I HAVE A 2003 CHEVY ASTRO VAN 4.3 ENGINE AND THE Distributor Making A CLICKING NOISE WHILE IT IS RUNNING ANYBODY HAS AN IDEA WHY ITS DOING THAT
Look at it in the dark, and see if it is arcing.
And, fix your caps lock key.
I’d like to point out it may NOT be the distributor. I had this problem recently and it turned out to be something ELSE under the hood making the sound (an electronically controlled vacuum valve). But until I listened carefully I could have sworn the sound was coming from the distributor. Remember, if you are poking around under the hood with the engine running be extemely carefull about hair, loose clothing, where you put your hands and arms…cause a trip to the ER and or missing/mutilated body parts will make your current problems seem tame by comparision.
To add to the last two responses if its a voltage leak as beowulff has suggested try spraying water on the area, not a lot just get it moist, it would be a lot easier to see the leak if there is one.
If you want to pinpoint the noise you can use a LONG (at least 18 inches) screwdriver and place the plastic end to your ear while you poke around different spots around your engine. Make sure that there is no voltage leak before you attempt this because if your grounded you will get a real good shock.
A third suggestion is that it might be a worn rotor or distributor cap causing the arcing between them to be louder than normal. If it is this then the engine might be running rough and there would be a loss of power under load. The same goes if there was a voltage leak.
Another way to pinpoint sounds is to use a short piece of vacuum hose (maybe 2 or 3 feet long) as a stethoscope of sorts. Put one end up to your ear and use the other to try to find the source of the sound.
(again, see the above warning about loose clothing, moving parts, etc)
If you are sure it is from the distributor, it’s either electrical or mechanical. An electrical problem has been pretty well covered already. Mechanical problems might be something like the bearing is starting to go, or the rotor is hitting something on the cap as it goes around. I’d check to see if the cap is cracked or broken, and make sure that the cap is fully seated while you are at it. Open it up and look inside. If something is hitting or shorting out you should see some signs of damage somewhere inside the cap or on the rotor. If the rotor has play in it then the bearing is shot.
Or just take the cap off and see if there’s something wrong with it. It could also be the points, which you’ll need to remove the cap to see anyways.
I’m kind of suprised an '03 Astrovan even has a distributor, but it’s about 30 years too new to have points.
I honestly didn’t look at the make/model. It just seemed like if the OP was sure the distributor was clicking the easiest thing would be to open it. On the cars I’ve worked on it’s not like it’s all that difficult to access and it’s typically just two clips and the cap pops right off (Checking Autozone, looks like it’s two screws on the Astro). You can even leave all the wires attached.
Anyways, that’s my suggestion, pop off the cap and just take a look around, the problem might be glaringly obvious. Be it carbon buildup that’s preventing the electrical passage, carbon buildup that’s physically getting in the way of the rotor or some sort of other physical problem that’s keeping the rotor from turning properly.