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Cam Distributor Shaft Replacement

B

BillD

Enthusiast
Messages
20
Location
Concord MA
Greetings,
I'm new to the list and looking for help with a wheelhorse tractor which uses an R4 Renault engine. Recently a loose screw in the distributor came loose and seized the distributor which results in the snapping off one side of the receiving cam shaft gear. The distributor shaft is fine but the receiving gear is broken. I removed the broken piece and took a couple photos.
I think I have to remove the bushing to get to the shaft and it seems it requires a special tool that threads into the bushing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm very much stuck.
Thank You.
Bill

Dist-Wheelhorse1.jpg Dist-Wheelhorse2.jpg
 
Hi

You can lift it out without a special tool, hook it out with a suitable tool. Mark the position before you take it out so that you put the new one in the same position otherwise you will not be able to set the timing correctly when you put the distributor back.
 
Thanks, do I need to take the bushing out first to access the gear? Also, any advice on finding a new gear? Thank you!
 
The bushing needs to be removed first. It's a press fit in the block so you will either need to drop the sump (oil pan) and tap it from below, or -easier maybe - to make a tool and pull it off. It has an internal thread for this purpose, can't remember its size but I think it has been mentioned in the past somewhere in this forum.
I may have a new drive gear if you can't find it.
 
Hi BillD, good luck with it, Angel helped me also with new drive gear.I am sure i've seen the thread size somewhere in this forum, might have been normal pipe thread but i'm unsure.When putting new pc in you must check carefully the right position of the split!
 
angel said:
Thread size is M22x2.0 .
Click to expand...
Thank you...thought it was m20x2.0 and that did not fit...and then I thought it was m21 but I don't think they exsists. I'll try the M22X20. !!awesome. Thank you
 
jcarruthers2 said:
Hi

You can lift it out without a special tool, hook it out with a suitable tool. Mark the position before you take it out so that you put the new one in the same position otherwise you will not be able to set the timing correctly when you put the distributor back.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I'll make up a tool and mark it.
 
orsome said:
Hi BillD, good luck with it, Angel helped me also with new drive gear.I am sure i've seen the thread size somewhere in this forum, might have been normal pipe thread but i'm unsure.When putting new pc in you must check carefully the right position of the split!
Click to expand...
I'll be careful as soon as I locate a m22X2 bolt and make up a remover and report back . Thanks you so much.
 
angel said:
The bushing needs to be removed first. It's a press fit in the block so you will either need to drop the sump (oil pan) and tap it from below, or -easier maybe - to make a tool and pull it off. It has an internal thread for this purpose, can't remember its size but I think it has been mentioned in the past somewhere in this forum.
I may have a new drive gear if you can't find it.
Click to expand...
Wow, that is really kind of you. Let me mark it, pull it and take a couple pictures. I assume once the bushing is out, it should just lift out? Does that sound right?
 
BillD said:
Wow, that is really kind of you. Let me mark it, pull it and take a couple pictures. I assume once the bushing is out, it should just lift out? Does that sound right?
Click to expand...
i doudt it will be not so easy, how to catch the bit and lift?
 
I changed one last year on 845 and just pulled it out with magnet on a stick
fitted replacement correct position was harder
 
Tha'ts the piece that is broken! Thanks for sharing. How hard was it to take the bushing off to get to it and how hard was it to align to get the timing right? Can you say more about that? Thanks again!
 
Hi Bill
These pages from the R4 parts book might help you track a new part down. (The manual only goes as far as 1975 - I don't know whether there were any changes in subsequent years, but someone on here will, and might even have the part).

20231020_133320.jpg20231020_133326.jpg
There's some really useful stuff here too (it's an excellent site):

Démontage complet d'un moteur Billancourt

Tutoriel de démontage complet d'un moteur Billancourt de Renault 4
www.la4ldesylvie.fr www.la4ldesylvie.fr
Good luck!
 
BillD said:
Tha'ts the piece that is broken! Thanks for sharing. How hard was it to take the bushing off to get to it and how hard was it to align to get the timing right? Can you say more about that? Thanks again!
Click to expand...
I took a photo of broken piece and then it comes straight out with magnet nothing else needs removing

refitting I dropped it back in carefully using photo to check alignment
 
I have not tried that and will. Maybe this might be easier. Thank you very much ! I'll keep you posted.
 
Hi, Yes, I used a magnet and it pulled right out and found a gentleman on ebay who kindly removed one from an engine he was selling for parts. Now I just have to wait for the part, find TDC on #1, drop it in 60 degrees and have the half moon biggest section near flywheel and see it it will start. Hopefully the timing isn't going to be a real challenge but will see when I get it. Any other advise is warmly welcomed !
mr-reno-139 said:
I changed one last year on 845 and just pulled it out with magnet on a stick
fitted replacement correct position was harder
Click to expand...
Is that an Renault 1963 Dauphine? That might help when I look for more parts? Thanks!

​

 
mr-reno-139 said:
I took a photo of broken piece and then it comes straight out with magnet nothing else needs removing

refitting I dropped it back in carefully using photo to check alignment
Click to expand...
Hi,
It get's worse. I replaced the broken gear, and while it fits in smoothly, it does not rotate, at least not all the time as expected so have more stripped gears. What I did was put a screwdriver in and push down and turn it over and sometimes it engages, sometimes not. So now I'm thinking that the problem with stripped gears is lower down. All this due to to the distributor seizing up. I'm not sure really what is under there but will take a short video but I can't upload. Can anyone tell me what this goes into? Help ! Any help is appreciated.

D250-DistributorGear.JPG
 
16.01.jpg

It's the distributor / oil pump drive gear, that meshes with a gear on the camshaft. I'm afraid that, if there are broken or worn teeth on this gear, the camshaft may be damaged, too.
This is the gear that is held in the block by the threaded bush we were talking about.
 
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