So I just pulled the distributor which fried on the highway and as i was spinning the rotor from the cam side I noticed some drag. It turns out the rotor literally melted on the shaft and is not even level anymore and was dragging against the coil/igniter. I had marked the rotor position before removing it just in case I needed to put it back. Meanwhile I pulled a known good distributor out of my parts car and when I got it seated correctly noticed that its rotor position was 90 degrees off from what the burned out one was.

So my questions are:

1. Could the melted rotor have twisted 90 degrees on the shaft?
2. Could there have been damage to the timing belt because of how this failed or could the belt have skipped on the cam or crankshaft? I have verified that the cam and distributor still turns when cranking it over.
3. Could I damage the engine by cranking it over if the belt has slipped?
4. Is it possible to set the timing without being able to start the engine? So far it hasn't fired up with the new distributor, although a couple of cylinders fired for a second. .
5. Since the distributor only goes in one way, can I assume it's in correctly regardless whether the engine was at TDC for plug 1?

I guess I could confirm the rotor is pointing at plug 1 with cylinder 1 at TDC. But is it possible it could be firing on the exhaust TDC instead of the compression TDC and be 180 degrees off?

Thanks to anyone who could shed some light on this.

 

Take the distributor off again and make sure the slot in the end of the camshaft that drives the distributor is not damaged. If that's not it, confirm the cam timing. You just need to take the top plastic cover off so you can see the marks on the cam pulley. If you can't find the marks on the crank pulley, probe in the #1 spark plug hole to find when the piston itself reaches top center.

It is possible to put the distributor on 180 degrees out of time but you have to force it. The engine pretty much won't fire at all in that condition.

 

OK...the slot looks fine. Looks like the valve cover has to come off to get the timing belt cover off. There's a metal lip that's part of the valve cover that looks to be holding it on. Does that sound right? 91 1.5 SOHC

 

I was wondering about this myself.
Quick question:
I took my distributor off to drill out the rotor set screw (it was stripped, i replaced with new) and I put it back on not knowing which way to put the part that sticks into the head.
As long as my engine fired up no problem, my distributor isn't 180* out of time, right?

 

You're fine. The engine woudn't fire at all if you were 180 out. All the sparks would be happening on the exhaust stroke. Also, you really can't put the distributor in backwards because it only goes in one way.

 

That's what I thought, thanks.

Actually, you can. I don't mean putting the assembly 180* off, I mean putting the end of the distributor into the head 180* off, which in turn would make the rotor 180* off.

 

Right, the valve cover hooks over the timing cover. You don't have to take the valve cover all the way off but you will need to lift it up some. Go ahead and take all the nuts off and pull the spark plug wires out before trying to move the valve cover.

 

OK...it looks like the cam is in the right place and checked the pressure to confirm that #1 piston is compressing when cam is up and distributor is in firing position for #1. So I guess the timing has to be set. I was hoping to at least get the engine running even roughly but so far only got a sputter but no start. I'm going to try to do the under dash jumper wire and see if that helps. Any further advice would be appreciated and thanks for all your help thus far!

 

Successfully shorted out leads under dash and was able to start engine with distributor set in least advanced position. So I can use my timing light, etc., Only problem now is there are no visible marks or notches in the drive pully like the manual says there should be. Does anyone know if there is engraving on the side of the pulley at all that I can use to make a chalk mark at 18 degrees of advance? I'd have to pull the driver's side wheel to get a look at it from the side. I wonder if I can calculate 18 degrees of advance on the camshaft sprocket and mark that instead. Has anyone ever tried something like that? Any other fixes anyone can think of? It's so close to being done now, I'll be damned if I'm taking it to a shop.

 

Ok...did some more research and found out where to look for the "notches". When I get home I'm going to try and feel for them and then mark them with paint or something. Here's a pic of what they look like for others who might need this info.