I have a chilton's manual for my 96 firebird formula, and the last time I had problems with the distributor it came out to be the cap and rotor. In the book it talks about the little disc being what keeps the car in time and all and that messing it up will screw everything up. Do you mess with the timing if you replace the whole distributor not just the cap and rotor? I'm not sure if it's just the cap and rotor or the whole distributor, but if I have to replace the whole thing, am I going to have trouble keeping the car in time?

Thanks,

Aron

 

No, the timing is controlled by the ecm. unless you removed the whole unit. it is possible you didn't put the wires back in the right order.

 

Best advice if you have opti problems on a 1996 is to replace the whole thing with new GM one. ~$200 wholesale. When installed correctly, the timing will be right where is it is supposed to be.

 

I wasn't saying I got it out of time. I got it right the first time jsut doing the cap and rotor. I was just worried if I had to do the whole thing. So I should have no trouble replacing the whole thing? Just a matter of curiosity plus the fact that the whole thing isn't that much more than a cap and rotor, plus I'll have it torn down already. Will the whole thing just fit into place only one way, kinda like the little disc on the inside did?

 

Do it like this and you won't have a problem.

 

Thanks shoebox