i was drivin the other day and my truck started to sputter and run like crap so i pulled over and looked under the hood and the bolt that holds my distributer down was loose so i turned it untill the motor started runnin better and then come home and then i took the timing light and checked the timeing. i heard your supposed to advance the timing 10 degrees but i dont know how. it took me a while but i finally got it set so now it runs right, but last night i was driving up a gravel road and it started runnin bad like the timing was WAY off and then when ever i let off the gas it would die.. so i figured that bolt that holds the ditributer down came loose again and i tried to turn the distributer and it was tight.. and it was dark so i couldnt see anything so i figured that i could probably drive it home at least and when i got in and start it, it still ran like crap and then i gave it a bunch of gas and then all of a sudden it ran like a charm.. so i am clueless on whats wrong with it.. could one of my plug wires me bad or somethin? or could it be my carb? or maybe my distributer is goin bad.. oh and like last week i was drivin home from my girlfriends and my truck started runnin really bad like it was last night and i checked the distributer and it was tightened down and everything.. and then i got in the truck and started it and it was runnin fine and then i tried to take off and it died and wouldnt start after that so i had to call my mom and have her come get me and then the next day me and my dad went out and took the distributer off and i sheered the roll pin that hold that gear thing on.. so we went to NAPA and had them put a new one in and then we put it back on and it ran fine... so im thinkin that my distributer may be bad.. sorry this is so long... im just tryin to give you all the info about it that i can. thanks.

 

There are a couple of things that can cause a shear pin in a distributor to fail. First off it is called shear because it's function is to shear under an overload like a fuse. The overload can come from a bad or seized bearing in the distributor or a jammed oil pump. The main purpose of the shear pin is to stop the distributor from rotating if the oil pump jams effectively turning off the engine saving the bearings:-)

In your case, since the distributor had worked loose, it seems like there may have been a lot of force applied to it. I would suspect the distributor of having a failing/failed bearing. Pull the distributor and see if it spins freely without any roughness or play in the shaft. Replace the distributor if in doubt. Otherwise, you may have had a particle pass thru the oil pump momentarily increasing the amount of torque it took to turn it (shearing the pin). That may have damaged the pump and/or the shaft. The only check you can make there is removing the pan and pump for inspection. I assume you still have oil pressure, of course you know what assume means.

Have fun, and buy a manual for your truck...

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