To All,
WARNING!! Check you MSD distributor!!
The following has been passed on to me for what it's worth. I haven't
personally seen the problem, I don't use MSD distributors and I don't know
the extent of the problem.
John Logan
Recently here in Michigan, some Ford race engines using MSD distributors
have had very early cam gear failures due to a the lack of a bearing in the
bottom of the distributor housing just above the drive gear. With no bearing
present, the distributor and cam gears are allowed to separate due to the
radial force, causing early failure of both gears. The life is inversely
proportional to
the oil pressure, since the radial force is proportional to oil pressure.
The race engines that have failed were running high pressure (over 80 psi) and
at least one lasted less than an hour between on the builder's dynamometer
time
and a few laps of a race. As my guess, engines running 50 psi could run as
long as 15,000 miles.
Only the distributors for the Ford engines are built without the
bushings.The builder has had no problem with GM distributors as they are all
built with bushings.
If you are using an MSD distributor, I would urge that you check it for a
bushing and that you not use one of these distributors without reworking the
bottom of the
housing and installing a bushing.
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