I'm wondering what the heck is going on. My motor is a 1988 350 TPI, transplanted into an 84 T/A. The catalytic converter on my drivers side was murdered. (Sounded like a brick in a coffee can.) Due to a poorly tuned motor is what the muffler man said. Problem one, I can't for the life of me find the timing mark. Well actually I can't even see the top of the balancer because the water pump is in the way. But I've looked and looked in every possible nook or cranny, even felt around the balancer with my hand, to no avail. So I thought I'd try to time it by ear. That leads us to problem two. My distributor cap rotates a good two inches from right to left, with everything tightened down. After taking the cap off, I found that the rotor doesn't have any play at all in it. What is rotating is the metal plate or whatever it is, that the E.S.T. connector is mounted on. So, because the distributor cap is secured to the plate, the cap moves too. But not the rotor. NOTE - There is no play in the distributor gear itself just the E.S.T. connector, and the cap. What to I do? Do I have to replace the distributor? $150 bucks for a cheap one, is there any other way to fix it?
Thank You,
Sonny

 

Make sure the dist hold down in on the flange of the dist.

Look between the water pump and timing cover for the timing marks possibly between the water pump and ps pump or crawl under and clean everything and look again. When you find it I would use a white paint pen to mark it.

 

Your distributor has to rotate to set the timing. Once you're done, tighten the hold down bolt and it won't go anywhere.

 

The hold down bolt is tight. So are the two screws that hold the cap down. The distributor itself is not rotating, just the cap. And the metal plate the cap is screwed to.

 

That "metal plate" is part of the distributor

 

Then why isn't the distributor mounting bracket moving where it's bolted to the engine? And why isn't the rotor rotating with the distributor when I rotate the E.S.T. mounting plate("metal plate")?

 

Because the distributor hold-down bracket doesn't turn. It's not a part of the distributor, and it's got a bolt holding it to the block. The rotor doesn't turn because the motor isn't turning. You know how the distributor timing works, right?

 

So my distributor is junk, right? Replacement is the best option. I know little, trying to learn. Thank you for your advice.

 

I know you turn the distributor cap, to advance or retard(lag behind) the rotors point of contact with the spark plug wires' terminal. I did not know that the distributor could turn independent of the rotor. But, now that you bring it to my attention, turning the rotor and the cap at the same time would to nothing at all to the timing. And at the same time, a cap that wasn't properly secured would effect timing just as the bracket holding it to the engine were it not properly secured. So the problem lies in the distributor itself, seeing as how the metal plate is part of the distributor. But... I can turn the metal plate, without the distributor shaft(held by the bracket bolted to the engine) turning at all. So if that bracket was loose, shouldn't that shaft be rotating too?

 

From your posts is sounds like the metal plate that the cap & ignition module mount to, have broken loose from the distributor housing. If this is the case then you will need either a different distributor, or need to have the plate welded onto the housing.

RBob.

 

That's what I needed to know. Thanks man!

 

got a picture?