The hold down tang (where the bolt holds it to the block) on my distributor cracked yesterday and I am in need of. It has 225k miles on it so must have just fatigued and cracked. replacement distributor. I wanted to get a reman Cardone (Cardone 30-4495) but am a bit confused on the pricing options.

Rockauto is $75 + $75 core (I doubt mine would qualify as a core with the broken tang).
Amazon has it for $135 with no core (makes sense)

This is where it gets confusing:
Autozone sells it for $30.95 with no core (http://www.autozone.com/external-eng...74875_276632_0)

Autozone ebay has it for $33.95.

All have a 1 year warranty.

Has anyone purchased one from Autozone? This just doesn't make sense, but they are all Cardone reman.

 

I bought a reman'd Cardone for my 97 off ebay two years ago, for $64. No core. It came with a cam sensor but i bought it for the distributor, not the cam sesnor as they tend to be generic anyway, not OEM. Mine came with a used one, but i reused my working original. I see no need nor reason to spend over $100 for a reman'd distributor. As long as its the right one, the drive gear is installed correctly with no chipped teeth, the pump drive is in good shape and everything is solid with no excessive play in the shaft, youre good. Replace the distributor seal, too. I used Felpro 70051.

Just to be sure, you are using the hold down clamp over those tangs, correct? If not, you will break the tangs on the replacement. Some dont use the clamp. It must be used.

 

I actually did realize that I had forgotten to put the hold down bracket back on when I r&r'd it last. I had the hold down bracket in my box of Jeep parts. Can't believe I did that.
I'm going to go with the Autozone one since it's Cardone.

 

Took a trip to the closest pickapart (~30 minutes) and picked up a used one from a 98 Grand Cherokee to get this back on the road. I even put the support bracket back in place this time. I needed a few other things for the '98 we are modifying too. So got a distributor, 4 power door lock actuators, fan shroud and under hood light for the princely sum of $20. The distributor has some some wobble on the shaft so definitely will need replaced anyway.
I had a $7 off coupon for autotzone so ordered the cardone from them. Total was ~$25.00.

 

I installed the Cardone replacement today. Was surprised by the packaging. It did not say Cardone (or any manufacturer) anywhere on the box, receipt, shipping receipt etc. Shaft was tight and everything looked good though. Installed it (only takes me about 30 minutes start to finish now) and fired right up. Will keep an eye on the shaft when I change plugs or cap/rotor.