Hi all; I lurk here often but I need to ask a question now. 1995 F150 with 5.8L motor -- I've recently started getting a random shut-off problem with code 211, PIP fault, so I am replacing the distributor. Everything I've researched says this motor has a roller cam and uses a distributor with a steel gear. I just pulled a remanufactured E9TE-12131-CA distributor (put in by a previous owner at some point) out of the motor and it appears to have a cast iron gear on it. The top of the gear has a rough cast texture to it. My new (not remanufactured) distributor has a steel gear on it (smooth machined area at top of gear).

I need somebody who knows --for sure-- to confirm for me that 1995 5.8L motors were all roller cam motors. I put the new distributor with the steel gear into the motor because I need the truck to run without randomly shutting off. Since the previous distributor was remanufactured, I am assuming it had the wrong gear on it and since it was cast iron, it did not cause any undue wear on the cam. But if there is a cast iron cam in the motor, the steel gear on my new distributor might pose a problem. I don't see any rational why Ford would have put roller cams in some 5.8's and tappet cams in others. Am I being nuts here, or am I justified to be concerned?

 

Is the motor original to the truck? If it is a 1995, it should be a roller block. Look on the underside of the truck...passenger side of the block. It should have F4TE molded into the block, if it is a true roller block.

 

Your truck would have come with a roller motor from the factory.. but does it have the original motor now?
An E9TE-12131-CA distributor is an old casting('89) that would have had a TFI module on the side of it originally, but your truck uses a remote TFI so that distributor would have to have been modified to work with that system. If your truck has a motor with a distributor that has a module on the side of it then it's not the original motor, and good chance it's got a flat tappet cam.

 

On block above starter should say F4TE, letting you know its a roller block, you dont know if any PO, changed motor, and didnt know that 95 was a roller cam, you can pull drivers side valve cover, and remover 1 rocker arm, and measure the push rod, flat tappet-- 8.1", roller--7.57", if it had a roller cam and that cast distributor gear it would have got eaten up by the steel cam shaft gear, your 211 PIP code is the PIP inside the distributor, it tells the injectors to squirt, if it goes bad, the engine stops running. see pic

 

First roller cam 5.8 engines introduced in 94, your 95 if original would be a roller for sure.

Cast iron gear will eventually be worn down by steel cam, hence the reason for steel gear.

Distributor with a engineering number with E9TE prefix (originally installed in 89 & later engines & should have ICM on it's side) theoretically could be re-man'd to work in a 95 that has ICM mounted to inner fender.

Your original distributor would have engineering number that started either with F4TE or F5TE

What new distributor are you getting?

If you can see around starter (good luck) this is what you should see:

 

Thanks for the replies. The motor is original, at least going by the second owner’s knowledge and everything that I’ve come across while working on it. The TFI is on the fender, and based on all the stuff I’ve replaced (like the PCM), it’s the original motor. I guess it’s possible the first owner replaced the motor and reused everything on the top and all the electronics, but everything looks too original. I’m just stumped on why this gear that was in the motor looks like it’s cast iron, and everything I’ve read indicates that would be bad for a roller cam. The previous owner got the truck in 2003 with 80k miles and kept really good records. I don’t see anything about replacing the distributor, but this one definitely has REMFG stamped on it. As far as I can tell, it’s been in there at least 130,000 miles. I can’t see the casting numbers on the block— the starter is in the way, and I really don’t want to pull the top of the motor apart to get to the valve cover. I guess I’ll just run the new distributor with the steel gear until something breaks horribly. I’m tired of worrying about it at this point.

 

Is this a Lightning truck?
Lightnings had roller blocks, but not roller lifters.
Lightnings have Flat Tappet cams, with cast gear.

Steel goes with Steel, Cast Iron goes with Cast Iron.
"the dissimilarity of the hardness of the two metals will cause one to destroy the other if you use the wrong gear"

If you chew up either the cam gear, or the distributor gear, your pushing a lot of tiny metal particles through out the engine.

You'll be looking for a new engine, rather than verifying your current issue.

Pop the driver side valve cover off, probably have to take the coil and vacuum stuff moved out of the way.
Put cylinder #5 to TDC. Take one rocker off either I/E of #5. Pull out the push rod. Shine a flashlight down the hole. Look for the H bar that holds roller lifters down(stock). If there's no H bar, it's probably not a roller cam shaft.

Without tearing it apart more, you really will not know who did what when.

 

There's a little bit more to the story on these engineering numbers, at least in my case.

My 351w came out of a '96 F-250 and it is a roller block. The distributor that came out of it has the E9TE-12131-CA engineering number cast into the side of the distributor and a sticker with the number F4TE-1217-AA on the other side.

