I've recently replaced the PIP in my 1995 I6 F150, and I was wondering if there was a how-to thread for that. I did a search on "PIP distributor" looking to see if such a thread exists but couldn't find one. Anyone know? If there isn't one, I was thinking of making one myself for the benefit of others.

 

I haven't seen one. Most people do what I did when mine went bad an buy a whole new dizzy

 

I didn't have a press so I dropped my distributor off at a shop I use & they pressed the gear off/on & bolted in the new supplied Motorcraft PIP for a whopping $20 bucks. If you've got pics, by all means do a thread to show the necessary work required.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...stributor.html

 

rebuilt dist from oreilly's was like 90$ and new
distributor was 88$ and had an 800# on the box for tech support.
Not sure they even had the pip by itself.

 

Wow, forgot about that one. Didn't have it saved in one of my tech folders.

 

Thanks for the link. That was a really interesting thread and makes me wonder if I'm having a similar issue with a faulty distributor since my truck is throwing the 213 code (SPOUT shorted) after my PIP replacement. Hmmm....

In my opinion, the worst part of the PIP replacement job is the gear removal and re-installation. I would add a few pointers about that to the instructions given in the link above since I lived it:

1) Clean as much of the shaft below the gear to help the removal process. I'd use a non-metallic scouring pad, like Scotch-Brite. Any dirt on the shaft makes it tougher. Afterwards, put some clean motor oil or penetrating oil on the shaft to help the gear movement.
2) Use a quality 3-jaw gear puller. I used one that didn't have a good push rod (is that what it's called?) end to it. It ended up causing a lot of friction between the puller and the distributor shaft making it tough to move the gear. Some pullers have a ball-jointed end to the push rod that helps reduce that friction, and that's what I would suggest using. If you can't find a good puller with a ball-jointed end, I suggest using a decent-thickness washer coated in oil and put that between the puller and the distributor shaft. I also had to wire the 3 jaws of the puller together so that they didn't open under the stress of pulling the gear. I just used a wire hanger that had a good diameter wire to it.
3) Once the gear is removed, clean up the rest of the shaft with the scouring pad and clean it as well as you can without leaving any oil residue. This will help if you need to remove the gear again after installing it and failing to line up the gear's roll pin hole with the shaft hole.
4) After doing the PIP replacement, find a nail or an awl or something that is just a little smaller than the roll pin hole in the shaft so that it doesn't bind when you push it through. You'll use this later.
5) Next, heat up the gear with a propane torch or MAPP gas torch. I held it with a pair of pliers, and cooked it real good with a propane torch for a minute or two. This will avoid the need to press the gear back on since heating the gear up will make it large enough to slip back onto the shaft easily. Keep in mind that you'll be putting the gear on the shaft right after heating it, so keep the pliers free of the opening in the gear. Having the shaft on the distributor clean of any residual oil is important. If the gear contacts any oil on the shaft, it will cool very quickly and attach itself to the shaft too quickly requiring it to be pulled again (first-hand experience with that one...)
6) After heating up the gear, quickly slide the gear on the shaft and push the nail or awl through the hole in the gear and through the shaft all the way through to the other side. This will help align the gear properly for the roll pin. The gear took about 5 seconds to cool enough to grab the distributor shaft, so you don't have tons of time to maneuver it around. Since the gear is crazy hot, if you're using a nail for the hole alignment be sure to use another set of pliers to hold the nail.
7) Install the roll pin. I found that even if the gear isn't perfectly aligned with the shaft hole, the pin will help it move into place.

I hope this is helpful!