Hello, I took the car to the shop to replace the o-ring of the ignition distributor from mi 3.1v6 because I'm injured, but after putting the engine in top dead center ( engine reference), removing the cover and the bracket, it seems stuck, and I'm afraid I'll break it by pulling it. Is there any trick to get it out? By using some kind of lever? By applying lubricant or anti-corrosion agent? By hitting it with a rubber hammer? ..... thanks

 

I'm guessing you're saying the distributor won't pull out? Try moving the crank a little past (or before) TDC and then pulling. Wiggle the distributor back and forth. It's probably just bound up.

 

After 2 hours, I haven't been able to remove it. The crankshaft pulley has 2 small marks and 1 large one. I left it with the large mark on the larger V of the bracket. The tip of the rotor points where the tip of spark plug wire 1 would go. I can only separate the distributor a couple of millimeters and rotate it.

 

I'd start with LOTS of WD-40 down into whatever separation you can get between the dist flange and the block. It's real good at dissolving the varnish that builds up inside engines. Soak it thoroughly, wait a few hours, rotate pull etc. some more, add more, keep on until it frees up.

 

Since it's possible these two gents don't have much V6 experience, and in fact Sofa likes to brag about never having seen a V6 in real life, , , cause it'll soil his "V8 only" virgin eyes I'll tell ya this;

The distributor is usually never as much of a problem to remove in a V8 due to the differences in the engine's lubrication systems, and if it does get a bit stuck Red Leader's advice is spot on, a bit of a wiggle and a bit of rocking the crankshaft before & after TDC will usually get it to pop right out. This is because the V8 distributor isn't directly mounted in the pressurized oil path, whereas the V6 distributor IS (which is why the V6 distributor has a O ring and the V8 does not). Now what happens is that if one hasn't been fanatical about clean oil in the V6, a "sludge ring" forms around the distributor body where it mounts into the block and while you may get it free enough to turn side to side, pulling it up and out becomes (almost) impossible, as you have now found out. There is no amount of pulling with you hands only, praying, swearing, or shouting tribal chants that's gonna get that SOB to pull up and out of there . Some people will resort to a slide hammer type of puller in desperation but this has a high likelyhood of damaging the distributor, which I guess ain't a problem if you have a brand new distributor to install. If not, if you plan to just mount a new O ring after you clean all of the sludge off of the distributor body's mounting area and reinstall it, I have this suggestion

What I have found that works great on a stuck V6 distributor is to get a couple of good sturdy 2" X 2" pieces of wood about 3' long each, and CAREFULLY use them together on each side of the distributor to lever it up & out. You of course have to be careful also to not crush any plastic bits that may be in the way on the top of the engine of the wood leverage pieces, and once it pops out and you see the sludge that was holding it in, you'll understand why it wasn't gonna simply & easily just pull right out.

Last thought, not scolding here in the least, but this lil bit of V6 knowledge (that you may not find in the general engine area that involves V8 engines) is why it's best to post these types of questions down the page a bit in the V6 subforum, as "V8 only" guys........ Ahem.... Sofa ..... may not be privy to the dark arts of the V6

 

The only experience I have with those motors was helping (really, more like supervising) my little bro with one he used to have in an old S truck, now and then... One of the things he FOUGHT with once was getting the dist out to change out the O-ring because it had got around to where it puked about a half-quart of oil a day out from around it... so yeah, I don't think I've ever seen one of those motors in one of these cars, butt I've seen a little of one in a different one...

Anyway, I seem to recall that the part of it that fit tightly to the block, in somewhat the same way that the 2 small rings on a V8 one do, was about twice as tall as the V8 design, or more. LOTS of metal to get all gunked up with the usual varnish. That was my little bro's problem. If memory serves, he finally got his out with a crowbar, after acoupla solid days of losing the battle.

 

Solved!!
W40 and a pair of desesperating hours. And finaly It s out.
Thanks