Second Time in 2 months - distributor cap issue

[Scott S]

Hi All -
Had a perfect fall day here in Colorado, so I headed out for a drive in the 911. All was great. When I got home I wiped it down and did a once over.

I replaced my plugs, wires, cap and rotor a couple of months ago. After my drive, I gave all of the connections a quick push just to make sure things were seated well and noticed one of the retention spring clips on the cap was un-done. I cant believe the car ran as well as it did. I re-attached it, and made sure that the pins were in the "v" slots and all was secure. My concern is that this is the second time I have had to do this.

Has anyone experienced this?

I bought everything from our host. I did buy the less expensive cap, but that was after doing some searches here and reading that they worked fine. My motor is a 86 3.2.

Thanks a million for any insight.
-Scott S

[Jdub]

Not in transit, but it is a bear to get the "far side" clip on the 'cap depending. This is usually user error when the cap is not correctly oriented/made flush to the distributor itself.

Your cap spring may be loose? It is possible to bend them to bring more grip to the connection, but beware a tight fit that jumps loose over bumps.

[jpnovak]

Either bend the retaining clip for a tighter fit or loosen the screw on the distributor body and slide the clip down a bit. Bending the clip is easier done in the car with a small set of needle nose pliers.

[JeffO]

when I was base lining my 911 after purchasing I found the previous owner had the cap installed 180 degrees off. The car ran great regardless but it just shows how forgiving it can be in cap placement.

[Bob Kontak]

Scott,

Does your dist/cap look like the one in this link?

Dizzy Cover Comes loose on a 3.2

[Scott S]

Hi Bob -
Yep, exactly like that one. I will clip the picture and add it here.

The clips sure seem tight on my cap - it took quite a bit of pressure with a big screw driver to push them down far enough to get the clips engage. I wonder if they are too tight?

My motor only has 52k on it. I am very confident that the cap/rotor/wires I replaced were original.

In looking at the picture, I may try and open up the "v" clips on the dizzy (bend them a bit further away from the distributor casing) so the clips go in a bit deeper.

[Bob Kontak]

In the link one guy says the clips can be installed upside down in error if/when the dist was serviced. Maybe?

Perhaps you should pull the distributor to be safe. You may be able to get a good viewpoint if out for finding the needed tweak.