Bad distributor?

[ruckman101]

Are the spark plug wires fully seated in the distributor cap? In the past I have found I wasn't assertive enough and they had another 1/4, to 1/8 inch to get them all the way down. Might give a look for evidence of arcing where the spark plug wires attach to the cap.

neal

[Mr Blotto]

Will check it out tonight. Thanks much for all the help!

[yondermtn]

That play looks normal to me.
If you don't have a stethoscope you can get similar results by using a long screwdriver. Put the head of the screwdriver where you want to hear something and put the handle up to your ear. You might be able to pinpoint the noise that way.
How about posting a video of the engine running so others can have a listen?

[Mr Blotto]

Think I got it licked. After further inspection I noticed some corrosion on the top of the rotor and some black marks on the inside of the cap (in between the metal contacts). So, remembering that I have a used working spare cap & rotor in my bus tool box, I swapped them out, fired it up, and no more snap/crackle/pop! Perhaps they corroded while in storage for 6 months and began arching upon firing it back up?? The odd thing is that it ran fine - just sounded like someone was grinding a pepper mill inside of the distributor.

Anyhow, thanks (as always) for all the help....glad it was something cheap/easy!

[72Hardtop]

When and how often do you oil the felt pad at the end of the distributor shaft (under the rotor)?

[Bleyseng]

isn't it at every oil change/valve adjustment.....

[Amskeptic]

isn't it at every oil change/valve adjustment.....

. . . which would be every three weeks for me . . .

[72Hardtop]

Odd that VW makes no mention of the felt pad in the owners manual. Every 12-15,000 miles is generally good enough...tune-up time for most. Couple drops. Done.

[Amskeptic]

Odd that VW makes no mention of the felt pad in the owners manual.

They mention "bring it in for service every 6,000 miles". Were the dealer mechanics informed? All VWs with vacuum only distributors, from the late 50s to 1971, did not have this felt wick. Only the centrifugal distributors do.
Colin