timing distributor drive

Which engine do you have? That bushing caused a lot of unstable ignition timing on the V-8 engines.

What you're asking is not critical. For the sake of making the spark plug wires reach and look pretty it is customary to have the rotor tip pointing to the number 1 cylinder when it's on top dead center on the compression stroke. If the gear is off by one or two teeth you can just turn the distributor a little to match it. If it's more than that you can move every plug wire one spot in the cap, otherwise you can end up with the vacuum advance unit, (I don't think a '93 has that any more), hitting the firewall.

If your engine uses a crankshaft position sensor, that is what sets the ignition timing. The distributor just sends the spark to the right cylinder. The camshaft position sensor in the distributor just synchronizes the injector timing. You'll never notice a change when you turn the distributor.

1993 dodge dakota club cab 2 wheel drive 3.9 L V6. I replaced the distributor a while back and after the sync process it started right up and ran better than since I owned the truck. I did not know about the drive gear and bushing failure back then. Was driving to beach when gear failed so I did not know which direction slot was pointing. I have not been able to get the injector sync click since replacing the gear and bushing.

Don't give the injectors another thought. All you need to do is put the number one piston at top dead center on the compression stroke. (That's the driver's side front cylinder). Drop in the distributor, then put the number one spark plug wire on the cap terminal right over the rotor tip. You will see that once the engine is running, you can turn the distributor a whole bunch and not notice any change in how it runs. Turning the distributor won't affect ignition timing. Some injectors will fire just as the intake valve opens, and for some the fuel will just sit next to the valve until opens, then it will get sucked in.

We'd prefer to have the rotor tip pointing to the number one cylinder when it's at TDC and you can do that by using a long flat-blade screwdriver to turn the gear so the spiral teeth make it slide up and turn a tooth at a time until it's oriented the right way.

Well I moved the gear two teeth so my plug wires would look pretty. Lined it up on number one and started right up.

thanks
Frank

All right! One in a row!