Was checking (no problems, just routine making sure the coolant level was fine after replacing the system, checking AC pressures) my daughter's 99 4.0, and noticed one bolt (nearest the engine) on the distributor cap was loose (and the cap was just a bit up on that side).

Hot engine, so I grabbed a long extension on a 1/4 ratchet and tried to tighten it down. Doesn't want to grab except for the last few threads (as far as I can recall, wasn't over-tightened when replacing the distributor last fall).

So I'm going to replace it with a longer bolt and some kind of locking (locking washer, locking nut) on that side.

Does anyone know what length/diameter the factory ones are so I can get one a bit longer without being too long?

(It's her daily driver, so it's hard to pull it and go to a hardware store due to conflicting schedules).

Thanks!

 

Pull the cap off and verify what's going on?

Perhaps a new cap, which comes with new bolts, will fix the problem.

 

The cap is maybe 8 months old (did the distributor, cap, rotor, wires, plugs, coil last fall).

I’ll pull it, but I highly suspect the reman distributor body is the culprit…maybe it was drilled to get a rusted screw out.

 

I was right. The reman people must not have rethreaded that hole right.

The bolt that comes with the cap is probably about a #10 and is around 1”. A #8 slides in fine, and the washer/lock washer/nut seems to hold fine.

takes 2 hands to get the washers and nut on the bolt (might actually be easier to push the bolt up from the bottom…YMMV).

the bolt on the cap was perfect….it was the threading in the body of the distributor that was the issue.