Recently I replaced distributor gear with a GM melonized gear. The cam is a ZZ4. So this is the recommended gear. In about a month the coating on gear has worn away in spots.

My question is once the coating is gone will the gear wear faster? I used to use bronze gears on the distributor and got 2-3 years of service each gear change. I'm thinking I should play it safe and switch back to bronze. A poly gear isn't made for the .427 distributor shaft.

 

I'm not sure if the gear will wear faster or not once the hard coating is worn down, but that really isn't the main problem. The big issue is that if the distributor gear is wearing down like that and getting chewed up, then what is happening to the cam gear? The distributor gear is cheap and easy to replace, the cam gear is not.

If you are using a high pressure or high volume oil pump they can put extra stresss on the distributor gear and cam gear.

 

Oh boy I get to crawl on top of the engine to check out cam this weekend. I'm hoping I just forgot to lube the gear when I took it out last time.

 

Turning it over by hand will lube the gear. Dont worry aboutthe coating. Evey gear will wear in a bit Id say if your bronze one lasted a steel gear will last many yrs.

 

I couldn't even see the cam gear. The dist gear has some ridges on a couple teeth. I'll just keep my eye on it, maybe check the gear once a month. If the gear is steel it should last, iron will probably deteriorate pretty quick. I may just change back to bronze for peace of mind.

After cutting a slot above the gear I notice my oil pressure is now 40-50, instead of 60, so right there, the gear should last longer.

Thanks for your help.