To the OP, check for this sticker on yours.

 

They hole 'ENGINEERING' vs "PART NUMBER" for fords, I still don't understand.
Sure, casting number, that makes sense, all castings are the same E9xx, 1989 last year of cast.
Part number/Engineering number: F4TE, makes sense, Truck Engine, 1994.
Iv'e got 3 distributors, more than likely, all will have E9 cast, and a sticker/part number F4TE.

All are from stock roller blocks, with roller cam shafts, all have steel gear. Well, except for the one I replaced with a compcam roller, with mellonized gear.

THe re-man distributor, or parts swapped, could have been from literally an 351.
Whats the saying, "If the hole fits".

You'd be better off, getting a $40 dollar bronze gear, and if it gets chewed up, replace it with another $40 bronze gear.

 

Both.
The only concrete information you will get with your motor, is to tear it apart, or measure your cam in place. That will tell you if it is stock or not.
Look at the block casting number, stock roller for 1995 should have F4TE block, stock, if not, its not.

I'd be concerned, you don't want to ruin a good motor just because of an incorrect distributor gear, or do you?
Figure out what cam is in it, put the correct distributor and gear on, and drive it like you stole it.
Or just drive it like you stole it, and have it grenade on you, without checking anything.

You'll know soon enough.
We'll know later, if you post results or not.

 

The engineering # just tells what & when. In the engine block number I posted above, it basically says "1994 truck [F4TE] engine block [6015], original casting design" [AA] ,9th run of blocks with the date below

None of which is a part number or tells what kind of engine it is. (5.8)

The casting number on the distributor is for the body (hasn't changed much since 89) the sticker is for the entire assembly.

It's very doubtful you have a flat tappet cam engine but not impossible.

I bought a 94, 5.0 MAF truck that's running a 302 & it's firing order ( NOT original), so anything IS possible.

Measuring a push rod would be best if you can't see the casting number on the block.

 

I see some one said it my 95 lightning doesn't come with roller and when I bought a dist. for it even when I ordered a Mallory it came for roller I thought why would you sell me and list it for my truck when its not right

 

If you want to check to confirm that you do indeed have a roller cam, you only have to remove a valve cover. Driver's side cover comes off quickly. Look down one of the pushrod holes and check for a "dogbone" retainer around the lifter in the valley. If you still can't tell, pushrod length is another fast and easy check.
I have seen 94 and 95 trucks with roller cam blocks with flat tappet cams, as well as flat tappet blocks (I've only seen '94s with flat tappet blocks.). Seems Ford just used up what was laying around as they found it.

 

X2....while your truck should have a roller cam 351W, there is a possibility you have one of the last flat tappet versions.


To be 100% certain what kind of cam is in the engine measure a push rod as suggested previously.

 

OK, has been a while, so greetings! Sorta old post, but looks like it is still a question unanswered!
EDITED 1-18-23 CUZ I'M A *******........in my question area I mis-stated the OD of a 351 Distributor drive gear! Same as a 289-302!

Scroll down to my question if you don't wan to read about part numbers......

First, some help with numbers.....as I see some are confused by all the Ford numbers and how they are used! It is easy to do!
Basic number system by Ford up thru the 90's.....a real mess after that! Not going there!
"1234-5678-9A" All of the Ford part, engineering, and casting numbers use this format and decode as follows. (Big section on this in front of Ford Master Parts Catalog!)

"1234" Prefix works out like this: 1-Decade D=70's E=80's.... 2- Year in the decade 3- Vehicle Line T=Truck, A=Galaxie, O=Fairlane/Torino, Z=Mustang 4- IIRC this is like a warehouse number....general category.... E=engine F=Fuel.....X=Experimental!
C9OE prefix would be a part originally sourced/built for 1969, Fairlane/Torino Line, Engine bits. (But part could be used by any other line too!! Even trucks! Without a number change.)

"5678" Basic Part Name (Could be 4-8-ish numbers. Interior parts and body parts could be longer......) This is your base "part" type. a 12127 is a distributor. Period. 6015= Engine block. Period.

"9A" (Could also be longer.....) This "suffix" is the revision number. Starting with A-Z...when that is exceeded you see doubling up....AA AB etc. Could be numbers in there A1A etc.
Specific revisions could refer to specific features...or applications. This is the case with distributors, where the casting number on the body is the same for 390 427 428 but the stamped number in the ID tag area is the same EXCEPT for the suffix......where each suffix means something different.....Auto Trans, Manual trans, with Thermactor, without Thermactor, AC....etc
OK enuf of that.

FORD used THREE different numbering systems. Engineering, Casting, and Part Number.

