keyway. Emery cloth on the shaft to clean it up ( RUSTED ) a light coating dielectric grease, align the rotor and gently push on till seated, one gentle tap with a soft blow hammer to make sure it was seated, a light tap , if it feels solid, it's seated properly. Put the cap on and clean up the mess. I have never used soo many tools to change a rotor in my life, I'm now 60 years old and have been working on cars since I was 15 !!!
