urgent distrubtor bolt mount broke .stranded.

distubtor mount broke. where the actual distrubtor bolts to the motor it just broke off. i took it out and it looks fine but cant bolt it back down. why would this happen? if i get a new distrubtor zould be i fixed? walking to parts store nine miles away on phone now....

The most common reason for the bolt to break is that it worked loose and the force of driving the oil pump finally broke it. That being said, an oil pump that has frozen will either spit out the distributor or break the gear on the distributor or cam. Reach in with a long flat bladed screw driver and make sure the oil pump turns.

This happened to the wifes jeep today. Oil pump turns fine and bolt is tight. Part of me is ready to toss a distributor back in it and run it. However we have plans to take it to Phoenix over Thanksgiving and do not want to be stranded somewhere. Any thought on this or anyone have this happen and replacing distributor resolved it?

OK, exactly what broke? Was it the bolt or was it the ears on the distributor? I've seen more than one distributor that was put in without the crowsfoot hold down, just using the bolt against the ears of the distributor. It is too much stress on the ears and they give up after a while.

If the gear looks good and isn't chewed up or worn unevenly and the distributor ears and crowsfoot are all OK, I wouldn't hesitate to put the old distributor back in. Most likely the PO overtightened the bolt, stretched it and after a while it just broke. In case the threaded hole is too big, I would loctite the new bolt.

Crowsfoot? Mine is just the ear on that is towards the front of the motor only 1 bolt. Is there an additional Crowsfoot that holds down the otherside (rear of the engine)? Thought it was only one bolt, think the Renix has a cross foot, newer ones are is a ear that comes out on the distributor.

I got the jeep and put a '93 motor in this '97 had to use the 97 distributor. It also had a blow motor mount when I bought it (and I mean BLOWN!) I think it might have been cracked for a while looking at the only line on the cracked area and just a small area of clean metal. Was thinking it is so close to the mount it might have been hitting it and it just finally broke loose.

I put a new distributor in 3 weeks ago. Today new one say ear to hold down bolt broke off. Oil pump is rotating fine. I have no idea what might be causing this. Cam bearings? I am really thinking of building a motor. The wife loves this jeep and I just want it to run like new.

Every rig I have worked on had a steel crow's foot in addition to the tangs on the side of the distributor. It sounds like yours is missing.

cam bearings maybe, if there's enough play to make the distributor move aroung at the bottom, but I'd think if that was the case the gear would be all chewed up.
Can you take a picutre of the broken distributor, might help with the diagnosis.

honestly for what it costs to have a motor properly built with all of the machine work I'd just order a crate longblock and swap all your accessories to it.

Unless you're planning on building something special that is.

Old man I am wondering about the steel crows foot. The 1993 motor (motor currently running) did not have one and neither did the 1997 I pulled. Can anyone else confirm anything about this crows foot.

3300 4242 Qty 1 CLAMP

IIRC (without going home and out into the cold garage,) my 94 also has a crowsfoot clamp on the bolt holding down the distributor. So did a 92 YJ that I worked on a few years ago.

Breaking ears off without this gizmo wouldn't surprise me.