Engineering number: This would be just as it states something that came from engineering drawing, needed a number assigned..... E4Tx-xxx-xx In this case, the 3rd digit T indicates trucks was the original intended vehicle line. A=Galaxie or big cars, B-Fairlane Z=Mustang W=Cougar V=Lincoln X=Experimental........ list is long.....but you get the drift. This engineering number could be on the part directly on a sticker or perhaps even as a Casting number, but it is NOT the Part number

Casting number: This is the number you find on castings. Engines, water pumps, heads, intakes, flywheels, rods........ Still not the Part number! Many items may have the same casting number, but they are machined slightly differently for different applications! A 428 flywheel was a C8OE casting number, but in this case, there were 4 different applications that required different versions! In this case, the actual application number was stamped into the steel depending on how it was machined. The Ford part numbers will reference this stamped number with an entry on the parts info line as "marked C8OE-C" or similar....

Part number: This is the number that was on the box that a part came in!!! OR as mentioned above, may be stamped into the part, or perhaps it is on a tag (like carb tags!), decal, etc. BUT the part itself, especially older pieces, may not have a part number on it at all! You would need to measure the part to figure out what you have......as in the case of the different pushrods used between flat tappet and roller engines! This part number is what the Ford parts dude would order from the factory!

OK Enuf on numbers! Hope this helps!!!

MY QUESTION!
I'm trying to source a distributor gear to use in a 351W roller engine, to put on a DuraSpark II distributor. It's going into a 68 Cougar.....

I know that the 94-95 F and E series used the roller engines. BUT they use the thin film trigger system, which we can't use...

After seeing multiple websites of supposedly reputable sources, Summit, Jeggs, Holley, even Ford dealer sites, which advertise the same Mallory gear that "fits 289 302 351W", The 351C/429/460 gear is too large for a 302/351W cam. Then there is the internet itself that regurgitates rumors like a bunch of little girls. "Some roller cams have cast gears....." Well crap!!! How do I know what I am buying? If the seller can't tell me.

But I seek simply the replacement cam gear for a 94-95 351 Distributor in a roller engine!!! I want a danged Ford part number that I can bounce off of the world of sellers...... I don't want bronze, I don't want cast iron...... I also don't have the truck parts books to look this up! The car manuals do not have 351W roller engine info, as this engine was never offered in cars past 1974 or so....

EDIT NOTE: I did find FORD MOTORSPORTS numbers in the old 1998 Ford Racing Catalog for their steel gear compatible! Just added new from 2009 book too!
*** NO HOLES PRE-DRILLED IN ANY OF THESE GEARS!!!

The 289/302(early) and 351W cams can be interchanged physically, but firing order is different in late 302's, same as 351W.

M-12390-A Cast Iron Orange Stripe 1.249" OD 0.467" ID 289/302 Hydraulic Flat tappet engines with point-type or Duraspark II distributors.
M-12390-B Steel None 1.249" OD 0.467" ID 302 With steel billet and production roller camshaft with point-type or Duraspark distributors.
M-12390-C Bronze Bronze 1.249" OD 0.467" ID All 289/302 With point-type or Duraspark II distributors.

M-12390-D Cast Iron Blue 1.249" OD 0.531" ID All 302 hydraulic flat tappet engines with EFI. All 351W engines.
M-12390-E Bronze Bronze w/blue stripe 1.249" OD 0.531" ID All 302 hydraulic (flat or roller) tappet engines with EFI. All 351W engines.
M-12390-F Steel Yellow 1.249" OD 0.531" ID All 302/351W hydraulic roller tappet engines with EFI.

M-12390-G Cast Iron Green 1.421" OD 0.531" ID All 351C/351M/400/429/460 engines.
M-12390-H Bronze Bronze w/green stripe 1.421" OD 0.531" ID All 351C/351M/400/429/460 engines.

M-12390-K Polymer None 1.249" OD 0.467" ID 289/302 All camshafts with point-type or Duraspark II distributors.
M-12390-L Polymer None 1.249" OD 0.531" ID 302 EFI /all 351W all camshafts.


MATERIAL SELECTION NOTES:
* Cast iron gears are compatible with cast iron camshafts (hydraulic or solid flat tappet type).
* Steel gears are compatible with billet steel camshafts (hydraulic roller tappet type).
* Bronze gears can be used with either cast iron or billet steel camshafts. They are usually recommended by manufacturers of aftermarket billet steel solid roller tappet camshafts. Since the bronze is softer than cast iron or steel it will wear at a faster rate.
* Polymer gears are compatible with all camshafts.

Now we know this much.....enjoy!

Sorry for the long post!
Cheers!
Steve