Has this happend to anyone here - distributor loose?

[Drahcir495]

Leaving work yesterday I could have sworn someone shot at me. I jumped out and pop open the hood to look around. It was idling fine, but I noticed the cap and wires were moving. Turned off the motor and checked out the distributor. The bolt holding it down was over 1/4 inch unthreaded. Anything that I should be worried about? Could I have damaged anything? I never had a hint of a problem before this :nuts: . I tightened it back down and drove home without a problem. Seems fine today too. Thanks, Rich

[HOrnbrod]

You might pull the cap and check to see if there is any excess slop in the distributor shaft by turning the rotor back and forth. With it being loose like that it could have damaged the gear. Easy to replace. Also if you have a timing light, hook it up and make sure the timing mark on the harmonic balancer is nice and steady at idle.

[wallisek]

Double check and make sure that bolt isn't stainless steel or look like it is about to fail. When I was restoring my CJ7, I replaced the old bolt which had almost no thread left with a new bolt that came with a stainless steel fastener kit. Big mistake. The heat from the engine block ruined the bolt which I found out the hard way. Day after putting in a new carb and HEI distributor I took it out for a spin. Pulled over to adjust the timing a bit and when I was loosening the bolt the head twisted right off. I didn't even have it completely tightened down either since I was constantly adjusting it. Luckily I was close to home but had to have it towed because I couldn't get the broken thread out. 50 cent POS bolt cost me $50 tow. :fs1:

[Drahcir495]

You might pull the cap and check to see if there is any excess slop in the distributor shaft by turning the rotor back and forth. With it being loose like that it could have damaged the gear. Easy to replace. Also if you have a timing light, hook it up and make sure the timing mark on the harmonic balancer is nice and steady at idle.

I will pull the distrutor this weekend and check. It is running great now, so I hope I caught it before any damage. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Double check and make sure that bolt isn't stainless steel or look like it is about to fail.

I will check it over when I remove the distributor. It look original from top of the engine bay :brows: . I am restoring/modifying my CJ7 now, so I know what it is like to be stranded close to home :clapping: . :cheers: