Chirping from distributor on 93' 940 b230f

I've had this problem for a while and it always shows up during the colder months, it hasn't effected the performance of the car from what I can tell but I would like to fix it as it sounds like a turkey is being strangled under the hood of the car...

So, on a cold start and even after the car has been running... the distributor rotor makes contact with the cap on the sides, so I'm getting this constant plastic on plastic rubbing sound which is not ideal. I can confirm this is the case because if you push the cap in on a side it exaggerates the sound and it also follows the rpm's of the engine when you press the gas pedal...

My question is... could I expect a seal and bearing kit to fix this or should I be looking for a whole new distributor because the shaft is running off axis or something? Again, this only happens when it starts to dip below 40-50 degrees at night and I have changed the cap and rotor a couple times and it STILL does it....

Curious if anyone has ever had this issue...

Is it a Bosch cap and rotor? A few years ago my cap developed a crack,and since it was a Sunday I had to get a off brand from autozone.the fit was terrible with the screw holes barely lining up.now I keep a good spare Bosch on hand.

When the cap is installed there is a key so it only is installed one way. You can force it to install the other way but you get problems like you describe if you do that. Remove the clips and check the bottom edge of the cap. Look at the rim of the distributor. The keyway is toward the rear as should be the key in the cap that fits into it. Make sure the dust cover is also fitted into the keyway in the distributor.

oldnfast said:

Is it a Bosch cap and rotor? A few years ago my cap developed a crack,and since it was a Sunday I had to get a off brand from autozone.the fit was terrible with the screw holes barely lining up.now I keep a good spare Bosch on hand.

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Yep. Both Bosch. Again, second go round with both cap and rotor and problem persists. There is somehow contact being made between the plastic on the cap and the plastic on the rotor as it spins around

dl242gt said:

When the cap is installed there is a key so it only is installed one way. You can force it to install the other way but you get problems like you describe if you do that. Remove the clips and check the bottom edge of the cap. Look at the rim of the distributor. The keyway is toward the rear as should be the key in the cap that fits into it. Make sure the dust cover is also fitted into the keyway in the distributor.

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I'll check again, but I've had the thing off and on and pretty sure its not being put on incorrectly in terms of lining up... It's just as if there is some small play on the shaft or with the bearing in the distributor...

It is possible that the distributor shaft is worn and has a wobble. But you can check that by pushing and pulling sideways on the rotor. You would feel the play.

Is this a block mount or head mount distributor?

dl242gt said:

Is this a block mount or head mount distributor?

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Its the old block mount distributor. Seems like in 93 they were really mixing and matching parts and systems around ?

What rotor are you using? It should be the Bosch 04170.

americandreamer said:

Its the old block mount distributor. Seems like in 93 they were really mixing and matching parts and systems around ?

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I assumed your car had the head mount,which is why I mentioned the screw holes being so far off on the cap.is the block mount held on with spring clips?if there isn?t play in the shaft make sure it?s the correct rotor like mentioned above.