Distributor cap

[Brian1]

I have a T25 1.9 DG 1990. The distributor cap has a shield on it. When I replace the cap do I have to buy one with a shield or can I just buy a cap and put the old shield on? Sorry this is such a basic question but I haven't dismatled the parts to work out how they fit together.
Thanks
Brian

[..lee..]

shield will swap over to the new cap. if you haven`t done one before mark the leads or swap them out one at a time. good practice to change rotor arm also.

[Brian1]

Thanks Lee
Yes was thinking I should replace arm as well. If the new cap and arms are not bosch will the timing be affected or are the replacements likely to be exactly the same as the bosch ones? I think my arm has a limiter built in.
Thanks for the quick response.
Brian

[scottbott]

do not have shield on my van did they all have them?the engine is a 1.9 DG,what were they for?

[Red Westie]

They are just a splash gaurd and serve no other purpose. No worries if you haven't got one fitted.
Infact in some cases they can collect dirt which can lead to tracking issues (we used to clean all our distributor caps in paint thinners to minimize crud build up and the likelyhood of tracking.

Martin

[Ian Hulley]

what were they for?

Can't say 100% but the '92 Scirocco injection came with one and the GSF list replacement has a shield too. Same red cap as the camper underneath.

[..lee..]

different makes wont change the timing. flick the clips off and place the cap next to the dizzy with the leads still connected, note which way the rotor is pointing and swap the rotor arms over making sure the hole in the rotor arm is the same size as the one you pulled off. fit the new cap making sure the little lump on the edge of the cap fits in to the nick in the distributor and put the clips on. then swap the leads over one by one to the same possition as they were on the old cap and you should be sweet. no adjustments needed.

[Brian1]

Thanks to everyone for their help.
Brian

[Aidan]

only the 2.1 with injection and 1.9 with 2e4 carb need the shield on the disi, it's there to prevent rf interference with ECU, early shield was metal thing, later MV engines (Digifant) had a black plastic covered shield which clipped over the disi-cap and was included with the cap which was a different part number but these can also be transferred across to new cap as the one with the shield included are nla - though to be fair most vans now are running around without the shield with no ill effect, it was typical VW belt and braces over engineering/complication