Whats the name of this part?

[norwood e30]

well a couple of years ago i was told the part in this pick below went bad does anyone know the correct name to this part? I know the Cap and rotor sits in front of it to me it looks like a mount for the rotor if not correct me

[Aptyp]

then metal piece that bolts on to the cam? How did it go wrong?

[IRON-E]

Timming belt cover?

[norwood e30]

I thought it was a distributor for the cap and rotor?I might be wrong who knows im just going with someone told me a while back i think he was full of sh%%

[scottinAZ]

the outer metal piece is the upper timing belt cover, the metal piece in the center that the rotor mounts to is an "adapter" (bmw description, not mine) and the black plastic peice is a dust cover.

About the only way to screw up the timing belt cover is to strip out the screws

[DJB]

My guess is the part you are asking about is the 'cam shaft to rotor adapter'.

This part part never goes bad. It can, however, be messed up by not being careful with the rotor screws.

The distributor rotor is held to this piece by three small Allen head screws. These tend to bind in place. You must remove this part with a 3mm hex driver on a ratchet. If you try to use a SAE size, or use a hex key, you run a high chance of stripping the screw head.

When reinstalling you should always use a small torque wrench, as the torque spec is barely more than finger tight and it's easy to over-torque the screws. If the screws aren't new (i.e. the plating is worn), use a tiny dab of anti-seize to keep them from corroding in place.