I have a 1999 GMC with the 5.7, and it recently broke down after 4 years of having it. I’ve never noticed any sound coming from the distributor before, but now it sounds like something is off—it’s constantly making noise. Is this a problem I should check into, or is it normal? The truck runs really poorly right now, and I can’t seem to figure it out.
The distributor rotor center pin may be collapsed, or the pickup coil could be coming apart. The rotor might not have enough contact left at the tip in most cases.
So a whole new distributor would come with all that, right?
No, you usually get the distributor casing/body with the pickup coil pre-installed. You’d be missing the module, cap, and rotor if you don’t buy a complete distributor or a performance version. There could be other reasons for the ticking noise aside from the distributor.
Is it worth buying a performance distributor or just sticking with stock? Also, when installing the distributor, do I need to buy any special tools for timing?