Distributor cap

No joke, serious question.
My 95, 4.3. Can the cap be removed without taking anything else off the engine??
I can’t see the rear screw and it looks like it may have a hard time fitting between the intake manifold and the firewall!!.
Forgot who posted this, but I took his advice and dropped the steering box shaft and getting the spark plug out was easy. Also saved on getting tools that I didn’t have on hand.
Thanks, LS

Just use a loooong screwdriver to poke down between the wires on the front and back of the distributor. You'll find a pair of regular phillips screws under that tangle of spaghetti. Transfer your wires from your old cap to the new cap, (one at a time to avoid mix ups) replace the rotor "bug" just under the cap too - screw her back together. Tighten up the screws until snug. No more, no less. Good luck. ;)

[QUOTE=wolfox]Just use a loooong screwdriver to poke down between the wires on the
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Thanks;
I'm on it.

The screws are righ on top of the distributor cap. Get right over the engine and look.

Best to take the wires off the old first and plug them into the same connection on the new cap. This saves screwing things up.

also, hope you are replacing the rotor along with the cap, ALWAYS replace them as a pair.

No joke, serious question.
My 95, 4.3. Can the cap be removed without taking anything else off the engine??
I can’t see the rear screw and it looks like it may have a hard time fitting between the intake manifold and the firewall!!.
Forgot who posted this, but I took his advice and dropped the steering box shaft and getting the spark plug out was easy. Also saved on getting tools that I didn’t have on hand.
Thanks, LS

On my 97 4.3L, I did not have to remove any other engine parts. Mine was not a phillips head, but a Torx head screw. I lost like three torx bits back there before I finally got it off (found most of them once the cap was off). The front torx screw size will usually matches the back torx screw, so use the front one to figure out what bit or socket or fitting to use (probably T15 or T20). There is an indentation (half circle) on the cap that will guide you to the back screw.

97 and early 95's have completely different cap and rotor layouts. ;) Mine's the type with the wires sticking vertically straight up our of the distributor. Old skool, I know - but she has phillips screws holding it down.

[QUOTE=wolfox]97 and early 95's have completely different cap and rotor layouts. ;) Mine's the type with the wires sticking vertically straight up our of the distributor.
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Got back here today equipped with a five-foot screwdriver and ready to go.
Bought new cap, rotor and wires but the new cap has the terminals flat out the side, not straight up like my old one.
Guess that will be OK, huh??

[QUOTE=
Got back here today equipped with a five-foot screwdriver and ready to go.
Bought new cap, rotor and wires but the new cap has the terminals flat out the side, not straight up like my old one.
Guess that will be OK, huh??

Not OK. Check your new plug-wire set too! If you want to keep this simple, go get new cap and wire set same as your old one. The wires do not plug in the same order on the horizontal one. You may have to tell the store it's a '94 to get the right one.

[QUOTE=herkyhawki]Not OK. Check your new plug-wire set too! If you want to keep this simple,
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Thanks, you saved me a big headache!
Had no idea, will change for same.

Also see the "firing order" thread. It shows the 2 different dist. caps.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=449353

how much would it effect engine proformance if one side of the cap was striped out but the other side fit nice?