Reinman

Has anyone ever experienced the passegner side distributor cap getting broken by the right side steering arm during suspension travel? If so, what have you done to abate the problem? My car just broke one again - and I just put new struts in the front.

V8BOB

Sound like you have a broken motor mount. Have you checked those? Exactly what hit the cap?

Bob

Reinman

the right steering arm that goes out to the tie rod end from the center of the steering rack. It has a rise in the arm and drops right directly under the passenger distributor cap. under suspension load the arm comes in contact with the cap. the motor mount is good but the lower control arm is not and that could be causing too much drop in the front end under breaking and steering load causing the contact of the rotor on the inside of the cap that gets pushed upward with that contact. I am wondering the there was a TSB on it?

toml99

I'll second motor mounts. While there was no TSB, many have had the cracked distributor cap due to bad mounts. If you think your control arms are so bad, why not replace them? Good luck, Tom

Reinman

I have the control arms on order already. The front motor mount is fine.

V8BOB

One more thought, isn't there 1 or 2 mounts for the transmission and if they have failed couldn't the motor tip back/down and then hit. Tom would know better than I.

Bob

toml99

If you mean the front engine support(rubber mount in front of passenger timing cover), that's just to "hold" the engine from the front....The fact that it's intact bode's well for the other 2 that actually hold the engine up. Maybe someone's replaced all that which would be awsome, and I'd be envious. My Lago car has 115K, and that support is cracked as my 24 yo original mounts have sagged/most likely ripped. 5-speed has 2 new engine mounts, but that front support is also ripped as it wasn't replaced when the PO did both mounts(not as relevant as the main 2 mounts). I'm just sayin, I recall more than a few people over the years had issues with cracked distributor caps and it was the bad mounts allowing the motor to twist. Every V8 I've parted(some low mileage/nice) had either one, or both mounts completely ripped(which made pulling the motor easier). Once they go, the tranny mounts are trying to keep the motor in place, and they also can be bad(24yo rubber), but tend to see them intact more than motor mounts.
That said, I don't recall the steering arm being all that close to my distributors(and I've got sagging mounts), so is the car totally stock otherwise, or is there different springs/rims/tires that might change that geometry?...Good luck, Tom

audiqv8

Did you do anything with the steering lately? How long have this been going on?

The reason I asked is that the tie rods have a dip in them to clear the distributor at full suspension. If they were installed with the dip pointing up they WILL hit the distributor cap and shatter them. When installing the tie rod many people will point the dip up thinking that it is designed to clear the frame rail, but the real purpose is the clear the distributor.

Just read your other post "the right steering arm that goes out to the tie rod end from the center of the steering rack. It has a rise in the arm and drops right directly under the passenger distributor cap. under suspension load the arm comes in contact with the cap." You have the rise pointing in the wrong direction. It should be pointed down.