Distributor not turning

Truck ('87 B2200 with 2.0L motor swapped) has been driving beautifully. Thursday morning, less than a quarter mile from work, I was exiting the interstate. I pushed in the clutch to slow down during the climb on the ramp. When I looked at my gauges to see what gear to be in, I noticed my dash lights were on and 0 RPMs. No amount of starting or clutch-popping would even make the tach move.

I knew this meant no fire, since the tach runs off of the coil. I went through the usual checklist (since I had done a tune-up last Saturday night). Coil was showing good resistance. Checked the coil wire and it was showing continuity. I did the screwdriver spark test from first plug, and it magically started. Got totally confused. (This was the only time it has fired up. Once.)

Decided to check the distributor cap and rotor. Checked continuity, swapped out for old parts, still nothing. So I left the cap off, but left the rotor on. Lo and behold, the distributor is not turning. I checked the timing belt, and it's still intact and tight.

I've seen quite a few people have issues with distributors on here, but none have I seen (or found with search) where it just quit turning. It's still secured in there; it's not loose at all.

A few questions:
- Has anyone ever experienced this?
- Is this something you all would trust from a junkyard pull (I've seen a few guys on here do that), or should I invest in a new one?
- If I do pull from a junkyard, anything in particular I should know?
- Will a 2.2L distributor work in a 2.0L? I have one from the original engine, but I thought they were different.
- I know the procedure of installing and removing the same one for timing, but when installing a "new" one, what should I do? Grease what? Replace o-rings (what size/part)?
- I just checked RockAuto and they list two. Although they look the same, one says "Mitsubishi Type." I assume all '87 2.0L engines are Mitsubishi Types?

First, I'd pull your distributor and see what you come up with.

Junk yard distributors are inexpensive and usually work okay, but check the vacuum and mechanical advance to be in good working order.
The 2.0 and 2.2 distributors will interchange, but you cannot interchange the caps. You need a 2.2 cap on a 2.2 distributor.
If the o-ring is hard, replace it. I used an o-ring that was close, and it worked fine. Lubricate the o-ring with motor oil for ease of installation.

What's the best way to check vacuum advance? And will the rotor button interchange? Thanks for the quick response.

Sent from my Garnet Red SGS III

Hook up a timing light, rev up the engine, see if the mark on the pulley advances as you do that.

A vacuum gauge teed into the line can isolate whether the hose has vacuum from the carb.

If you're at the junk yard, and you don't have a vacuum pump, use a new piece of vacuum hose and suck on it like a straw.

Pull your oil cap and spin the motor. See if the cam is turning. If your timing belt has stripped teeth, it is likely you wouldn't be able to tell without pulling the belt itself and looking at it. It might look fine from the outside.

Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate the support!

I pulled a distributor from a 2.2 today, but when I aligned the timing to TDC, the distributor aligned correctly like the teeth were tight.

I then took off the valve cover and turned it a few times. It would turn the cam a few times... then it stopped. The timing belt wasn't moving. Here's why:



Sent from my Garnet Red SGS III

Ahh - toothless !!!

I just had a "similar" issue at work on the syringe injector belt on a gas chromatograph autosampler. I had a replacement belt/plunger carrier in the drawer, half an hour later, all fixed.

You people should know that a service call for such repair is $800 plus the part (about $120).

Nice! Sounds like I'm in the wrong business.

Here's the current situation. Waiting on delivery of the belt to my local O'Reilly.





Sent from my Garnet Red SGS III

Glad you figured this one out with a little prompting. This is also a really good reason to be glad these motors are non-interference engines, because otherwise you would be looking for a replacement head about now.