Distributor cap bottom bolt

[swright]

I cant for the life of me get the bottom bolt to catch and hold on my new dissy cap[] I have been trying on and off for two days now[X(] Is there any special way of doing it? I push the screw/bolt against the stupidly strong spring and turn it this way and that but it simply refuses to catch[] it doesn't help that you only have about two inches of room to work in and that's after raising the lights to gain more room!!!

Does anyone have any tips or methods of getting the damn thing in?

Thanks,
Stu

 

[sawood12]

Unfortunately Stu, I know exactly where you're coming from. I struggled in exactly the same way. Unfortunately I never sussed out a different method and just persevered with the method you've been struggling with and eventually after about an hour of huffing and puffing I managed to get it to catch. In fact at the time I thought I could do with a wide bladed but short length screwdriver that would fit in the space between the cap and the headlight bar, but now it's done seems no point in getting one. Sorry, this is more of a note of sympathy rather than being any useful help.

 

[homesea]

The bottom bolt is a right pain in the arse. The only way I got mine back on was to take the intercooler pipe off and sort of jab the handle of the screwdriver inside the intercooler and the head on the bolt so it took the pressure off the spring then just turn the screwdriver. But you need a screwdriver of just the right length.

 

[Black_JPN]

I was told by my specialist this week that if there is a really big problem getting to the bottom bolt then it's usually a sign the engine mount is worn and the engine is sitting slightly lower than it should be. That combined with a quite noticeable vibration throughout the cabin at idle confirmed the diagnosis. For what it's worth he uses an extremely long screwdriver.

 

[simonthomas]

I had a hard time with mine, in the end i put the bottom in first, used a 'stubby' screwdriver to push and turn.

 

[jr2015]

Yes, it`s a total pain to get the hooks inside to grip, a stubby screwdriver was what I used and a lot of downward pressure with my free hand on the cap it needs half a turn to engage. Another "clue " to engine mount wear ( on a series one 944 at least ), is the state of the soundproofing under the bonnet, as the engine movement wears it away.
regards,
jr.

 

[swright]

ORIGINAL: Black_JPN

I was told by my specialist this week that if there is a really big problem getting to the bottom bolt then it's usually a sign the engine mount is worn and the engine is sitting slightly lower than it should be. That combined with a quite noticeable vibration throughout the cabin at idle confirmed the diagnosis. For what it's worth he uses an extremely long screwdriver.

]

Im getting that cabin vibration too!! Its got steadily worse the last few weeks . Looks like its new engine mounts time.

Many thanks for the info.

ps, how hard is it to do the engine mounts on these cars?