85 F-150 Distributor gear

LPD0084

MEMBER
1985 FORD F-150

I have an 85 F150 fuel injected V8. My distributor has gone bad. To order a new one I need to know whether the gear is cast iron or steel. How do I figure this out?

Friday, August 17th, 2007 AT 8:21 AM

5 Replies

INDYUKE

MECHANIC
416 POSTS

What type of camshaft do you have in your truck? The roller cams are steel, and the flat tappet are cast iron. The distributor is turned by the camshaft and the gear needs to be the same type of material or else it will get eaten pretty quickly.

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Friday, August 17th, 2007 AT 2:55 PM

LPD0084

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3 POSTS

I really don't know. I guess whatever came in the engine from the factory.

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Friday, August 17th, 2007 AT 4:22 PM

INDYUKE

MECHANIC
416 POSTS

If the engine hasn't been swapped, chances are pretty good that you have a flat tappet cam since ford didn't start putting roller cams into their trucks until 1994.

Unfortunately the only real way to know for sure is to remove the intake and take a look at the lifter valley or snake a borescope in there.

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Saturday, August 18th, 2007 AT 8:33 PM

LPD0084

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3 POSTS

Thanks for the help. I took the distributor to the parts store and they were able to give me the right one. I still don't know which it is but I got the right part. I hopee

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Sunday, August 19th, 2007 AT 5:27 AM

INDYUKE

MECHANIC
416 POSTS

Awesome!

It doesn't take long to find out. A couple weeks of driving will tell you. If you pull it out and both the cam gear and the distributor gear are ok, then you'll know you have the right one.