hello every one. i am new here and wanted to introduce my self. my name is Jim and i just got my 01 ram 1500 back in April of this year. i inherited it from my stepdad when he died. i would really like to fix it up one day and make it a really nice truck in his memory. but, for right now i just want to keep it running decently. which brings me to my first issue that i really need some help on. i have many other issues but this is the most urgent. today i decided to change the plugs, wires, distributor cap, and button. i just tried to take off the distributor cap and one of the screws broke off. i cant get anything back there to get it drilled out either. im very mad now. what can i do? is one screw good enough to hold it on or no? please help me. i appreciate any help i can get. thank you.

 

i highly doubt one screw is going to hold it, and if youre a beginner i wouldnt go taking the distributor out, and i know how hard it is to get back in there.

 

yeah, i tried it out and it isnt going to work with one screw. it would be crooked on there and that wouldnt be good. im not really a beginner when it comes to working on cars but i dont think i want to attempt taking it out either. what can i do though?

 

im stumped, honestly i was just trying to bump you back to the top so you can get some more replies, sorry i couldnt help much

 

ah, no problem. i appreciate the help. im going to cal my friends dad tomorrow and see what he says. he is a very good mechanic. i trust him.

 

i just ran into the same prob today.....pita
it was a 3500 plow truck with the 5.9 gas that was in for a tune up and somebody replaced the cap before and broke the tabs on the distributor where the screws go and put zipties to hold the cap on place
i tried to get the costumer to get a new dizzy but he dint want to so i had to put a big ziptie back on it and it works good so far
you can try that for the time been but i would say remove the dizzy and drill bolt out

 

Removing the distributor would be your best bet. Download the 2001 Factory Service Manual from this link, it is at the top, you cant miss it!
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...diy-links.html

 

might as well just do the plenum and take out the dizzy when the manifold is out, cuz 99.9% chance that if th plenum hasnt been changed its blown

 

yeah, i need to do the plenum. i looked down through the throttle body and it looks like some one dumped a gallon of dirty oil down there. i was thinking about doing it just so i could get to the distributor but i just dont know if i can spend the cash. i lost my job a while back and havent been able to find another one yet. what all does it involve to do the plenum? i downloaded the service manual the other day but i havent had a chance to go through it yet. thanks for the replies everyone.

 

well best bets are get the hughes plenum so you dont have to worry about it again.

or go to AZ, and you can get the plenum, and intake gaskets for like 30 bucks. then about 5 bucks for RTV sealant....so you can do it for cheap, but if you do it this way, you'll have the problem again.