New to me ‘91 XJ 4.0 107K miles.

I removed the distributor cap and noticed there is not only some rotational play in the rotor, maybe a degree or two each way, but there is some side play as well, as though whatever bearing the shaft is riding on is worn. Is this normal? If not, what needs to be replaced?

Thanks.

 

Call the salvage yard. Easiest way is just plop a low-mileage dizzy in there. Keep the old one for parts down the road.

 

If it were mine, id replace it. My 97 had the same. Replaced it with a new Cardone and its nice and tight now, and even got rid of a faint tick on that side of the engine at idle. A distributor shouldnt have any wobble to it.

 

I needed a new distributor at about 80K miles. I initially thought it was the lifters.

 

I bought a new distributor. I haven’t looked at it closely. Does it only go in one way? Is there a rotating adjustment on it like other distributors? Any tips for me?

 

Update: I installed the new distributor assembly. I read a couple of how-to’s prior to the work. They instructed to move cylinder 1 to TDC as the first step. I started thinking about it, and I’m not really sure why that has to be done. I figured if it was off it would be way off and visually noticeable. I simply made a note of where the rotor was relative to the housing both before removal and immediately afterward, and made sure the new one ended up in the same place. Engine starts and runs great.