Thread: Wet distributer cap....newbie question..

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OK....so I got my engine all steam cleaned and acid washed...etc..etc.
It drove home ok from the shop......sat overnight and then this afternoon started up very oddly,...lotsa shakin and sputtin....I got her to fire,......got it up to 1500rpm (in the garage) for a few minutes,....but no idle...jsut died. Did not want to start right again.....so I called my mechanic. He said most likely the distributer cap had moisture in it from the cleaning....

I VERY gently undid the 4 retaining "L" shaped fasteners and lifted it off just a bit to see what I could see....and yup,...there was evidence of moisture.....also upon sliding my finger up in to the cap....it was slightly wet.

It is now sitting askew......and I am hoping it will dry. I 'want' to remove some of the plug wires,...flip it over and blow dry it with a hair dryer or something.....

It also has an electronic device attached to the top of it.....

My main question is...Am I dealing with some highly sensitive part of the vehicle where I am most likely going to screw something up bigtime here?....or should I not worry about it...just put the wires back in the same order,....and put the cap back on facing the same way???

Any help would be appreciated,...and feel free to laugh at my ignorance.....:-)

That electronic part is your ignition coil. I wouldnt worry about working with it. Just make sure all your plug wires go on the correct way. The cap only fits one way, it has a plastic notch that fits in the distributor, just line them up.
Dry the inside of the cap with a clean towel/rag. You should cover the distributor with a plastic bad next time you wash engine.

Hmmmm.....after drying out the cap...it still is acting horrible....
It will run at 1500-2000rpm...but will die and sputter out otherwise....no idle. And it starts horribly,...sputtering and knocking....sounds awful....

Could something else be wet??.....(hopefully).

The ONLY other thing that was done was the removal of an AC compressor that was not hooked up to anything.....(AC had been removed)....the unit was removed with the belt and the 1 red wire that was going to it. It had no other hoses attached,.....my mechanic said it was fine to remove....served no purpose except taking up space.

It is a shame I did not start the car in the morning,.only after removal of this compressor. I KNOW this removal can not be causing my troubles....but I am still paranoid.

Surely,...there must be condensation somewhere on something.

OK Streets,.....

1) WHAT WIRES?....Do you mean the plug wires from the distributer to the spark plugs?...You think they are somehow not working properly due to moisture?

2) I did not do this wash my self,....I took it to a restoration/detailing place YESTEDAY and paid $$ for them to steam-clean the engine and acid-wash the aluminum and metal. I was not present during this cleaning.

3) It started fine and drove fine when I left the facility....it smelled of chemicals they assured me wuold burn off.....I only drove it 3 miles.

4) TODAY when I fired it is when the trouble began.......(after removing the unused AC condensor).....

ARGH!......

Once again......SHOULD I BUY NEW PLUG WIRES????...Is that potentially the cause of this????????

Thanks again all....!

Yup!! You got water everywhere.............how's that for a news flash.

If the inside of the cap was wet, so was the entire inside of the distributor housing. And any other connection to the ignition components. There could be water under the coil module, in the bottom of the distributor housing, at the contacts on the cap, maybe even the spark plugs. If you have a dry, compressed air source you could try blowing it dry. Also, do you have an MSD control box, or similar.............could be another problem area. ALL components need to be thoroughly dried. Maybe even replaced at this point if corrosion has set in.

When I have to steam clean an engine , especialy for a customer, I always blow off the distributer inside and out and give it a very generous spraying again inside and out with wd40. I also spray the wires and plugs with it. I have never had one even think about sputtering the next day doing this but one time, just one, I was in too much of a hurry to do it and the next morning it wouldn't start. It was a forklift I worked on. I think it was 3 in the morning when they called me to come fix it so now I make sure I always use the wd40.
Normaly I hate the stuff and tell people to get rid of it , especialy if they have been using it on their guns since I am a part time gunsmith, but out of the 1001 uses they advertise the ignition systems on engines is actualy a good use for it.

Well,.....I am seriously pissed to say the very least.

I am taking my time and trying to do things the 'right' way on
my restoration....learning ALOT as I go.....but this definately caught me off-guard. I paid this 'pro' restoration shop $100 for this cleaning and 'acid wash'.....and the last thing I expected was all this headache. I figured I would be well into repainting the compartment by now.....oh well...enough moaning.

I removed the cap and let it all dry overnight.....

1) I also have some GUNK wire dry for ignition systems....etc. Im thinking about using that as well.

2) I will pull all the wires and inspect them, and towel the plug heads....

3) Hopefully this will work.....if not im off to buy new wires....etc....etc.

Thanks again all.....and ANY FURTHER insight would be greatly appreciated.

btw - My MSD box is mounted inside the glove box (go figure)...so it did not get wet....there are however a few solenoids (I think) mounted on the firewall that probably got soaked,....but seem pretty self-contained and sealed.....(lets hope).....

This shop is getting a very aggresive call from me monday morning.....

Yeah!.....After pulling the wires,....drying the plug heads, spraying the distributer and oil with GUNK wire dryer, and then blow drying the hell out of all of it......it worked! Fired up like normal.....! tried and tested,.....she's all better now.

I am still going to ream the shop though!....F^%$$er's

thanks guys!....

Well Jeff, I'll bet you never thought having a toy car would give you this much opportunity to learn new STUFF!