Dist rotor mystery

[jhngardner367]

Has anyone ever had their distributor rotor come loose,while driving!?
The other day,I went to the store,and as I got out on the street,my truck stumbled,and died. Since I was low on fuel,I figured it was out of gas(I was heading for the station,from the store).I hit the key,and it started up,and ran fine,all the way to the station.
I got gas,and drove 4 miles home,without a problem,but,as I pulled into the drive,it stumbled,and died,again! So,I started checking,and when I took off the distributor cap,I found that the rotor had one screw holding by 2 threads!
The other had loosened,but not fell out. Strangely,neither the cap,nor the rotor was damaged! The rotor was installed,by me,3 months ago,and I had used blue locktite on the threads.
Since the hood release is inside,and I lock my doors,I can't say it was someone playing with it,but I KNOW it was tight !
Any ideas?

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Lock washers?
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[jhngardner367]

Yes.They were included,with the rotor.I'm starting to wonder if there's some way of getting the hood up, on these trucks,from the outside,as I just looked at the GMC,(also kept locked)and the carb is missing,as well as the new overflow bottle for the radiator!

[INSIDIOUS '86]

The break into the wing windows on these trucks and just pull the latch. I've never needed loctite on my rotor though. Just tight with a screwdriver
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[jhngardner367]

I dabbed a bit on,just for good measure.It was the light-blue formula,for vibration-prone screws.
As I said,I've never had a rotor come loose,before!.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Heat does render blue and red loctit useless though
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[jhngardner367]

True,but,I still can't explain why it loosened,in the first place.
I'm 60 yrs old,& I've worked on/owned GM's,since I was 14,and this is the only time it's happened.I'm thinking of putting my nite-vision security cam on the area,for a while,and see if anything shows up!

[orbot]

maybe they got loose with time, or bad screws.

[Your41Plague12]

I think someone messed with it. I've never ever heard of that happening if the screws were tight, and especially since your GMC is missing parts. You can pry up on the hood and get to the hood release bolts with a socket and an extension. I had to do this with my truck when the release cable came unclipped from the latch. Check and see if the bolts from the latch are missing on your GMC. If they are, that's how they did it.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Well it's not beyond anybody to steal anything these days. Even half the engine!
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[jhngardner367]

Well,I went ahead,and put the nite-vision cam up,to cover the area,and it feeds directly into a dvr. I want to see what's going on,and by whom! It took all of 30 minutes to get it hidden,connected,and tested.
I also found out that a neighbor ,down the block,had some things happen to his '86 GMC(broken vent window,dist cap &wires gone)!

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Well it can show you who and when but it don't get them cought unfortunately. No having a break beam laser hooked up to a horn will let you know when they are there
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[jhngardner367]

Hah!! Got 'em on video!Around 3am,the sensor tripped the dvr,and the cam caught 'em in the act! He still had his head under the hood,when I came up behind him,with my .380.
The little SOB had my dist cap,and wires off,and was working on pulling the distributor,itself! I called the cops,before I went out,and he just sat on the ground,until they cuffed him! There's a dead end alley behind my house,that all the people on my street use for parking.He had parked at the open end,and was walking to my truck! Cops have the video,and other parts he stole were in his truck!

[kelsfine69]

That is Awesome!!!, I like to see the look on his face when you said "Hey Boy, Whatcha Doing"!!..."Go Ahead make My Day"

[Your41Plague12]

I love it. Glad you got the SOB that did it.

67-72: 1
Bad guys: 0

[Dieselholic92]

That's awesome!

[Tucson38]

Amazing story.

[jhngardner367]

Yah,but the cops were a little upset. He kinda soiled himself,when the .380 touched him !LOL ! One of the cops said this guy hadn't been out too long,from another bust.
AND I found out how he got the hood open. He had a small, hard-steel rod,and one end was bent,like a question mark. he could slip it in and hook the latch,and move it to the side,and it opened the latch. I tried to get a better look at it,but they took it as evidence.
I guess,if they really want in,they'll find a way!