I have an 87 Ford F150 Straight 6 EFI.

I was going down the road and the truck acted like it ran out of gas. The truck stalled and wouldnt restart. We changed the Full Filter and the ignition module. I have power going into the distributor, but not coming out of the distributor. Fuel pumps are working fine.

I also took the cap off of the distributor and turned the engine over but the rotor did not turn. Do I need to change out the distributor?

 

You have either a stripped out distributer drive gear or your timing gear is stripped.

 

I just had to change out the module on the distributor on mine 90, f150. First we eliminated the alternator, then the coil and distributor itself.
Hope this helped a little.

 

Why do you suspect this as the problem? Is it because the rotor does not turn when the engine is turned over?



I have eliminated the alternator and coil. I have replaced the distributor cap and the module already.



How can I test the module myself to verify that it is working properly?

 

If the rotor in the distributer don't turn when the engine is turning, you have a problem. Either distributer drive gear has sheared a pin or stripped the teeth. If not that, your timing gear has stripped the teeth.

 

I don't want to hijack this, but does that mean the engine is shot? Sorry.....just trying to figure things out too.

Back to the original poster

 

Alright after mantta's post I pulled the distributor off completly and checked the groves on the distributor and on the timing. Both are in good shape. But I tried turning the engine over with the distributor off and the gear on the timing side did not turn.

What would my problem be? The timing belt/chain? The truck didnt backfire or anything like that it just died while driving down the road. Any ideas will be appreciated.

 

No, not at all. Fix what ever it is and run it a couple hundred thousand without a problem! Them 300s are bulletproof!

 

Sounds like the timing gear is shot.

 

How hard is it to change out the timing gear?

 

There is a possibility of a broken camshaft also. The break would be forward of the distributer. The best way to tell is take off the rocker arm cover and observe your rocker arms when the engine is cranking. If none move up or down, you have a timing gear problem. If some of the front ones (#1,2 or 3) move up & down and the others don't move, you have a broken camshaft.

 

Remove radiator, belts & pulleys + crankshaft pulley and take off timing gear cover. That gear is not easy to get off but, once you get the old one off the rest is a piece of cake.

 

Ok, thanks for all of your help mantta, I will update this thread when I take apart my engine :P .

 

mantta, one question. If it was a broken camshaft, wouldnt there be a lot of rattling in the engine when you try to turn it over?

And the belt and all the pullies are turning when you try to turn it over. Just wandering.

 

I wish you luck! You will need a harmonic balancer puller for the crank pulley. If it is the timing gear I recommend a good three jaw puller.