Mercruiser 470 distributor gear teeth ground

[salty3rd]

I bought a remanned 470 everything was new except for wiring harness, intake manifold, distributor and Carb. I took it out and ran it with no real issues. About an hour or so the engine started backfiring and stalling to the point that it wouldn't start again. After diagnossing I found the gear on the distributor to be gound down on one side..Has anyone else seen this or have any ideas on the cause. I replaced distributor and changed oil yesterday and it seemed to run fine.. Thanks in advance..

 

[Bt Doctur]

Improperly installed dist would do it. Those motors require the dist to be placed in the block with the oil pump mounting bolts loose. You install the dist first ,then tighten the oil pump mounting bolts.

 

[Bt Doctur]

 

[salty3rd]

Ok thanks, but is there a way to properly install the new distributor without pulling the engine and dropping the oil pan?

 

[Bt Doctur]

Not that I know of. What I do know is that's how the dist gears get stripped. mis-alignment of the gear teeth to the cam teeth. The pic shows the tool but a dist work just as good.